Channel 4 has decided to broadcast the adhan. This is the Islamic call to prayer. This means that when the adhan is broadcast it means devout Muslims will be aware that it is time to pray according to their religion. In Muslim countries it is traditionally carried out by the muezzin through a tannoy. This is contained within the tower of a mosque and the local population will be expected to go into a mosque like sheep being manouevred into an enclosure. What Channel 4 are proposing is to act as the muezzin. However, Channel 4 are forgetting that this is not a Muslim country and that Muslims should be expected to organise their own prayers.
During Ramadan it will broadcast at sunrise. This would tell the Muslim population that it is time to fast. This means Muslims will forego food between sunrise and sunset because it was said to be the time period corresponding with Ramadan that their prophet Mohammed fasted in the cave in which he is said to have the visions of the Archangel Gabriel which led to the revelations in which the content of the Quran were apparently revealed. It is not clear why it is necessary for Channel 4 to do this because when a Muslim gets up in the morning and the sun is up then he or she knows that it is time to fast. If they want to eat in the morning then they should set the alarm to a time before sunrise. Likewise if they want to pray; they have been managing up to now without a national broadcasting system.
During Ramadan Muslims are expected to pray up to five times a day. The first call to prayer will go out at 3 am; on the first day of Ramadan, on the 9th July, the subsequent four calls to prayer will interrupt programming. On subsequent days these will be broadcast on the website. This will happen every day for thirty days.
www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/jul/02/channel-4-Muslim-call-to-prayer-ramadan
Channel 4 clearly wanted to attract viewers. The head of factual programming, Ralph Lee, claimed that they wanted to attract young Muslims. So basically Britain’s officially 2.8 million strong Muslim population represents a growing source of viewers for Channel 4’s mediocre programming. I say officially because of the sheer numbers of illegal migrants that have accumulated in this country ever since the government lost control of the borders. This begs the question of to what extent Channel 4 will bombard the population with pro-Islamic propaganda in this historically Christian country.
Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, pointed out that the percentage of Muslims in this country is small even though he seems to think that Islam should be on a par with Christianity in this country. He claims that Channel 4’s coverage would balance out the BBC coverage of Christianity. There is no reason why it should. Christianity, despite the declining number of followers, is the historical religion of Britain even if it is inherently Christianised paganism. Islam is a recent addition to the religious landscape in this country. This would represent a distortion. Channel 4 is thereby undermining the true narrative of religious heritage in Britain for commercial gain.
They also justify it by claiming that they are concerned with how Muslims are represented within the national media. Lee argues that when Muslims are mentioned it is in regard to terrorist incidents whether as the terrorist or as contrasting moderate voices. This is true to some extent. Whenever there is a terrorist incident involving Muslims then the Muslim population is thrust into the spotlight. However, this depiction is not as unfavourable to Muslims as Channel 4 tries to make out. This coverage of Muslims depicts them as a harmless minority under constant harrassment from the majority and are reacting against the majority – a narrative that is not backed up by the facts. In fact there is an aggressive campaign by elements of the Muslim community because they think that we should become Muslim – no doubt Channel 4’s ramadan month will be encouraging. Refer to Gilligan’s article within the Telegraph on Tell Mama (there is a link in one of my previous blogs). It seems likely that Channel 4 would broadcast this false narrative to an even greater extent.
Channel 4 seems to represent itself as a champion of the underdog; pursuing a ‘progressive’ political agenda. Lee has claimed that ”no doubt channel 4 will be criticised for focusing attention on a ‘minority’ religion but that’s what we’re here to do: provide space for the alternative and a voice to the under-represented. Let’s not forget that Islam is one of the few religions that’s flourishing in the UK.” Basically, the number of Muslims are growing and Channel are preparing to capitalise, and in order to underplay commercial motivations, they talk in principled, politicised language. Not exactly convincing.
This sends a message out to the Muslim community. Waves of individuals and groups constantly seek to launch terrorist atrocities against our society… and we will willingly veer our society towards an Islamic direction because we are afraid of death and consider commercial interest and profit more important than defending our own traditions and values. It is difficult to see the incentive for the non-violent sections of the Islamic communities to turn in their own fundamentalists. The fundamentalists will be delighted with Channel 4’s decision. Just up the campaign and see what other concessions the kuffar throw their way…
Unsurprisingly the Muslim Council of Britain are delighted. They claimed that it symbolises ‘belonging and solidarity’. These descriptions are not exactly explanatory and would require translation. Preferably by someone cynically minded. It is not clear whether the Muslim Council of Britain are expecting further concessions but it is probable. However it is implied that the MCB would find it difficult to belong to something non-Islamic; their attitude to our cultural heritage seems ambiguous at best. It is not to say that this country should adapt to the expectations of Muslims, but that Muslims should adapt to our traditional non-Islamic identity and become comfortable with it. Gimmicks such this will only raise expectations.
Sanderson also warned about potential proselytising. He claimed that ”we [secularists] don’t want to see any broadcaster becoming a platform for religious proselytising”. It is doubtful as to whether the MCB would see this as a problem. So while Channel 4 would see this as a controversial issue that will boost their viewing figures this could be used as a platform to gain converts. This would undoubtedly allow many Muslims to overlook the use of their religion as a means by Channel 4 to provoke controversy.
It is also further justified through the argument that it will teach the population that Islam is about more than bombs. It is unlikely that anyone genuinely believes that it is only about bombs; people generally know that Muslims pray. It is difficult to see how this Islamic incursion into British broadcasting will shift the public perception of Islam to a more peaceful perception. Constant attempts by fundamentalist groups to carry out terrorist atrocities, that are foiled by our security services, are nonetheless an objective fact; not to mention inciteful passages in the Quran. The knowledge that Muslims fast in addition to prayer will not change many minds. Along as it attracts considerable viewing figures then it is unlikely that Channel 4 cares how many minds it manages to change.
This is purely an attempt to create publicity for Channel 4. Ralph Lee himself says that he aims to provoke. They have done these stunts before. One year President Ahmedinejad of Iran, the Muslim who was recorded as saying that Israel should be wiped off the map, was invited to give the Christmas message on Channel 4. Not to mention other depraved programmes. It is unlikely that Channel 4 actually care about the public perceptions of Muslims or that they would ‘provocatively’ suggest that Britons should defend out traditional institutions and values against multiculturalism. In the former they are concerned with commercial gain and in the latter case they would prefer to stay on the side of political correctness in case they are bombarded with ‘isms’ that could undermine their marketing strategy. Therefore only the ‘right’ people should be offended.
These ‘right people’ would include groups such as Britain First described in the Daily Mail (2/7/13) as a Right-Wing Group. It called for a boycott and said that we should ‘get ready for a months worth of pandering to Islam, courtesy of Channel 4. A boycott would be easy to do. After all, it is this channel that brought us Big Brother. However, what they are forgetting is that there is constant pandering to Islam by the entire broadcasting establishment. It is true that they broadcast Muslim terrorist atrocities but these can hardly be ignored; bombs going off tend to attract attention. The more that these incidents appear in the press the more we are told that Islam means peace rather than submission as is really the case.
The danger is that Channel 4 will create a precedent because they will fuel demand for further Islamification of our institutions generally. That is why anyone who cares about our traditions must avoid Channel 4 at least while this commercial charade is in progress, and demand greater a proportion of programming dedicated to our traditions and cultural heritage. The Muslim community will just need to accept this situation because, to be entirely blunt, we were here first.
resistancetoantidemocraticleft 