Creators Who Inspire: Meet Zarqa Nawaz
“Here’s a Muslim woman who is really terrible,” says Zarqa Nawaz with a laugh, on the line from her home in Regina. Nawaz isn’t a bad person, but the woman she plays on her web series Zarqa is, shall we say, hilariously deplorable.
Zarqa stars Nawaz as a divorced, middle-aged Muslim woman who discovers her ex-husband is marrying a younger, white yoga instructor. Miffed by the news, Zarqa reveals she is bringing a white brain surgeon named Brian to the wedding, which means the desperate Zarqa must find a real version of her imaginary date in time for the nuptials.
“You don’t see Muslim women being bad and terrible. They are either pious or meek. I wanted to show that Muslim women have range,” explains Nawaz. “We can be all sorts of people—like everyone else. It was important to show that.”
Nawaz is an actor, TV producer, author, broadcast journalist, and best known as the creator of the mega-hit series Little Mosque on the Prairie. She was working on a stand-up comedy career when the pandemic hit, leaving her with a desire to be creative, but no outlet.
“I was doing stand-up and thought I could Jerry Seinfeld my way back to television,” she says. “I had been watching other people’s short-form web series, like Avocado Toast, Band Ladies, these incredible shows people have done. They inspire you and you think, ‘Wow, I can do this.’”
Zarqa consists of six 10-minute episodes. When season one proved to be a hit, the CMF joined the fun by providing funding for the second season, which is set to air on CBC Gem.
Acting as co-writer, star, and showrunner is a huge commitment for Nawaz, a married mother of four. But living in Regina, she was able to tap into the industry talent that cut their teeth on groundbreaking shows like Little Mosque on the Prairie and Corner Gas, which were both filmed there.
“Those two shows knocked it out of the park, and they came out of Saskatchewan,” says Nawaz proudly. “Now, the province is starting to put money back into the system, and I am glad I never left. I mean, I couldn’t leave. I have four children and a husband. It would have been too hard for me.”
And what do her kids think of their mom playing an unabashedly scheming woman?
“They think that I’m not really acting,” she says, laughing.