Spiritual Guidance, Political Indoctrination, and Financial Profit

Islamic satellite channels are currently undergoing an unprecedented boom, as are the debates that question their funding and underlying message. Nelly Youssef reports

Many names dominate the world of Islamic channels on satellite networks: "Iqraa'" (recite), "al-Risala" (the message),"al-Nas" (the people), "al-Majd" (glory), "al-Fajr" (dawn), "al-Hikma" (wisdom) are among many on offer, each claiming its own distinct direction. For example, "al-Nas" (the people) broadcasts from a flat in the Muhandeseen area in Cairo and is owned by a Saudi businessman.

It began its transmission in 2006 and with modest technical capacities offered songs, a show on dream interpretation, another on weddings and some personal adverts.

When this selection failed to reach a wide market, channel executives changed their strategy by selecting a slogan that would inspire their viewers; al-Nas became "The station that will take you to Paradise", a makeover which catapulted it to the number one slot among Islamic channels and allowed it to take scholars from the more conservative Salafi movement on board as well as to prohibit women from working on the network.

Issues and problems of contemporary society

During its broadcasts, the RSS feed that runs at the bottom corner of the screen advertises a range of items from food and infertility treatments to job advertisements and call-in requests for religious songs – items whose arbitrary selection reveals the profit factor behind the feed.

The channel "Iqraa'" (recite), is another example of religious broadcasting. With its slogan "The Enjoyment of Directed Information" it is considered one of the pioneering religious channels, its viewers follow its programming with avid interest; so much so that it has managed to entice even a non-religious contingent.

Another channel, "al-Risala" (the message), according to its executive director, Ahmad Abu Hayba, faithfully adheres to its slogan of "Creativity and Tradition" by treating all religious matters in a modern fashion.

By going beyond the expected coverage of purely religious topics such as ritual, its material embraces the issues and problems of contemporary society from an Islamic angle.

He also points out that they exercise no censorship on content that involves delicate subject matter such as paternity tests, for example, where terms such as "sperm analysis" are used; such subjects are being covered in a way that combines journalistic integrity with a presentation free from any sensationalism, Abu Hayba says.

Ahmad Mahjub, a sociologist, notes that most of these religious channels have failed in their efforts to promote a new religious consciousness characterized by moderation. Instead, most end up as channels that provoke extremism and conservatism.

In fact, these channels, he adds, have come to profit from special programs that focus on the viewers' questions on fatwas (legal opinions or religious decrees) by providing a service known as "fatwa delivery" where a phone number is advertised allowing viewers anywhere in the world to call in with their questions on religious matters, the answer being delivered within twenty-four hours, via e-mail or SMS.

Monitoring strange fatwas

Mr. Mahjub also comments on the number of strange fatwas that were issued via these channels and which, by further contributing to media sensationalism, have drawn in even larger numbers of viewers. It's a simple enough equation: more viewer participation and letters means more advertising and profit.

These strange fatwas include everything from prohibiting a woman from undressing in front of a male dog, or the banning of cosmetics that contain milk ingredients to a more general prohibition on reciting the Qur'an over the dead.

Al-Shaykh Jamal Qutb, former head of the Azhar Fatwa Committee, in an interview with Qantara said he was personally opposed to this type of travesty and endorsed a suggestion made by Dr. Ali Gomaa, the Egyptian Grand Mufti, to appoint a committee for fatwas, whose responsibility it would be to monitor all fatwas issued on the satellite networks.

Furthermore, the committee, in making sure that such fatwas complied with religion, would help to regulate a process that so far has gone largely unsupervised.

At the same time, Qutb admits the difficulty involved in the introduction of comprehensive monitoring while also noting that respect for specialization, and specialized knowledge, has now become virtually extinct in Arab society, a development which encourages these channels to promote their brand of ad hoc programming that is desperately lacking in any form of planning.

Investing in ideology

Muhammad Abd Allah, a professor in the philosophy of religion at Cairo University, who recently concluded a study on these networks, has shown that their aim is purely one of financial gain.

Moreover, the channels are often run as an investment and subsidized by agencies or people with economic clout, as is demonstrated by their ability to attract famous media personalities such as former film stars, who then don the hijab, to present programs for them.

These religious networks have become a trend and are part of larger network packages owned by Arab businessmen; "Iqra'" (recite), for example, is part of the "Arab Radio and Television" network owned by the Saudi Salih Kamil while "Risala" (message), as part of the Rotana channels network, is owned by Saudi businessman al-Walid bin Talal.

These Islamic channels need to develop new directions by adding more variety to their output, such as contemporary drama or competition shows, and steer away from their single focus on talk shows. Above all, they could greatly benefit from a policy of impartiality, which would make them less likely to seem to be doing no more than playing a role as mouthpiece to a political ideology such as the Wahhabi or the Muslim Brotherhood.

All semblance of impartiality would certainly be lost were the mouthpiece trend to be encouraged and the networks to become purveyors of nothing but "politicized religion".

Nelly Youssef

Translated from the Arabic by Mona Zaki

Qantara.de

Arab Satellite Media
Al-Jazeera – The Enigma
On 1 November 1996 the Arab news network al-Jazeera started broadcasting from Qatar. Its bold news coverage sent shockwaves through the Arab world, and soon became the target of stinging criticism from both Western and Arab governments. By Larissa Bender

Arab Media under Discussion
"In the Arab World, the Media Are Seen as Part of the Conflict"
What effect do images have on television viewers, and what are their expectations of the media? Qantara.de talked with three Arab media representatives, Khaled Hroub, Nakhle El Hage, and Aktham Suliman