Ok, mungkin gue yang telat taunya, tapi baru tadi gue nonton (di YouTube) beberapa episode dari Little Mosque on the Prairie. No, it’s not a spin off of the Laura Ingalls Wilder’s family that was popular decades ago. Serial ini adalah sitkom dari Kanada yang diproduksi oleh CBC Television mengenai sebuah komunitas kecil Muslim di kota kecil Mercy di Saskatchewan, Kanada. Small Town Canada with A Little Muslim Twist is the tag line of the series.

I’d say, there’s really a twist here. Sejauh yang gue tahu, ini mungkin sitkom TV pertama yang memperkenalkan kehidupan sekelompok muslim di tengah budaya barat. Ada pertentangan antar generasi, kesalahpahaman dengan masyarakat lokal, peleburan nilai-nilai agama dan kebudayaan muslim dengan nilai-nilai lokal, dan banyak lagi twist yang menurut gue disampaikan secara gamblang dan tepat. And the mix of these twists and wittiness of the story made me smile and laugh

Settingnya sederhana: ada mesjid kecil yang sebenarnya merupakan parish hall gereja Anglican lokal yang disewa oleh Yasir Hamoudi (Carlo Rota), kontraktor yang juga menggunakan mesjid itu sebagai kantornya; ada Fatima’s Cafe, diner punya Fatima Dunssa (Arlene Duncan); keluarga Hamoudi, dengan Yasir, Sarah (sang istri yang dulunya Anglican), dan Rayyan (a doctor and a modern muslimah, wear the hijab and critical to the Islamic rules); ada Mayor Ann Popowicz (Debra McGrath), yang mendukung keberadaan komunitas muslim di kotanya in return of their votes.

This sitcom also displays the western point of view and paranoia toward muslims (which is quite funny). Coba simak dialog berikut, dimana Joe Peterson (Boyd Banks), yang sebenarnya mau ketemu Yasir untuk minta memperbaiki rumahnya (tapi malah melihat mereka sedang shalat jama’ah), ketemu dengan Rev. Duncan Magee (Derek McGrath), pendeta di gereja Anglican yang digunakan sebagai mesjid.

“I saw them bowing and moaning, just like on CNN.”

“They’re moslems. They pray five times a day.”

“You rented Parish Hall to a bunch of fanatics?”

“Don’t be paranoid. Many churches rent space to businesses. This is simply a pilot project.”

“Pilot? They’re training pilot?”

“Calm down Joe. There’s nothing sinister about Yasir’s Construction Company.”

“Osama Bin Laden ran a construction company too..“

Juga waktu Amaar Rashid (Zaib Shaikh), Imam mesjid yang mantan pengacara dan baru datang dari Toronto ke Mercy, mau mesan tiket pesawat. Dan waktu akhirnya ditahan sebentar oleh polisi bandara karena waktu bicara dengan ibunya di telepon sebelum take off dia bilang ‘It’s not like I will put a bomb on them’, when actually he was talking about the congregation in Mercy.

“Can a moslem book a one way ticket these days without someone having to call their supervisor??”

“What’s the charge? Flying while muslim?”

When Joe asked Yasir what the muslims were doing when he came earlier, there’s this conversation.

“So what was happening in there earlier?”

“That? Impromptu worship. Praying, for business to pick up.”

(Baber, the former Imam, elderly and conservative, interrupted)

“Yasir! I had a brainstorm. We can use the laundry room to wash and clean the dead bodies.”

(Yasir smiling awkwardly)

(Joe turn around and ran out, with terrified face)

Hehehehe… And then there’s this one time when they were discussing when Ramadhan would begin. Yasir and his wife Sarah had these says.

“Why don’t we just log on to the moonsighting.com and let the starvation begin?”

“Why don’t we do what Christians do? Pick a month and stick to it. I mean, what’s wrong with December? Shorter days for fasting and way way better shopping.”

Oh, I forgot to introduce this one unique character. Baber Siddiqui (Manoj Sood). He’s the former Imam in the community before the mesjid is established. He’s divorced and has one daughter (Layla) who’s still in middle school. He’s a more conservative muslim and he always wears this long muslim robe (gamis). So his sermons are more cynical and attacking the western culture. Check these dialogues out when he gave a sermon in front of the congregation and what he thinks about the western school system.

“My point is this: Wine-gums, Rye-bread, liquor-ish! Western trap is trying to seduce moslems to drink alcohol!”

“His sermon is going to drive me to drink alcohol.” (Rayyan Hamoudi)

“Desperate housewives. Why desperate when they are just doing their womenly duties.”

“Western school system. Filling her head with…thinking” (on the issue that his daughter Layla is refusing wearing hijab eventhough she’s had her period)

Well, overall, this is a recommended sitcom to watch. It doesn’t perfectly portray the true muslim’s daily life, but I think it is good enough to show people in the west that muslim are just normal human beings. Also, you will have a good laugh by watching this series. Like when I watched this next teaser (^-^)

The official website: CBC Television – Little Mosque on the Prairie