-Hi.
My name's Zach, and, uh, I have a confession.
I have no faith.
I mean, religion is such an important part
of so many people's lives,
and I don't understand it sat all.
But I want to.
I feel like the best way for me to do that
is to meet people who actually believe.
You know, what does it mean to be
a Muslim or a Jew or a Christian?
And maybe by having an honest,
open discussion with the faithful,
I can start, in some small way,
to understand something bigger.
I mean, does that sound crazy?
Well, I guess if we're gonna do that,
we should probably get out of my bedroom.
This is my brother Brad. -Hi.
-You can put that down now, Brad.
-Okay. -Let's go!
Tomorrow I am experiencing my first, uh, mosque
and my first interview with a Muslim woman.
We're having to deal with two things
that I have never dealt with in my life before --
talking to women, and then, on top of that,
it's a religion I know nothing about.
When I tell everybody about this show,
they're really, like, pumped about it.
Then I say, "Oh, we're doing Islam first,"
and they go, "Uh...be careful."
I want I want to hear what it means to be a Muslim
from a Muslim.
Growing up with cerebral palsy,
I've learned how to talk about things
that people aren't normally comfortable with.
Hopefully, I can use my own outsider status
to sort of connect
with people who feel like they are misunderstood.
I'll try not to make anybody cringe
or be deeply offended.
And if we do that,
then that is a successful day at a mosque.
Basically, all you guys need to know
is we're going to the mosque.
We're gonna see a prayer.
We're gonna interview some great people,
and it's going to be a lot of fun.
So, I'll see you in there, guys.
Let's go learn about Islam!
This religion already feels accessible to me.
So, where are we heading into?
-So, we're about to head into the prayer area
in the men's section.
-Wow.
-And we're gonna start by taking off our shoes.
-Okay.
-So, I'll go ahead and help you with yours.
-Awesome! These are loafers.
I'm lucky I didn't wear my rollerblades today.
-Great.
-So, why do you take off your shoes in the prayer area?
-So first of all, before we pray,
we have to clean ourselves a certain way.
And part of the prayer is we're in our most purified
and clean state.
-Maybe I should crawl into the room, then,
'cause I don't know where these wheels have been.
-You're 19, right? -Yes.
-Did you grow up as a Muslim?
-Well, my parents really raised me with the --
with the Arab culture in the house.
-What were your parents like?
-My dad actually --
he wanted to come here to achieve the American dream.
And he ended up starting his own doughnut business.
-Doughnut business?! -Yeah.
Even though I hate doughnuts. -What?!
-I'm sick of them.
-What is the doughnut shop so that I can go to it?
-Donut Prince. -Oh, man, I know where that is!
When I first got to L.A., I was staying at a hotel
that was right by the Donut Prince.
-Oh, my. -And I was wondering,
like, if there was a Donut King
and then there was the son that made the Donut Prince.
-[ Laughing ] No.
-I think we're kind of off track,
but that's -- that's fine.
I'm kind of star-struck now that I know
that your dad is the Donut Prince.
-You pray five times a day.
What does that represent
when you're praying five times a day?
-The main purpose for the prayer multiple times
is supposed to be a remembrance of God
and sort of a reminder of why we are living,
why are we worshipping him.
-You don't come back to the mosque five times a day,
do you? -I do not.
-Have you ever had to pray anyplace that's kind of strange,
like a Cheesecake Factory or something?
-Oh, yeah.
That's probably the number-one difficulty with prayer,
is that when you're out and about in your day,
and sometimes you're like, "Hmm. Where should I pray?
Um, let's try to --" -What's the strangest place
you've ever had to pray? -On the sidewalk.
There's this shopping area near my house,
and there's a wide sidewalk in front of all the shops,
and I sort of just took to the side and just --
-Have you ever missed a prayer?
-Oh, yeah, countless times.
You're in class. For example, at school --
ugh -- I missed prayers all the time.
It's not supposed to be something so rigid
that you're, you know, frustrated or stressed about it.
-It's not meant to, like... -Freak you out and --
-Yeah. -Yeah.
-Okay, so, if you're freaking out
about missing a prayer, then you're not doing it right.
-There you go.
-The head scarf is called a -- What is it called?
-The Arabic word -- term for it is "hijab."
-I'm wondering what that represents
and why you chose to wear it.
-There's a lot of wisdom and reasoning
behind the head scarf and -- or the hijab.
What a lot of people don't understand --
that it's not just covering your hair.
It's sort of dressing modestly with the rest of your body.
We're not being looked at for the way we look
or our appearance in any way.
It's so that we're looked at as a human being,
not just for how attractive we are,
but, really, for what's in here.
-Can I ask you about your hijab? -Sure.
-I was -- -You want one?
-Is it wrong for a man to wear one or...?
-[ Laughs ] -I was wondering --
because L.A. is so fashion conscious, right?
-Uh-huh.
-Do they have have designers just for hijabs?
-Yeah, they do, actually.
-Are they like, "Oh, you can't wear that hijab
this season because it's not..." -[ Laughs ] Funny.
Um, I've never heard of anything like that.
I mean, I think it's like any other fashion accessory --
you can make it work.
-You didn't always wear this, correct?
-Yeah.
-Why were you afraid of putting it on?
-I don't like it when people look at me in a weird way
'cause I see my mom sometimes when we're out in the market.
Like, some people would look at her in disgust,
and I just -- I didn't want to be in that situation.
-But part of the reason you're wearing
is so that people get to know you as a person.
So, is it kind of like a double-edged sword?
-Yeah, and honestly,
I feel really proud to be identified as a Muslim.
When people first look at me,
like, they know the religion that I practice.
-College coming up.
Obviously, a lot of guys
are gonna be knocking your door down.
And trust me -- it's gonna be trouble for you.
Can I ask you about dating?
I don't know if I'll ever date a Muslim
or not, but I'm sure
it would be just as awkward as most of my dates.
-If I were to date someone,
I would probably get to know the person not alone
and it would be in a more public environment
with either friends or family with us.
-To a lot of guys, that would be intimidating
to have the whole family there on a first date.
-When you go on a date, do you have family present?
-No. -No. See?
There is a disparity here, like, of what guys want
and what girls need.
Now -- -I think it's not so much
a disparity between guys and girls.
I think it's more about how you are raised,
how your personal views are about really mixing
being a Muslim
and the values that come along with the home country --
in my case, Algeria --
and then integrating that with being an American, as well.
-Oh, wow. -All right, so,
I'm gonna join the women for prayer right now.
You can go ahead and chill here with the men.
-Awesome!
Well, it was great to meet you. -Great meeting you, too.
Thank you so much for all your insight.
-Thank you so much for having me.
I really appreciate it.
[ Man singing in Arabic ]
-I was so impressed with Marwa.
I can't believe she's 19 and she has such grace and poise
and knows what she wants in life.
I am jealous of a 19-year-old girl.
Plus, she's a doughnut princess.
Well, I'm out,
and I got to go find someone else put these shoes on.
Hey, guys.
Thanks for watching the first episode
of "Have a Little Faith."
Now, each of these episodes is meant to profile
one person's relationship to their religion
and how they interpret it.
So, I'm hoping it'll be a jumping-off point
for a deeper discussion about faith.
So, I'll let you guys get to it.
And before I go, I got to do this thing.
I did it wrong. But just subscribe.