Prime Time for Islamic Television

Between 60 and 80 Islamic satellite television broadcasters have been launched over the last decade. Their aim is to proclaim the "true" Islam. But which one is the right one? Mona Sarkis reports

The mobile telecommunications provider Du operates in the Gulf Emirates, and during the first four days of this year's Islamic fasting month of Ramadan alone, the company conveyed more than 350,000 good wishes in the form of text messages. Arab satellite television channels also profit from such services. These are difficult to finance through advertising revenue – the market is huge, but the target groups are too fragmented.

This is why broadcasters of all kinds require investors that generate profits by exploiting what is the very real mobile phone addiction of audiences. Commercial partnerships with telecommunications companies are correspondingly common. Viewers are drawn in not least by a dial-a-fatwa service offering Islamic opinions over the telephone.

The popularity of this particular service has seen the fatwa channel al-Majd (Glory) catapulted to the position of top Saudi religious broadcaster. Founded in the year 2003, it now operates 12 channels.

Innumerable preachers

The fatwas decreed on al-Majd often have heads shaking on both a regional and international level. But the fact that they are so in demand is evidence of Muslims' great need to find out more about how to lead a truly devout lifestyle. But whether or not the small-screen preachers can offer reliable help in this remains questionable – particularly as there are so many of them.

The reason for this is, if nothing else, the state education system. If 50 years ago one was familiar with Ulama (religious scholars) and Fuqaha (those educated in Islamic law), there are now numerous new qualifications, from Duktur (graduate of a sharia university) to Da'i (one who calls people to Islam).

This development has been reinforced even further by satellite television, which emerged in the late 1990s. This was a lucrative business – and in the religious sector – the only possible forum for social exchange in countries ruled by dictatorships. Added to that the consequences of 11 September 2001. Religion found itself in a tight spot, and the need for debate required an outlet.

A quasi monopoly on religious expertise

Al-Majd became one such outlet, for ultra-orthodox Muslims at least. The broadcaster presents itself as free of women, music and sin, true to the Wahhabi ideology that has a long tradition in Saudi Arabia. Wahhabist leaders come from long-established families with a quasi monopoly on religious expertise. But the increasing importance of the media is threatening this monopoly, as anonymous sheikhs with differing opinions began appearing everywhere.

The Wahhabists felt obliged to demonstrate their power through the media – particularly as the Saudi monarchy is closely linked to them. A connection that is not without schizophrenic qualities: The royal family's way of life, decried by critics as morally corrupt and hypocritical, is an open secret, and its members are actively involved in the marketing of other ideologies – as long as these spell profits. For example, the stock portfolio of Prince Walid Bin Talal includes shares in Eurodisney and Rupert Murdoch's media empire, as well as the majority holding in al-Resalah (The Message).

This channel, launched in 2006, broadcasts from glamorous studios and includes in its output musical interludes that the management says do not contravene Islamic norms in the least. Devout Muslims are not bound to perpetually and grimly cite the Koran or episodes from the life of the Prophet, they say – on the contrary, that would be boring.

They say it is much more interesting and absolutely compatible with Islam to address the issues of love, friendship and sexuality. And even though al-Resalah has not yet caught up with broadcaster al-Majd in the popularity stakes, it appears to be making good progress in this regard.

Resalah's declared goal, to disseminate the teachings of Islam in an entertaining way, is an approach that the first Islamic satellite broadcaster Iqra (Read) adopted back in 1998. Via the far-reaching network Art, it aimed from the outset at those Muslims who would usually be tuning in to western satellite broadcasters.

Iqra presents unconventional preachers who appeal to middle class believers, many of whom have been educated abroad. Forty-three-year-old Amr Khaled, for example, and 31-year-old Moez Masoud. Both appear clean-shaven and wearing casual suits. Both dispense with the practice of reciting fear-inducing Koran verses and speak about personal matters in their respective dialects.

Masoud, for example, says he regrets the wild nights he spent as a student in the US, and the death of his friend in a car accident caused by alcohol. He reports on his first contact with the Koran, which he only understood in English translation – as a way of underlining that you don't have to be an expert to get close to God.

Islam light

What could be termed as "Islam light" puts the accent on tolerance, fairness and an entrepreneurial spirit packaged up in ethical cotton wool. But there is material of a politically powerful nature lurking beneath these dulcet tones.

For example, in a programme for Ramadan presented by another young preacher Ahmad al-Shukairi, he investigates early Islam – as a way of drawing a comparison with the contemporary Muslim mindset. One blogger commented in advance of the edition: "Why is our potential going to waste these days? Are we more stupid than centuries ago? No, we have the wrong leaders."

This is a view that you are very unlikely to hear from supporters of the Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon. There, ordinary people do not hate their leaders – they are even proud of them. And of themselves. The reasons for this are opposition to Israel and economic success – the underdogs, described by the enemy as "fouling" the suburbs of Beirut in the 1960s – often went on to become well-established businesspeople.

This transformation is reflected in the country's very own home-grown broadcaster. In the elegant studios of al-Manar (The Lighthouse), a sheikh holds a weekly discussion of religious matters with guests of both sexes. In his accentuation of tolerance and neighbourly love, he is similar to the "Islam light" preachers, but he goes beyond this when he says that paradise is also open to atheists, and that God knows no discrimination.

This kind of progressive attitude is also rooted in the multi-cultural constellation within which Hezbollah operates. In the elected parliament the movement is in a coalition with Communists and Christians, and in accordance with Lebanese law, al-Manar's supervisory board also includes Sunni Muslims and Christians.

But aside from all political tactics, the Hezbollah community has undergone a process of modernisation, the results of which it is now demonstrating with its head held high. In contrast to the conservative style of al-Majd, al-Manar allows unveiled female presenters and secular guests, and addresses questions such as that raised by the recently deceased Shiite cleric Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah: "Where does it state that a woman, even if she is still a virgin, requires the consent of her father to marry?"

Mona Sarkis

Translated from the German by Nina Coon

Editor: Lewis Gropp/Qantara.de

Qantara.de

Foreign Television Broadcasters in Arabic
Waving the Flag in Arab Living Rooms
A steadily increasing number of foreign television broadcasters are battling to win over public opinion in Arab countries. Media experts forecast an intensification of this competition, especially now that the private sector has also stepped into the arena. By Mona Sarkis

"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

Amr Khaled
"I Want to Move Arabic Youth!"
The Egyptian-born preacher Amr Khaled motivates and galvanises Arabic youth. One of his theses is that Muslims who live in Western societies must also respect the values of those societies. Mona Naggar reports

Satellite Channels Targeted
Arab Freedoms Desert the Screen
The Arab ruling elites like to talk a good democracy – but talk is about as far as they get. Rather than advancing the cause of democracy their actions have been directed towards curtailing the newly won freedoms of the media. Amr Hamzawy reports on the Arab regimes' attempts to gag the media nuisance