Laughing all the way to the mosque: the misadventures of a muslim woman, paperback/zarqa nawaz

Being a practicing Muslim in the West is sometimes challenging, sometimes rewarding and sometimes downright absurd.

How do you explain why Eid never falls on the same date each year; why it is that Halal butchers also sell teapots and alarm clocks; how do you make clear to the plumber that its essential the toilet is installed within sitting-arms reach of the tap? Zarqa Nawaz has seen and done it all.

And its not always easy to get things right with the community either: Zarqa tells of being asked to leave the DBW (Dead Body Washing) committee after making unsuitable remarks; of undertaking the momentous trip to Mecca with her husband, without the children, thinking (most incorrectly) that it will also be a nice time to have uninterrupted sex; of doing the unthinkable, and creating Little Mosque on the Prairie , a successful TV sitcom about that very (horrified, then proud) community.

You have to laugh.