The Mosque Next Door: What it's like living as a Muslim in Australia

TRT World's first documentary within Storyteller is “The Mosque Next Door,” a three-part series that takes us up close and personal into the community of a specific mosque in Brisbane, Australia. Throughout this series, we get to meet community members and follow their separate journeys as they navigate their lives as Muslims in Australia. Here is some insight into the lives of each character.

ALI KADRI

Kadri, 35, is from India, and he arrived in Australia 16 years ago. Sectarian violence and anti-Muslim riots in India led to the death of his brother, so his father sent him to university in Brisbane for his safety.

Since meeting and befriending Imam Uzair at Holland Park Mosque, Kadri has become a committed advocate for his community, and is now the spokesperson of the Islamic Council of Queensland. He also runs a string of successful accountancy and training businesses.

IMAM UZAIR

Uzair is the 45-year-old Imam of Holland Park Mosque in Brisbane, and its spiritual “Father”. He was born in England before going to Islamic School in Pakistan as a 10-year-old. After graduating 20 years ago, he moved to Australia to become the country’s youngest imam at just 25 and now all these years later, he regards the mosque community as his family. As the imam, he conducts the five daily prayers, gives the Friday sermon, oversees weekly classes, performs all the weddings, and is the agony uncle for the various personal, social and familial issues of the community.

ROBBIE MAESTRACCI

Ex-bikie Maestracci spent years involved with crime and served time behind bars before he found Islam five years ago. Now a devout Muslim, he’s even given up his addiction to tattoos, which are forbidden in the religion.

He is now a youth worker for the Islamic Council’s initiative, Brighter Future Collective. In this role, he helps guide and support troubled teenage refugees from the mosque.

ASHA GOMBU

Asha grew up in refugee camps across Africa after her family fled the civil war in Sudan when she was very young. Now a single mum with five children, and with no other family in Australia to help her, Asha depends on the mosque community and her religion to help her and her children navigate the tricky adjustment to a new life in Australia. Her two daughters, Khadija and Batool, both attend the Mosque’s Islamic school every afternoon after school, but her son has been struggling.

GALILA ABDELSALAM

Fiery, fun and forthright, Galila founded and runs the Islamic Women’s Association and is a lifelong advocate for women’s rights, both inside and beyond the mosque. Married with grown children, she is well respected in the community for her tireless community work and outspoken opinions.

Aunty Galila, as she is known, is currently campaigning for better facilities for the women who pray at Holland Park Mosque. She also delights in spending her spare time matchmaking, and recently introduced Ali Kadri to his fiancee Sara.

LAMISSE HAMOUDA

Twenty-eight-year-old Lamisse is the eldest of six children from a cross-cultural family. Her mother converted to Islam after meeting her Egyptian-born husband 30 years ago. Having abandoned Islam in her late teens, Lamisse is recently divorced and trying to reconcile herself to her faith and identity. It’s a journey fraught with contradictions as she struggles to find a place for herself in the mosque and community. It’s something Lamisse is determined to speak out about – however controversial that may be.