Muslim women and the politics of representation

"Little Mosque on the Prairie," CBC's sitcom about the Muslim community in a small Canadian town, was the center of an international media hype. Even before its premiere on Jan. 9, the show has attracted reviews from the BBC, CNN, and the New York Times.

The show's creator, consulting producer, and director is Muslim-Canadian Zarqa Nawaz. The veiled mother of four is of Pakistani origin, born in Liverpool, raised in Toronto, and settled in Regina with her family.

Part of her show's success lies in her humanized portrayal of Muslims in an ordinary, normalized setting. They are regular folks with real lives, challenges, and joys. This comes as a refreshing break from the staple diet of the "terrorist man/ niqabi woman" that feeds mainstream Western media outlets.

Furthermore, it is interesting to watch representations of Muslims as recreated by a Muslim woman. It indicates that the politics of representation and identity can no longer be controlled by a Hollywood hegemony. Alternative ethnic, religious, and feminist views are inevitably emerging in North American mainstream discourse.

The inspiration for the show's storylines comes from Nawaz's own real-life experience. The show has the quality of bemused self-reflection as Nawaz dwells on issues that are a source of debate among Muslims. The characters argue about the most appropriate method of moonsighting that marks the begining of Ramadan. "The Prophet did not have a telescope from CostCo," one of the characters sarcastically comment. In an upcoming episode, Muslim women go to a ladies-only swimming class and are at a loss when their female instructor is replaced by a homosexual man. Nawaz raises the issue of whether it is permissible for veiled women to show their hair infront of gay men.

It is empowering for a Muslim woman of Pakistani origin to spark an intellectual public debate about the problems and issues in her community: the way it is perceived, the way it functions, and the ability to laugh at the post-9/11 absurdities that Muslims are subjected to.

However, it is important to note that Zarqa Nawaz is not the first, nor sole, example of Muslim women leading public debate or representing their community through the media. Muslim women have a tradition of being in the forefront of the political and social realms. One only needs to recall the names of Egyptian feminists such as Huda Sha'rawi and Safia Zaghloul, film director Enas el Dighedi, professor of women's studies Leila Ahmed, Moroccan feminist writer Fatema Mernissi, and Iranian lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi. However, Nawaz's gentle comedy is one of the few attempts of a comedic treatment of religion.