10 Minutes With … Zarqa Nawaz

c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) What do “Desperate Housewives,” the racy ABC drama, and “Little Mosque on the Prairie,” a Canadian sitcom created by a devout Muslim woman, Zarqa Nawaz, have in common? They were both picked up by Canal Plus, a French pay-TV giant to be broadcast in France and French-speaking parts of […]

c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) What do “Desperate Housewives,” the racy ABC drama, and “Little Mosque on the Prairie,” a Canadian sitcom created by a devout Muslim woman, Zarqa Nawaz, have in common?

They were both picked up by Canal Plus, a French pay-TV giant to be broadcast in France and French-speaking parts of Switzerland and Africa.


It’s gratifying recognition for Nawaz, a mother of four who never imagined becoming a comedy writer. Born in Great Britain to Pakistani parents and raised in Toronto, Nawaz, 39, started in radio and television journalism before jumping into filmmaking. In 2005, she released “Me and the Mosque,” a critically acclaimed documentary about Muslim women seeking better prayer areas in mosques.

After regularly drawing 1 million viewers in its first season, “Little Mosque” has been touted as the “savior” of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s otherwise viewer-deprived lineup, and is being screened to American television executives.

Nawaz spends weekends with her family in Regina, Saskatchewan, and her weeks in Toronto where she is shooting the second season of “Little Mosque.” She recently talked about the show.

Q: What do think about the show being picked up in France?

A: It shows that the story lines are universal, and they’re accessible to any Muslim or non-Muslim community.

Q: Do you think the United States is ready for a show like this?

A: I think so. It’s important for the U.S. to see it being done somewhere else successfully, for them to get over their worry over how to do it. They see really successful shows in other countries and then they try to adapt it to the American marketplace. I think the Americans are trying to figure out a way to make Little Mosque for them.

Q: How do you decide what you need to explain to viewers about Islam and Muslim life?

A: We always think of a strong story first because each episode has to be entertaining, otherwise people won’t watch it. We don’t sit down and say “OK, how do we teach people about Ramadan?” We say, “OK, this would be a hilarious story about Ramadan, or about polygamy, or about how Muslims date,” and then you come up with the story. We don’t think about how to educate people, we think about what’s going to be a funny story that will be engaging, then the rest of it falls into place.


Q: Was it difficult explaining Islam or Muslim characters to non-Muslim actors and writers?

A: It’s not that complicated. (Islam is) a community that goes for values in terms of male-female interaction. There’s more formality between people. Faith is important. And I think people draw upon their own experiences when we talk about those issues. Relationships between people are so universal, between men and women and husbands and wives and parents and kids, so we all draw upon our experiences.

Sometimes I will mention my specific experiences with the community. And the actors themselves are highly invested in the show. They learn as much as they can.

Q: You originally wanted to become a doctor. How does a Muslim Canadian girl go into film?

A: You don’t get into medical school (laughing).

I tried very hard to get into medical school, and that was very traumatic for me because that was the only career plan that I had, I didn’t have a plan B. So it was fairly horrifying not knowing what to do with your life and feeling kind of aimless. And your parents are like “OK, now we have to marry her off because she hasn’t become anything.” My father’s attitude is that successful women become career women, and unsuccessful women get married (laughing). They were coming with a plan B very rapidly so I had to do something quickly. But you never would have convinced me that I would have been a comedy writer.

Q: You were a journalist before. What are the differences covering Muslims through a sitcom and covering Muslims through journalism?

A: With a sitcom you get way more people watching; comedy is far more accessible than journalism. It’s kind of weird but the sitcom, popular culture, is probably the most pervasive way of reaching the widest possible audience that is humanly possible today.


Q: Do you see more Muslims getting into media?

A: I think it’s common for immigrants who come to a new country to want their kids to go into professions that are known as secure professions. But if you want to act or write, there’s no guarantee you’ll succeed, and that’s a very scary thing for an immigrant, because they’ve come from a very scary place, they’ve escaped turmoil or insecurity.

But the second- and third-generation kids don’t have the same fears their parents had because they haven’t grown up with that instability, they’ve grown up in this country where its very stable.

Q: What are some other projects you’re working on?

A: I’ve written a screenplay called “Real Terrorists Don’t Belly Dance,” about a Muslim actor who accidentally gets cast as a terrorist. Once the season finishes in August I’m going to go back to that screenplay and get it ready for some people to see.

KRE/JM END SACIRBEYA photo of Zarqa Nawaz is available via https://religionnews.com.

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