Channel 4 History of Islam sparks Flood of Complaints

Channel 4 is at the centre of a storm over a programme it broadcast on the history of Islam.

Islam: The Untold Story has triggered nearly 550 complaints to both the television regulator Ofcom and Channel 4 itself.

It has also sparked a bitter war of words on Twitter involving leading historians and Islamic scholars.

Since it was screened last week, presenter Tom Holland, a historian with a double first from Cambridge, has been subjected to a torrent of abusive tweets, some of which have included physical threats.

He is accused of distorting the history of Islam by claiming the Koran makes little or no reference to the religious city of Mecca.

One Twitter user accused Mr Holland of trying to destroy Islamic history while another called him a ‘fool’ for suggesting Islam is a ‘made-up religion’.

The Islamic Education and Research Academy has published a lengthy paper denouncing the programme. But historians have rallied to Mr Holland’s defence.

Dan Snow, who has presented history shows for the BBC with his father Peter, described the programme as ‘a triumph’, tweeting: ‘Dear angry, mad people – it is conceivable that you know more than the world’s leading scholars, but very unlikely.’

The Academy claims the programme’s assertion that there are no historical records detailing the life and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad is flawed.

‘Holland appears to have turned a blind eye to rich Islamic historical tradition,’ says the Academy.

Ofcom, which has received 150 complaints about the programme’s alleged bias, inaccuracy and offence caused to Muslims, is considering an investigation.

The BBC’s new sitcom Citizen Khan, which confronts the issues faced by a modern Muslim family, is also being considered for investigation after receiving just 20 complaints.

Last night Mr Holland said: ‘The origins of Islam are a legitimate subject of historical inquiry and this film is wholly in keeping with other series and programmes on Channel 4.

'We were of course aware that we were touching deeply-held sensitivities and went to every effort to ensure that the moral and civilisational power of Islam was acknowledged.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Holland-subjected-torrent-abusive-tweets.html




Brothers and sisters, this is an intentional and malicious distortion of Islam, aimed at giving thousands of viewers a false perception of our beautiful deen.

Make your displeasure known.

Register your complaint: [URL="http://www.channel4.com/4viewers/contact-us"]http://www.channel4.com/4viewers/contact-us[/URL]

Apart from this, iERA would like to hold a public discussion with Mr Tom Holland on the nature of the Islamic historical record, and set the record straight, insha Allah.

May the truth liberate us from all falsehoods.
Ameen.

So I submitted my report - it's a 3 step process, easy enough.

I was very upset at the presenters blatant distortion of Islamic history. Being a historian myself, and one who studies comparatively - I find that this documentary is inaccurate and misrepresents the history of Islam.

I would further demand an enquiry into this program and will contact OFCOM myself in order to make a complaint to them regarding the propagation of this program, which has been approved off the back of famous a father and son team - with no further analysis into the historical accuracy of said presentation. I find it odd that a national TV station would allow this sort of hapshackle film making to not only take place - but get aired on national TV. These kind of programs belong on youtube - where the rest of the trash goes. Now, I'm a subscriber to 4OD and channel4.com - but if I see one more program bending history out of shape - then you will lose my interest. For a long time I have liked channel 4 and I feel really let down by this mis-hap that you let air on national TV.

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Scimi

Asalaamu Alaikum,

I think the frustration comes from;

a) The bias of the show, very lack of Islamic speakers to give the "other side" at least.
b) Some of the claims which not only has been dismissed by western scholarship, but one which also ignores 200 years of it and 1400 years of history (like dismissing oral tradition, which is as rediculous as dismissing most of history all together)

I think if "a)" was present, it wouldn't have been so bad or got a negative reaction such as this. But due to the lack off, many people you feel would've been mislead and pretty much "brought what they saw on TV".

But personally, just wondering, what will complaining to Channel 4 do exactly? What action are we expecting?

It lets them know that we won't stay silent, and that they are getting a reputation for being Islamophobic... no TV channel wants to be zenophobic, not in the public eye...

...Despite what atheists might have us believe - there are still a majority of people who believe in some faith or another in the UK, and only a minority of those who don't... it just so happens that the minority are in the public eye - making TV programs etc... what is their ultimate agenda? Doesnt take rocket scientist to work out that they play religions off against each other (news networks) and also misrepresent a religion so members from other faith groups can point fingers and this will undoubtedly cause more animosity (programs such as this one).

As Ahmed Thomson said "Dajjal system" I can see it. Subhaan-Allah. All they do is deceive.

Scimi

EDIT: just checked my mail and got this:

Hello,
Thank you for your enquiry.
A member of our Viewer Enquiries team will review your e-mail and will reply to you within the next 7 days.

If we need to forward your correspondence through to another Channel 4 department for an answer, we cannot guarantee a response time, but will get back to you as soon as we can.

For information about Channel 4 have a look at our FAQ section at www.channel4.com/4viewers/faq .

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Perseveranze said:

Asalaamu Alaikum,

But personally, just wondering, what will complaining to Channel 4 do exactly? What action are we expecting?

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Wa-alaikumsalam,

There has already been over 500 complaints about this documentary.

We have strength in numbers.

The more people that raise their voices....the greater the chance that this malicious documentary will get canned - this particular episode, and the possibility of any further series of this nature.

And by removing this series from circuit, will prevent thousands others from being fed this type of propaganda <-- all potential reverts in the making, insha Allah!

As well as making the public aware of ignorant fools - the like of 'historian' Tom Holland.

Its our duty to rise up against the forces that are maligning our deen.

We have the means.
And we have Allah (subhanawataála) on our side.
Victory will always be ours.
Its up to us to make the effort.

Yup, we should stand up for our Deen on all fronts. Whether that is in a conversation with a friend, on a forum, on the battlefield, on TV, radio, etc... all fronts.

Because they too, are fighting on all fronts.

If one reflects, one can definitely feel that an assault on Islam is in full swing - and from many MANY directions at once. I just only named a few above.

yet today, though we are large in number - we are weak sauce. Kinda reminds me of a hadeeth.

Scimi

Gotta admit, even to a conspiracy sceptic (or blind sheep, take your pick) like me, it's very suspicious that two high profile television programmes about Islam or Muslims which aired the same week have provoked such a reaction. I can't speak for Citizen Khan because I haven't seen it, but in the case of the documentary, it's beyond a knee-jerk reaction.

Your skepticism will only last until an appointed term. After which, the facts will add up to paint a picture that you cannot deny. It's inevitable Mr Anderson

Scimi

Saw Citizen Khan. It's like the brain-damaged offspring of Goodness Gracious Me and Only Fools and Horses, but it has its moments.

I don't know why they bother to make such lame attacks at Islam. Muslims in general are much more educated about their religion nowadays than ever before.

Every time they try to extinguish the light of Islaam, their falsehood is refuted Al Hamdu lillaah and The Truth becomes more and more apparent to the world.

It like trying to block out the light of the sun.

As much as they try, it's impossible.

Muezzin said:

It's like the brain-damaged offspring of Goodness Gracious Me and Only Fools and Horses

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Gosh, I dont think I could stomach that. :hmm:

Asalaamu Alaikum,

IERA is really one of a kind, which is a shame really. I don't know how it's like in the Arab world, but I feel there's very few Muslim intellects that engage and rebute these western critic's. Rather, we find these western critics tend to rebute themselves, and it's got to the point where they think they can teach us about our religion better than we can.

In the classical periods, there were so many Muslim intellects that would love to debate Non-Muslims and make refutations against them. When they came across Greek literature, this lead to a wave of Muslims challenging and writing against it, refuting it etc. which certainly contributed to the rising knowledge in the Islamic Golden age.

"The first important point to note about the spirit of Muslim culture then is that for purposes of knowledge, it fixes its gaze on the concrete, the finite. It is further clear that the birth of the method of observation and experiment in Islam was due not to a compromise with Greek thought but to prolonged intellectual warfare with it. In fact the influence of Greeks who, as Briffault says, were interested chiefly in theory, not in facts, tended rather to obscure the Muslim's vision of the Qur'an, and for at least two centuries kept the practical Arab temperament from asserting itself and coming to its own." - “The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam,” Dr. M. Iqbal

But today, it's like that great drive has slowly died down and due to this, people like Tom Holland can make such propaganda, false and weak based assertions. Instead of challenging the western mentality and way of thought, we end up loathing and absorbing it, which is one of the reasons why we tail behind. We need more Muslim intellects engaging, like IERA does, to make the west realise that they can't paint the same brush on Islam, as they do towards Christianity.

Asslamu Aliakum,

There is no need to complain. These institutions will not change their minds due to complaints. It is best to adopt a different strategy. First, it is best not to even directly make any comment about this programme yet. Your giving it attention that it does not deserve. If I had the time, I would do the following:

1. Identify the people who are involved in this programme.

2. Find out why they have made this programme in the first place. What motivates them?

3. Who financed them? You could be surprised. If they made this programme due to monetary gain, then this destroys their credibility. They do not care about presenting the truth. All they want to do is make money.

4. Find out one or two fault with this documentary. That's all you need. If you can prove one factual error made by the programme, then this casts doubt on the rest of the documentary. It's a good starting point. After this, examine the entire documentary, including the editing and soundtrack. Break it down. Every single word uttered in this documentary should not be overlooked.

5. Then look at other documentaries (not related to Islam) and see whether they contain any factual errors. Not just documentaries, but articles and other stories. If many of these articles/documentaries contain factual errors, then this will cast further doubt on the documentary about Islam.

6. Place everything in context. Write a report/book that explains all the issues above. A documentary should be created for those who hate to read. Market this and then take some sort of action.

No rushing. Patience is required.

The problem sis, is that though there are many intellectuals in the Arab lands - hardly any of them speak English.

The ones that do, often end up in educational establishments teaching other Arabs...

It seems that though they are aware of the onslought of media deception which misrepresents Islam - they don't really want to do anything about it.

As for us, who live in the west, we have to bear the brunt of these misrepresentations too... and it's not like we dont have English speaking intellectuals in the west. We do. But do they get air-time on the networks? Nope...

Countless times I've seen the speaker bring in a Muslim cleric on the BBC's Question time programme, and they seem to be hand picked so that Islam is once again, misrepresented.

It's just all a very big deception. I used to work in the media, and have to say - the methods employed to cover the truth, are actually quite ingenious.

DO we stand a chance? Ofcourse we do.

because they plot and plan, and Allah plans, and Allah is the best of planners

Still, this doesnt mean we do nothing. We do what we can.

Scimi

Let me just add, I doubt most people are even aware of this documentary. Most people are worried about their finances and the economy.

HOWEVER (getting dramatic here) it's interesting this documentary was released days before 9/11. Possibly this documentary was made to distract the public from the economy to Islam.

Scimitar said:

The problem sis, is that though there are many intellectuals in the Arab lands - hardly any of them speak English.

The ones that do, often end up in educational establishments teaching other Arabs...

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Asalaamu Alaikum,

This is why I'm trying to learn arabic, I'm hoping it will open up a new window. Particularly in regards to understanding Classical works.

Christians are fortunate in that a lot of the material for them is in English, with Muslims in the west, we can only go by what has been translated to us so far.

Tragic Typos said:

Asslamu Aliakum,

There is no need to complain. These institutions will not change their minds due to complaints. It is best to adopt a different strategy. First, it is best not to even directly make any comment about this programme yet. Your giving it attention that it does not deserve. If I had the time, I would do the following:

1. Identify the people who are involved in this programme.

2. Find out why they have made this programme in the first place. What motivates them?

3. Who financed them? You could be surprised. If they made this programme due to monetary gain, then this destroys their credibility. They do not care about presenting the truth. All they want to do is make money.

4. Find out one or two fault with this documentary. That's all you need. If you can prove one factual error made by the programme, then this casts doubt on the rest of the documentary. It's a good starting point. After this, examine the entire documentary, including the editing and soundtrack. Break it down. Every single word uttered in this documentary should not be overlooked.

5. Then look at other documentaries (not related to Islam) and see whether they contain any factual errors. Not just documentaries, but articles and other stories. If many of these articles/documentaries contain factual errors, then this will cast further doubt on the documentary about Islam.

6. Place everything in context. Write a report/book that explains all the issues above. A documentary should be created for those who hate to read. Market this and then take some sort of action.

No rushing. Patience is required.

Click to expand...

Thats what OFCOM is for.

They do the work for us. We just have to make as many complaints as we can, is all.

Scimi

Perseveranze said:

Asalaamu Alaikum,

This is why I'm trying to learn arabic, I'm hoping it will open up a new window. Particularly in regards to understanding Classical works.

Christians are fortunate in that a lot of the material for them is in English, with Muslims in the west, we can only go by what has been translated to us so far.

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Amazing, sister Perseveranze Masha-Allah, may Allah make you successful, Ameen.

We do need more works translated... especially the works from this century.

Scimi

Scimitar said:

Thats what OFCOM is for.


They do the work for us. We just have to make as many complaints as we can, is all.

Scimi

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Why? I'm assume OFCOM is a government institution. I don't trust any government body to look at Islamic issues. They are not going to focus on everything, just this particular documentary. Even if they did examine it, they will give channel 4 a simple slap on the wrist.

What I want is to smash channel 4. Trap it and destroy its credibility. They will continue to make false documentaries about Islam. Only way to stop channel 4 and it's annoying documentaries is to end the channel itself. Some may see this as extreme, but I think it is best to aim high.

Tragic Typos said:

Why? I'm assume OFCOM is a government institution. I don't trust any government body to look at Islamic issues. They are not going to focus on everything, just this particular documentary. Even if they did examine it, they will give channel 4 a simple slap on the wrist.

What I want is to smash channel 4. Trap it and destroy its credibility. They will continue to make false documentaries about Islam. Only way to stop channel 4 and it's annoying documentaries is to end the channel itself. Some may see this as extreme, but I think it is best to aim high.

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Walakum Salaam akhi

Though I admire the sentiment, I seen it as wishful thinking.

Please try to be mroe realistic... we deal with one issue at a time, without getting ahead of ourselves.

How many of us have done something like you have suggested. Has any Muslim group managed to shut down a TV network? No.

But you know who did? USA, when they shut down Al Jazeera while it still had its credibility... a few months after 911...

Less than a year after that, it's back - and guess what? It's REUTERS owned... and you know what? The Muslim world laps up everything the channel has to throw at them. Often fuelling the fire of hatred in the hearts of the viewership. Al Jazeera is now worse than BBC, Channel 4, CNN, Fox, etc - all rolled into one.

Best we learn how to walk first yes bro? lest we try to run and trip. Small, easy, manageable steps.

And for the record, OFCOM has stopped programs from airing over issues similar to these.

Scimi