•
Amaar Rashid (
Zaib Shaikh) – Formerly a big shot lawyer from Toronto, he finds his true calling as a cleric and answers an ad to become an imam at Mercy's
mosque. He does this despite the dismay of his family. He tends to support
liberal movements within Islam, sometimes putting him in conflict with the more conservative Muslims in the community. Amaar tends to be
sarcastic, which he blames on his work as a lawyer. His wealthy parents (
Hrant Alianak and
Veena Sood) are not religious at all and continue to pressure Amaar to return to his much more lucrative law career. He tends to say, "I am the imam!" to prove his point or to show that despite his age, he has authority. He normally uses this when other characters (particularly Rayyan and Baber) are fighting and will not listen to reason. Amaar has also been known to be petty and hold a grudge but is generally a good man of faith. Amaar married Rayyan at the end of season 5. They have returned from their honeymoon to Mercy after Sarah and Yasir divorced. In season six, Amaar does not start out as the imam despite pressure from some congregation members to do so. •
Yasir Hamoudi (
Carlo Rota) – A contractor who runs his business out of an office at the mosque, he is a practical man who seeks compromise. He is committed to Islam, but is also an opportunist and not, as his daughter might put it, "a good Muslim." For instance, one of the main reasons he helps out with the mosque is because he does not want to lose his free office space, but he lost that privilege when the church's bishop learned of the arrangement and ordered Rev. Magee to pay appropriate rent to the church organization for it which was passed on to Yasir. Yasir is a card-carrying member of the
Conservative Party of Canada, although more for the networking opportunities than out of any particular interest in being politically active. His role was reduced in seasons 4-5, due to Rota's other acting commitments; within the show, his absence was explained as a temporary return to Lebanon to care for his ailing mother. Yasir is said to have left to stay in Lebanon, in the process separating from his wife, Sarah, after a 31-year-long marriage. •
Sarah Hamoudi (
Sheila McCarthy) – A former
Anglican, Sarah converted to Islam when she married Yasir. Like her husband, she struggles with Muslim customs and regulations and is often shown up by their more pious daughter, Rayyan. She wears the
hijab when attending services at the mosque, but not day-to-day. After her divorce from Yasir, she returned to her original name as "Sarah Cunningham" at the insistence of Ann Popowicz. Ann wanted Sarah to have "Danger" as her new middle name, but it ended up being Dangler. After Sarah's divorce, Baber and Rev. Thorne begin competing for her soul or which religion she may become part of. Sarah was revealed to also lack a wild side, and her memories of a wild past were actually her living through her friend Ann Popowicz. Sarah does try to let herself go wild when she kisses a stranger named Lou and gets into a bar fight with his girlfriend Svetlana. She later goes through a spiritual crisis, leaving Islam to return to the Anglican church but eventually finds she does indeed want to be Muslim and so renews her
shahadah. •
Rayyan Hamoudi (
Sitara Hewitt) – Yasir and Sarah's daughter, a doctor, she follows
Islamic feminism, keeps the
sartorial hijab, and takes her religion very seriously. Her
Western medical treatments are met with disapproval by Fatima, who uses traditional Nigerian remedies. She is occasionally foiled by her own ambition; in one episode, she insists on being named as the mosque's representative to the local Interfaith Council as her price for letting go of an argument with Amaar, only to discover at her first meeting that the council is really little more than an interfaith bake-sale committee. Rayyan has long had feelings for Amaar, and they are currently married. Rayyan pushed her mother to join a divorce group but later on has discovered her own insecurities regarding her marriage. Her fear is that her parents' divorce may lead to problems between her and Amaar. In this fear, she gives up her habits of drinking milk out of the carton and forcing Amaar to place the dishes a certain way in the dishwasher. •
Baber Siddiqui (
Manoj Sood) – A divorced college economics professor and the most
conservative member of the Muslim community in Mercy, he acted as the imam prior to Amaar's arrival in the pilot episode; when Amaar briefly quits his job in Season 3, Baber again takes over as imam, and proves to be one of the reasons the community is so determined to get Amaar back. His conservatism often conflicts with the wishes of his teenage daughter Layla, although he loves her dearly (in fact the main reason he has custody of her is that when his ex-wife came to visit him after he moved to Mercy, she saw that the only thing he had bothered to unpack was his daughter's picture on the wall). He wears a
taqiyah and a
shalwar kameez and constantly rants and raves and complains about everything, to the point that most of his acquaintances consider him obnoxious. He once falsely claimed that he was on the American
no-fly list to cover up his own fear of flying, resulting in Rayyan and Amaar taking him to the U.S. consulate in
Regina three separate times to help him clear his name. He calls most non-Muslims "
imbeciles" and "
infidels", although it is rather obvious that he is not any sort of dangerous
fanatic but just a harmless crank. In the episode
"The Letter", Baber takes an interest in a female motivational speaker (played by
Andrea Martin) who is stranded in Mercy, who in turn becomes interested in him. Everything goes well until Baber utters some
anti-Semitic remarks. The motivational speaker takes offense and reveals to Baber that she is
Jewish. Baber comes to Amaar for guidance. Amaar reminds him that anti-Semitism is not tolerated in the Muslim faith. Baber also falls for Thorne's ploy of taking over as Imam which led to Amaar being removed as Imam. His bringing in the overzealous Rahaloon resulted in the mosque being removed from the church. Later Amaar made amends with Baber when he was reinstated as Imam. Baber performed Amaar and Rayyan's wedding and they left for their honeymoon. Upon their return it is revealed that Baber is the current Imam and is good friends with Reverend Thorne. •
Fatima Dinssa (
Arlene Duncan) – A conservative Nigerian immigrant and the widowed owner of a cafe/diner. She is spirited and enjoys engaging in verbal sparring matches, frequently with Fred Tupper, the local bigot and radio "shock jock" who has a crush on her. She hates the Mercy Diner, her competition. She has a son, Jamal (
Demetrius Joyette), who hates being forced to play
ayo by his mother. She officially becomes a Canadian citizen during the show's run. Her culinary expertise is recognized by all the residents of Mercy, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. More often than not, this is used to underline just how much good food can create a bridge over cultural barriers. •
Rev. Duncan Magee (
Derek McGrath) – The priest of the Anglican Church which also houses the mosque, he is a good friend to Amaar and the two clerics often turn to each other for advice. He is
liberal, once offering to perform a
gay marriage at the church and is willing to stand up to the church hierarchy when he believes that it is acting inconsistently with the true message of
Christianity. He often laments the sad state of his own church and congregation. His character departs the show after season 3, to be replaced by the ambitious, younger and distinctly less accommodating
Rev. William Thorne, though Rev. Magee does return for a few episodes in season 5. In seasons 1-3, it is gradually revealed that he has a number of hobbies (including curling, running and painting), all taken very seriously. His presence on the show illustrates the commonalities between Islamic and Anglican faiths and the similar problems the priests of each faith must face. •
Mayor Ann Popowicz (
Debra McGrath) – Mayor of Mercy, she supports the Muslim community in return for their votes. She is primarily concerned with maximizing the perks of her office and minimizing the amount of work that she actually has to do. She has a bit of a wild streak, having been known to date members of the
Hells Angels and has more skeletons in her closet than the local cemetery. She is witty, blunt and a bit of a lush, but leans greatly upon Sarah, her PR person, when she missteps. •
Fred Tupper (
Neil Crone) – The local loudmouth and the host of a talk show on the local radio station, he often
equates Muslims to terrorists who want to take over the country. However, at times he finds himself in the awkward position of siding with the Muslim community, as evidenced in the first season. A flashback episode revealed that his distrust of Muslims stems more from an unpleasant encounter with Baber than from any deeply held prejudices. His radio rants are primarily a ratings-grabbing persona; while he can be a blowhard jerk on and off the air, he treats pretty much everyone with equal condescension (not just Muslims). By season 3, it is revealed that his objectionable comments have more to do with habit and keeping ratings up, than any active dislike of Muslims. In fact, when he believes he is dying, he is downright friendly to everyone (including Muslims) and almost declares his love to Fatima. She graciously allows him his dignity when he claims it is in fact her hummus that he loves. Fred Tupper is also a divorcee. •
Layla Siddiqui (
Aliza Vellani) – Baber's daughter and a portrait of an average teenage Muslim girl struggling to find the right balance between her desire to be a good Muslim and her desire for the lifestyle of a regular Canadian teenager who's into music, clothes and boys. She can be rebellious and sarcastic, especially at her father's foibles (she refers to their home as "Baberistan"), but is also very perceptive and insightful. •
Junaid Jaffer, also known as J.J. (
Stephen Lobo) – Son of Yasir's friend Karim and fiancé of Rayyan through seasons 2-3. Former geeky childhood playmate turned urbane, handsome and wealthy engineer he can be indecisive and eventually jilts Rayyan at the altar. •
Joe Peterson (
Boyd Banks) – A local farmer and a perpetually trouble-making sidekick of Fred Tupper. Basically, a stereotypical
hoser, he mostly trades cheap insults with Fred and occasionally causes mayhem by going for a joyride on his tractor. He is mainly a comic relief character, appearing in almost every episode, without a driving role in the plot. Despite this, he is used challenge the viewers' assumptions since he is revealed to be surprisingly well read. In fact, to their mutual surprise, he and Baber have found themselves agreeing on things more often than they expect, developing a friendship only occasionally hampered by cultural differences. He even finds common ground with Sarah, having read and loved the novel she chose for book club. •
Nate Shore (Jeff White) – Editor and reporter for the local newspaper. He has a very Zen attitude to his job as the main news source of a tiny, tiny town. He is a good friend of Amaar, despite Amaar's occasional exasperation at his freewheeling personality. •
Reverend William Thorne (
Brandon Firla) — Rev. Magee's replacement, feels it is his religious duty to compete with Amaar for the souls of the residents of Mercy. At first, he uses Amaar's forgiving nature to build his congregation and eventually kicks the mosque out but brings them back because the Archdeacon likes having a mosque in the church to show cultural diversity. It is revealed he feels a great shame over being adopted and dislikes his older brother. Thorne eventually takes Amaar's help in becoming a better person and begins trying to convince Amaar to be his friend. He is jealous of Rev. Magee when he returns to be Amaar's best man because Amaar clearly prefers the old reverend. Thorne shows some weakness when it is revealed that he has a crush on Rose, the town librarian, but is too shy to ask her out. With the help of Rayyan and Amaar, the two begin dating. ==Production==