'Little Mosque on the prairies' SHOULD BE BANNED!
Yup.. I've changed my mind!!.. I don't like that show anymore.. After watching the second episode or third?... there were some pretty NASTY STUFF . thus I have decided it ain't worth watchin anymore!....
My decision was also based on another issue..
Today a documentary called 'Me and the Mosque' aired on CBC. I have seen this documentary before and commented on it a while back, which can be found here to refresh your mind.
Even though I watched parts of this documentary for the second time, it drove the same type of anger and frustration as when I watched it the first time. But after watching this documentary, I went to the CBC site, THE LENS, to investigate who created this documentary .. and to my surprise: Zarqa Nawaz, who also created "Little Mosque on the Prairies", developed this documentary called "Me and the Mosque'
Basically in this documentary, she tried to convey to her viewers that the barrier or RATHER PARTITION, makes a woman feel oppressed, isolated, or in simpler terms feel LIKE TRASH!..
She went around to different mosques, showing the different types of partitions used. Some mosques had the most beautifully looking separators, which were elegantly designed, others had glass walls (SEE-THROUGH, DUH!!). In turn, NO MATTER what type of partition, she still felt they were not welcoming women and that women were in some sort of a jail.
She interviewed many people, but I personally felt this documentary was very much biased.. It basically was based on proving herself RIGHT and showing that there is a MAJOR MAJOR PROBLEM!! When she interviewed people from the opposite side, she did not give them a FAIR CHANCE OF SPEAKING themselves out.. At one point a muslim man was trying to explain how we cannot compare ourselves to the muslims/sahabahs of the past.. and she CLEARLY cut him TOTALLY OFF by repeating his statement as a question which seemed as a rhetorical question to the viewers...how fair was that??!!
She also showed parts of a real DEBATE on this topic. Even though this was called a 'debate' she didn't hesitate at ALL to cut her opponents loose!
There was also one woman and her mother who actually fought against the partition issue to the point of bringing in ISNA, so that they could peacefully be allowed to pray right behind the men.. Even though that was accomplished, her mother said she doesn't feel welcome into the mosque and she does not get enough 'ACKNOWLEDGEMENT' from the men.. My question to her is: how much ACKNOWLEDGEMENT do you want or rather 'need', when your main aim is to enter the Mosque to pray to Allah swt!!
This woman made this documentary sooo sooo emotional by adding soft music as effects. I felt she was portraying the wrong image to the non-muslims that women are TOTALLY OPPRESSED IN ISLAM - which is NOT TRUE.. This topic is known to be one of the MOST MISUNDERSTOOD topic by non-muslims.. Basically she isn't making our DAWAH any easier!!
OVERALL, I felt she over exaggerated the idea of partitions to the point where it made me feel SICK!. I personally think she totally MISSED the wisdom behind having these partitions...
Us muslims today, DO NOT have the same fear of Allah and Iman as the muslims of the past.
Keeping in mind the main aim of Muslims when they enter the masjid and based on the known facts about the nature of men and women, wouldn't you think the partitions would act as an aid for BOTH men and women in order so they can concentrate better in their salah?....
well I THOUGHT SO!!!
My decision was also based on another issue..
Today a documentary called 'Me and the Mosque' aired on CBC. I have seen this documentary before and commented on it a while back, which can be found here to refresh your mind.
Even though I watched parts of this documentary for the second time, it drove the same type of anger and frustration as when I watched it the first time. But after watching this documentary, I went to the CBC site, THE LENS, to investigate who created this documentary .. and to my surprise: Zarqa Nawaz, who also created "Little Mosque on the Prairies", developed this documentary called "Me and the Mosque'
Basically in this documentary, she tried to convey to her viewers that the barrier or RATHER PARTITION, makes a woman feel oppressed, isolated, or in simpler terms feel LIKE TRASH!..
She went around to different mosques, showing the different types of partitions used. Some mosques had the most beautifully looking separators, which were elegantly designed, others had glass walls (SEE-THROUGH, DUH!!). In turn, NO MATTER what type of partition, she still felt they were not welcoming women and that women were in some sort of a jail.
She interviewed many people, but I personally felt this documentary was very much biased.. It basically was based on proving herself RIGHT and showing that there is a MAJOR MAJOR PROBLEM!! When she interviewed people from the opposite side, she did not give them a FAIR CHANCE OF SPEAKING themselves out.. At one point a muslim man was trying to explain how we cannot compare ourselves to the muslims/sahabahs of the past.. and she CLEARLY cut him TOTALLY OFF by repeating his statement as a question which seemed as a rhetorical question to the viewers...how fair was that??!!
She also showed parts of a real DEBATE on this topic. Even though this was called a 'debate' she didn't hesitate at ALL to cut her opponents loose!
There was also one woman and her mother who actually fought against the partition issue to the point of bringing in ISNA, so that they could peacefully be allowed to pray right behind the men.. Even though that was accomplished, her mother said she doesn't feel welcome into the mosque and she does not get enough 'ACKNOWLEDGEMENT' from the men.. My question to her is: how much ACKNOWLEDGEMENT do you want or rather 'need', when your main aim is to enter the Mosque to pray to Allah swt!!
This woman made this documentary sooo sooo emotional by adding soft music as effects. I felt she was portraying the wrong image to the non-muslims that women are TOTALLY OPPRESSED IN ISLAM - which is NOT TRUE.. This topic is known to be one of the MOST MISUNDERSTOOD topic by non-muslims.. Basically she isn't making our DAWAH any easier!!
OVERALL, I felt she over exaggerated the idea of partitions to the point where it made me feel SICK!. I personally think she totally MISSED the wisdom behind having these partitions...
Us muslims today, DO NOT have the same fear of Allah and Iman as the muslims of the past.
Keeping in mind the main aim of Muslims when they enter the masjid and based on the known facts about the nature of men and women, wouldn't you think the partitions would act as an aid for BOTH men and women in order so they can concentrate better in their salah?....
well I THOUGHT SO!!!
posted by Tahira @ 2:55 AM
5 Comments:
At February 02, 2007 1:08 AM,
Anonymous said…
I totally share your anger on the issue. Great post!
At February 02, 2007 11:47 AM,
Anonymous said…
i share your anger too hun.
At February 05, 2007 10:07 PM,
Anonymous said…
"Little Mosque" depends of offensive stereotypes for its humour.
Also, while at times funny, I do wonder about how "real" the situation is. I once saw a show about how the Nazis made two propaganda films about the conflict between the British and the Irish. The films, at least according to those who were interviewed who had seen them were quite good. The only problem was that the people in the movies were not Irish. What I mean by that was that the culture of the Irish portrayed in the films in no way reflected actual Irish culture as I guess the Germans who wrote, produced, and acted in the movies never took the time to get to understand the traditions and feel of the Irish people. It just wasn't important to them because in the end it had nothing to do with the Irish. It was as one commentator of the movies said "Germans talking to Germans".
And that is kind of what I am getting with the "Little Mosque" show. In the end it isn't really about small town Saskatchewan or Muslim communities living within small town Saskatchewan. In the end what it comes down to is just Liberal Urbanite Canadians talking to Liberal Urbanite Canadians, with their political message being far more important to them than whether or not the situation portrayed reflects a real situation in the country accurately enough.
By the way, why does "The She Mayor" remind me so much of the mayor on South Park?
At February 06, 2007 1:07 AM,
Tahira said…
lol tom.. I have no idea.. cuz i dont watch south park.. but i heard a lot of ppl talkin abt that show ..
Anyway thanks for your comment.. that was a really good example..
Everyone who asks me why I don't want to watch "little mosque'anymore.. I tell them the same thing, which is that... Personally I think her show is doing more harm than good
1) she is not correctly representing the muslims.. even though she may, or others may say that this show isnt representatin all muslims.. but stil.. those who do not have enough knowledge about muslims will think that this show is representing all muslims and they will think that all Muslims fight on ALL TYPES OF issues like how they are doing so in the "little mosque" show.. She is basically letting her audience feel that MUSLIMS CANNOT GET A LONG WITH EACH OTHER.. (she is just allowing the viewers to make a generalization)- WHICH IS COMPLETELY NOT TRUE
At March 20, 2007 4:09 AM,
Ambareen said…
Last week I heard some sisters talk about the show, and there were two opposing parties: one which said that the show doesn't paint the correct picture of Islam or Muslims and the other party saying that it's a humorous message that conveys to the non-Muslims that we Muslims aren't all that different from them. I was personally with the group who said that the show conveys a false image of Muslims, but was too shy and scared to speak with those sisters at that time. Here are my problems with the show:
1. A beardless Imam?
2. They're mocking certain cultures while portraying them as Islam-practicing cultures - does it make any sense?
3. You show the shortcomings of Muslims to people who don't think highly of Muslims to begin with. Umm...are you stupid?!
4. The name of the series is copied from "little house on the prairie". Isn't the supposed point of the show to bring good attention to Islam, Muslims and to break away from false stereotypes? So you're trying to do that by showing you have no originality...which I think in a way implies that Muslims have no creative talent of their own.
5. And this is what disgusts me the most: A group of people tried to bring awareness about Islam and Muslims to this community by creating a show. But what has happened is now you have people who are pro or against the show. The Muslim community is divided over something which should've united us. Doesn't that say something bad about us Muslims?
6. The show is supposed to be funny. You make a funny show, more often than not, by making fun of certain other groups/individuals. Since the show isn't really mocking the non-Muslim folks (which of course they can't or they'll be taken off air), it's criticizing certain Muslim communities, and essentially Muslims. Pathetic? I think so.
7. Muslims have always known the etiquette of dealing with the opposite gender. Gaze should be lower and if you're talking to a non-Mahram, your voice should be stern. I didn't see that in the show.
8. I know there are Muslims who are practicing and there are those who aren't practicing. All are Muslims, nonetheless. But if you're making a show and the title has something which is common to all Muslims, i.e. Mosque, then you should paint the true picture of Islam and its laws. I don't care if you think those rules are extreme, there's wisdom behind each and every one of them. CONVEY THAT TO NON-MUSLIMS!
9. A Masjid is a place of worship. It's a place where you find peace and tranquility and feel close to your Lord. All the Mosques I've been to, I've felt at peace. A mosque is not a debate field or a battle ground. It's shown like that in the show.
10. When you're promoting a message or a community, you emphasize and focus on its strong points and strengths, to make it appealing. Instead of showing the biases that some Muslims have towards non-Muslims, a much better approach would be to show the openness and willingness our religion, and we as Muslims have towards other religions and sects. Islam in itself is not what we have made it. Don't show our shortcomings and try to justify them; show what the true message is and support it.
This was my personal opinion. If I've offended someone in any way, I sincerely apologize.
May Allah give Hidaya to us all, Ameen.
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