Me & the Mosque

Opening with a comedian's routine about the women's sections in mosques, filmmaker Zarqa Nawaz's Me & the Mosque looks at how more mosques in Canada are now adding curtains, screens, or barriers to shield worshipping women. Nawaz herself attends a mosque in which women are separated by mirrored glass, so that men glancing backwards see only themselves. Why the change? Approximately 90% of Canadian Muslims are immigrants, many from conservative nations. Turning to the Quran and Hadith (both Islamic religious texts) for guidance, Nawaz visits religious scholars to ask exactly what the Prophet said about gender separation, and learns that from one verse in one sura—stating that “the wives of the Prophet” should be separated in worship—the tradition has evolved expecting all women to pray separately, and in more fundamentalist countries, not to be seen at all. Nawaz also visits the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) meeting in the U.S. to gain perspective, and travels to a small town in West Virginia to meet Asra Nomani, a writer who petitioned to enter her mosque by the front door (permission was granted, but she is now shunned by fellow-worshipers—women included). In addition to being extremely witty (her hand-drawn cartoons are hilarious), Nawaz successfully walks a delicate line between questioning tradition while also respecting the views of women who prefer to remain secluded. An outstanding, timely look at the intersection of faith and culture within Islam, this is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Reagan)