The cast of Little Mosque on the Prairie with Zaib Shaikh second from left. (Handout)

The lead actor in Little Mosque on the Prairie believes Canada sometimes takes its natural inclusiveness for granted, not realizing how brave it seems in other parts of the world.

"In Canada we have this amazing assumption, because we've lived it," said Zaib Shaikh, who plays Amaar Rashid. "We're a country that sort of thinks, 'Of course a show like Little Mosque on the Prairie would occur, of course it would be on our airwaves.'

"The danger is you end up taking that kind of innovation and civility and international impact for granted. 'Oh, of course it would happen here.' But the world is proud of Canada.

"Sometimes I'm not sure Canada realizes it, but around the globe this show is a Canadian calling card. We're in 83 countries. When (American broadcaster) Katie Couric calls it The Cosby Show for Muslims, in a sense it's a game-changer, and it happened here in Canada."

The sixth and final season of Little Mosque on the Prairie debuts Jan. 9, 2012 on CBC. Thus, Shaikh was in a reflective mood as he recalled just how controversial the sitcom was when it debuted back in 2007.

"In a very real way, it was a different world when we started," Shaikh said. "We didn't know how people were going to react (to a sitcom about Muslims and Christians interacting in a small Saskatchewan town).

"We were just working intensely, but then suddenly this big human-interest story picked up and before the show even aired it was thrust into the spotlight. There were all these expectations."

In other words, Little Mosque was like a hot, young music group that gets lots of hype but then has to cut its first album.

"But it was even worse, because we'd already cut the album!" Shaikh said with a laugh. "We're all thinking, 'Hope it's good!' "

As it turned out, despite the furore, Little Mosque was just a sitcom.

But in a philosophical sense, in a society still dealing with the raw emotions of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the war in Iraq, that was kind of the point, right?

Looking ahead, Shaikh thinks Little Mosque devotees will be very happy with the final season.

"It's our way of saying thank you to the fans," Shaikh said. "So often shows don't know in advance that it's the final season, you just hear suddenly that it's not coming back. But we had this opportunity to round out our story.

"People who have seen the show from episode one right through to the end, we know they're going to go, 'Ah, that's cool.' "

The sitcom landscape has changed substantially since Little Mosque on the Prairie appeared on the scene. In some ways, the show actually fits in better today than it did a half-decade ago.

"Everyone wants to make the next Modern Family now," said Shaikh, referring to the Emmy Award-winning show that airs on ABC and Citytv. "But we have been Modern Community -- and I don't mean the show called Community (that airs on NBC and Citytv).

"We've been kind of a modern look at what a neighbourhood looks like now in Canada."

bill.harris@sunmedia.ca