For many non-Muslim Australians, the mosque is shrouded in mystery, and for some, controversy. But how many Australians have ever stepped inside one? For the first time in Australia, television cameras were given unprecedented 24-hour access into one of Australia's oldest mosques - Holland Park Mosque in Brisbane - to join a community rarely seen from the inside. This year, the mosque finds itself in the firing line as never before, as it faces increasing hostility from the wider Australian public and spiralling pressures from within.
Fears about Muslims, mosques and home-grown terrorists are hitting the headlines. Mosque leader Imam Uzair is doing all he can to guide his community through these troubled times, and embrace multiculturalism, but he soon finds himself confronting crisis after another. Meanwhile, as Christmas approaches, a controversial YouTube video has gone viral among the Muslim and non-Muslim community. Determined to confront extremists head-on, Ali issues a statement, but just 12 hours later, there's backlash within his own community.
Tensions are building at the mosque as leader Imam Uzair and his right-hand man Ali Kadri try to steer their community through the headwinds of Muslim and nationalist extremism. It seems everyone is ready to take offence as Ali struggles to reconcile attitudes to the hijab or head scarf and Imam comes under fire from extremists abroad, all the while dealing with the deeply emotional realities of life and death.
