Source: The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,,2185063,00.html
There are no nasty judges, booing crowds, tearful auditions or backstabbing. But the competition is just as tough. Eight mosques are vying to become Britain's Model Mosque 2007 in a televised competition which marries halal principles with the knock-out rules of reality TV.
The series, shown tonight on the Islam Channel, is not a beauty pageant, as aesthetics are not important. Instead, mosques are assessed on their interfaith work, women's facilities, youth services and their transparency on finances, policies and management.
Faith meets reality TV in contest to find the best mosque in Britain
· Winner to be picked from eight finalists next month
· 'Mystery worshippers' used to help selection
Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent
Saturday October 6, 2007
The Guardian
There are no nasty judges, booing crowds, tearful auditions or backstabbing. But the competition is just as tough. Eight mosques are vying to become Britain's Model Mosque 2007 in a televised competition which marries halal principles with the knock-out rules of reality TV.
The series, shown tonight on the Islam Channel, is not a beauty pageant, as aesthetics are not important. Instead, mosques are assessed on their interfaith work, women's facilities, youth services and their transparency on finances, policies and management.
Judges used these criteria to whittle the candidates down from 500 mosques to eight. The finalists hail from Bradford, Birmingham, Cricklewood, Croydon, Glasgow, Haringey, Leyton and Manchester.
The show started as a personal quest for Model Mosque producer Abrar Hussain, 29. "I wasn't too keen on my local mosque and my friend's one sounded better, it was doing stuff that mine wasn't and I was a bit jealous. There is so much disparity between mosque standards and the show is a way for mosques to see the positive work that is already being done. It's not about being horrible and embarrassing bad mosques. There's no nastiness. Nobody wants to be Simon Cowell."