"Muslims around the world are known for their sense of humour." - the Imam
Small town Canada with a Muslim twist!
The Cast
Amaar Rashid - (Zaib Shaikh) - a Toronto lawyer who answers an ad to become the imam at Mercy's mosque. He tends to support liberal movements in Islam. Amaar tends to be sarcastic, which he blames on his work as a lawyer. 
Rayyan Hamoudi - (Sitara Hewitt) - Yasir and Sarah's daughter, a doctor. She follows Islamic feminism, keeps the sartorial hijab, and takes her religion very seriously. Her western medical treatments are met with disapproval by Fatima, who uses traditional Nigerian remedies. 
Yasir Hamoudi - (Carlo Rota) - a contractor who runs his business out of an office at the mosque, he is a practical man who seeks compromise. He puts in an effort to observe his religion (mostly when pressured by his wife or daughter), but he tends to slip up. It is implied that the only reason he helps out with the mosque is because he does not want to lose his free office space. 
Sarah Hamoudi - (Sheila McCarthy) - a former Anglican who works for the mayor's office, Sarah converted to Islam because of Yasir. Like her husband, she struggles with Muslim customs and regulations, and is often shown up by their more pious daughter Rayyan. 
Baber Siddiqui - (Manoj Sood) - a divorced college Economics professor and the most conservative member of the Muslim community in Mercy. His conservatism often conflicts with the wishes of his teenage daughter, Layla, to the point where most of his acquaintances consider him obnoxious. He calls most non-Muslims "imbeciles" and "infidels", and acted as the Imam prior to Amaar's arrival in the pilot episode. 
Fatima Dinssa - (Arlene Duncan) - A conservative Nigerian immigrant and the widowed owner of a diner, she often conflicts with Fred Tupper, and she hates the Mercy Diner, her competition. She has a son, Jamal, who appeared in one of the first-season episodes. She is also very sarcastic and enjoys engaging in verbal sparring matches. 
Rev. Duncan Magee - (Derek McGrath) - the minister of the Anglican Church which also houses the mosque, he is helpful to Amaar when he first arrives. He is liberal, once offering to perform a gay marriage at the church. He often laments the sad state of his church and congregation. 
Mayor Ann Popowicz - (Debra McGrath)- the mayor of Mercy, who supports the Muslim community in return for their vote. 
Fred Tupper - (Neil Crone) - the local bigot and the host of a talk show on the local radio station, he often equates Muslims to terrorists who want to take over the country. 
Layla (Aliza Vellani) - Baber's daughter who tries to balance her Father's conservative views with that of her own more western views. 
J.J. ( Stephen Lobo)- Is an engineer and the son of an oldfriend. Yasir brings him in to help build a pumping substation in Mercy. But with a chemistry between Rayyan and J.J. will his presence in Mercy lead to more than just a job?
Little Mosque Fall Launch!
People are Talking!
- The Star - Entertainment
- Muslims urged to watch 'Little Mosque'
- Globe & Mail - Arts
- Little Mosque is back and it's a lot funnier!
- The Chronicle Herald - Entertainment
- Christmas Little Mosque-style!
- Ryerson University - News & Events
- Zarqa Nawaz uses cultural differences as sitcom fodder.
- United Bloggers of Arabia
- Little Mosque on The Prairie is a Canadian effort to introduce the world to Islam, in a funny way.
- Brisbane SEO
- I love Canadians. They're just like Americans, only nicer and better looking!
- Sikh Chic
- Little Mosque on the Prairie is as light as the cappuccino Amaar longs for... and I can't wait for the next episode.
Fatima's Recipes
Check out some of Fatima's recipes here! Sitara on Daytime Talk Show
Season One on DVD
Own the complete first season on DVD
All 8 Episodes From Season 1
Little Mosque on the Prairie - Season 1
Amazon Price: (as of 01/04/2010) 
List Price:
Watch Little Mosque on Little Experiences
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More Great Canadian Entertainment!
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. Muslims often refer to the mosque by its Arabic name, Category: :wikt - :????|masjid, ? (pl. mas?jid, ? ). The word "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship, although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, privately owned mosque and the larger, "collective" mosque (, masjid Category: :wikt - :????|j?mi?), which has more community and social amenities.
The mosque serves as a place where Muslims can come together for salat (prayer) (, ?al?t) as well as a center for information, education, and dispute settlement. The Imam leads the prayer.
They have developed significantly from the open-air spaces that were the Quba Mosque and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi in the 7th century. Many mosques have elaborate domes, minarets, and prayer halls. Mosques originated on the Arabian Peninsula, but are now found in all inhabited continents.
The Imam
An imam (, ) is an Islamic leadership position, often the leader of a mosque and the community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads the prayer during Islamic gatherings. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have an Islamic question. In smaller communities an imam could be the community leader based on the community setting. It is important to note that the position of the Imam is not clerical in Sunni-Islam.
The Hijab
A hijab or ' (', ), as commonly understood in the English-speaking world, is the type of head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women, but can also refer to modest Muslim styles of dress in general. Similar head coverings are wimples (or wimpels) worn by Christian nuns and snoods often worn by married Orthodox Jewish women http://drawn-together-by-modesty.com/insights/christian-jewish-muslim-clothing-side-by-side. The Arabic word literally means curtain or cover (noun), based on the root ??? meaning "to cover, to veil, to shelter". Most Islamic legal systems define this type of modest dressing as covering everything except the face and hands in public.Fisher, Mary Pat. Living Religions. New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2008.Glasse, Cyril, The New Encyclopedia of Islam, Altamira Press, 2001, p.179-180 According to Islamic scholarship, hijab is given the wider meaning of modesty, privacy, and morality;Esposito (2003), p. 112 the word for a headscarf or veil used in the Qur'an is khim?r ('''') and not hijab''. Still another definition is metaphysical, where al-hijab "refers to the veil which separates man or the world from God."
Since the 1970s, hijab has emerged as a symbol of Islamic consciousness. Muslims differ as to how "hijab dress" should be enforced, particularly over the role of religious police that are enforcing hijab in Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Thank You Fans!
Amazon Spotlight
The Muslim Next Door: The Qur'an, the Media, and That Veil Thing
Amazon Price: $11.53 (as of 01/04/2010)
"I wish I could send a copy of The Muslim Next Door not just to every Muslim extremist, including Bin Laden and his likes, but also to the President of the United States and his staff, to all policy makers, and also to every single Islamophobe or self-hating Muslim in the world. If they read and understood this book, most certainly our world would become a much better place to live. Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the publishing world has generated a virtual flood of books on Islam and Muslims, and the vast majority of what has been published is no better than pseudo-intellectual drivel. In my view, however, The Muslim Next Door is solid intellectual gold! This book easily ranks as one of the best three books published on the Islamic faith in the English language since the tragedy of 9/11. It is a profoundly eloquent, consistently reliable, comprehensive, insightful, and often brilliant testament of what it means to be a Muslim and what the religion of Islam is all about. Refreshing in its honesty, accessibility, and humility, and truly impressive in scope and depth, this is an indispensable book. Indeed this book is a necessary read not just for those who are interested in learning about Islam, but even more so for those who believe that they have learned all there is to know about Islam."
- Khaled Abou El Fadl, J.D., Ph.D., Professor of Immigration, Middle Eastern, and Islamic Law - UCLA School of Law, Author of The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists
Check this out!
- Hijab Chic
- Celeritas is a 21 year old Muslim revert, studying Political Science at University. She enjoys fashion and wearing chic modest clothing. She especially likes coordinating outfits. She uses Rayaan's fashions on Little Mosque on the Prairie for inspiration.
- ArabComment
- "Where The Arab World Thinks Out loud"
ArabComment largely focuses on the Arab world, and issues that are peripheral to it: Islam and Muslim countries (for some reason, people seem to forget than not all Muslim countries are Arab), War on Terror, tasty shawarma in all its forms, and so on and so forth.
We love Little Mosque On The Prairie!
Let us know what you think!
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Reply
- dc64 dc64 Mar 13, 2009 @ 4:29 pm
- Like some of the comments above, I also live in the US and wish I could see this show, perhaps I can on Youtube. You've put together a great lens on it, and definitely peaked my interest!
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- JenniferAkers JenniferAkers Aug 3, 2008 @ 7:43 am
- I hadn't heard of the show before reading your lens. I wished we could see it in the U.S. Great job describing the characters and some of the basic aspects of Islam.
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- hearthealth hearthealth Jun 17, 2008 @ 1:29 am
- One comedy show way ahead of its time! 5* and faved for the great presentation!
Hope to see you in my car electronics lens!
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- Winter52 Winter52 May 1, 2008 @ 11:04 am
- It is definitely a good show and I actually asked for the first season for my birthday... as I missed a lot of the early episodes. Thanks for dropping by earlier today. :)
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- Evelyn_Saenz Evelyn_Saenz Mar 31, 2008 @ 1:04 pm
- This is a very funny show. I hear about it on NPR. I wish we could get it here in the US.
The Purple Gallinules just flew over to check out your lens. For such a great lens we're sending you a virtual cup of coffee on the house. We can hardly wait to read the rest of your lenses.
by RickBasset
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