Canada : Launch of The Little Mosque on the Prairie
The new television series entitled The Little Mosque on the Prairie has been shown since January 9 by the Anglophone public channel CBC-TV. Its title recalls the series which recounted the lives of the pioneers led by the Ingalls family in the Minnesota of the years 1870-1880 : The Little House on the Prairie.
The Canadian series tells of the arrival of a Muslim community guided by a young Imam lawyer, in a small Anglican town of the Province of Saskatchewan, Mercy. Directed by the Canadian producer Zarqa Nawaz, a practicing Muslim and mother of four children, the aim of the comedy is to dispel prejudice against Islam. “I only want people to laugh with the Muslims as they would laugh with any other people and that they do it willingly,” she said. “I think that people will see themselves in the characters and scripts of our series, whatever their religious background”. “Since September 11, 2001, what we see on the news presents Muslims in terms of conflict. This creates a one-dimensional image of a very diverse community. Through the comedy, I hope that those who are prejudiced, will be enlightened, especially in this post 9/11 world”. “But the series is definitely a sitcom – in the style of its humor and jokes -, not a political satire”.
“This situation comedy reveals that, beyond our differences we are incredibly similar, where families, love, the generation gap and our capacity to strike a balance between our secular and religious life, are concerned.”
Among the many characters, the hero Amaar Rashid is a young lawyer of Pakistani origin, who has decided to quit law in order to become the village Imam. In the first episode he is arrested at the airport for having used the word “suicide” on the telephone, while waiting in a queue … The benevolent reverend Duncan McGee welcomes the Mosque into his Church basement.
The Canadian Press, like the New York Times, CNN, the Jerusalem Post, the BBC…had things to say about the series, broadcast at peak viewing times, Mondays at 9pm. and Wednesdays at 8pm.. On the first evening, an estimated 2 million viewers tuned in. “Not only are the figures good, but it has been very warmly received”, said Kristine Layfield, director of programming for CBC. “The only criticisms from the public have been about the publicity breaks during the transmission”. This new television series, announced amid a great deal of publicity, is suspected of being set up for the sole purpose of boosting the channel’s audience ratings.
