Hussain began his production career in 2007 by writing, producing, directing and presenting the Model Mosque show on the Islam Channel. The research for the show consisted of dispatching questionnaires to over 1,000 mosques, followed by telephone interviews, and site visits. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper Hussain said "There is so much disparity between mosque standards, and the show is a way for mosques to see the positive work that is already being done". The show attracted some criticism from conservative Muslims because of its reality TV format, with some critics comparing it to The X-Factor. Hussain stated that the aim of the show was to show the positive side of mosques, not to criticise them. In an interview with the BBC, Islam Channel CEO Mohammed Ali Harrath said, "We believe in name-and-fame, not name-and-shame. Participating mosques were located geographically all over the country, and the competition was won by East London Mosque. Hussain presented the final of Model Mosque at the Global Peace and Unity event in 2007, in-front of a live audience of 30,000 people. Judges on the Model Mosque show included Salma Yaqoob and Iqbal Saccranie. Model Mosque was positively received by the mainstream media, with BBC One, The Guardian and ABC News Australia, reporting positively on the show.
Hussain produced and directed a 2nd show for the Islam Channel titled "Faith Off". This was a game show format where contestants from different religious backgrounds would compete for prizes. The Guardian newspaper called it "Britain's first interfaith game show”. The show was hosted by Muslim comedian and actor Jeff Mirza. Hussain stated on the Reuters news channel that he was trying to show that there was "harmony amongst the different faith groups". The format of the show included a multiple choicecurrent affairs segment, in addition to a home or away round, when contestants could answer questions on their own faith, or the opposing team's for further points. One of the Jewish contestants on the show, 42-year-old Danny Judelson, said: "A game show is an original idea, to say the least... I thought it was interesting that the channel were taking seriously the opportunity to educate their audience. There's a very serious purpose behind it." The show was well received by interfaith groups, Ethan Cole of the Christian Post wrote, "Faith Off draws contestants with religious backgrounds from Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism, and has them compete for cash prizes by answering questions on both general and religious knowledge.” Hussain said of the show in an interview with The Guardian "We’re living in a multi-faith, multi-cultural society, so it's about transferring the basic blocks of knowledge. It’s also about learning the similarities between religions, instead of focusing on the differences."
The Pakistan Floods
In 2011 Hussain wrote, produced and directed "The Pakistan Floods", a TV documentary made in response to the lack of support from western governments to the humanitarian crisis in Pakistan. The film was commissioned by Press TV and broadcast in the UK in 2011.
Humanitarian Films
Between the years 2010 and 2014, Hussain produced a number of international documentaries for a host of UK charities such as ActionAid International and Islamic Relief. Hussain travelled to over 30 countries during this period including Lebanon, Mali, Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia. He produced the film for the 25th anniversary of Muslim Aid, as well as the film for the 50th anniversary of UKIM. He also produced a film in Mali for Islamic Relief with renowned scholar Imam Zaid Shakur. In 2008 Hussain was an official media partner for the Islam Expo, an event heralded for its ability to encourage dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims.
In June 2015 Hussain re-located to Saudi Arabia, specifically to film an untitled project about the Haram in Makkah. After spending over a year in research and pre-production the film finally went into production in October 2016. Further filming was carried out in the Haram in February 2017, and the film One Day in the Haram is slated for release in September 2017. One Day in the Haram is the story of the Haram in Makkah as seen through the eyes of the workers. It is 90 minutes in length and structured around the 5 daily Islamic prayers. In an interview with Arab News Hussain said "he wanted to show how successfully the Haram is run, how organized its departments are, and how seriously its workers take their jobs".
