Episode 1
Channel 4 Sunday 16 December at 8pm
Can Islam help repair the moral fabric of British society? To test it out, Imam Ajmal Masroor asks six non-Muslims and one lapsed Muslim to follow Islamic teachings for three weeks. The six come from Harrogate, in Yorkshire, a town with very few ethnic minority inhabitants.
How will the six volunteers cope with living according to the laws of the Qur'an? The group finds it difficult to accept the principle tenets of Islam and, for some, the implications of the experiment are far-reaching. Karla, a white British Christian and her boyfriend Ash, a lapsed Muslim, have been dating for two years. So far Ash's conservative Muslim family have refused to meet Karla but she hopes that by immersing herself in their way of life she may convince them to accept her.
The process starts with a sweep of the group’s homes for items that are haram – forbidden by Islam – such as alcohol, pork, inappropriate clothing, lads’ mags… The next stage is to add a schedule of praying five times a day. The rebellion begins almost immediately. Taxi driver Phil retreats to his local pub for pork pies and beer; others object to the rigid dress codes and say that they disagree with many aspects of the faith.
To Ajmal’s disappointment, only three turn up for Friday prayers at the end of the first week. The group are more resistant to Muslim teaching than he had imagined. So will he and his team of mentors be able to convince the wayward group that Islam really does have something to offer them?
http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/C/can_you_believe_it/debates/...
This show could be very very good or absolutely awful.
Which Imam is that? I recognise the name is he that young guy who is khateeb at Goodge Street Mosque? I saw him give at talk at Regent's Park Mosque I think, he was quite good.
Don't just do something! Stand there.
That would be young trendy imam [url=http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42097000/jpg/_42097480_masroor_bbc... Masroor[/url].
About whom [url=http://mpacuk.org/content/view/4/733/103/]MPACUK[/url] said, "You have crossed swords with MPACUK, betrayed the Jihad and the Muslims we protect – its time men like you learnt there was a price for your betrayal. Never underestimate the power of MPACUK's dark side."
woo.... now THAT has potential for a good TV show!
Don't just do something! Stand there.
People only hate Islam because they dont know Islam.
How can any person ever hate peaceful and beautiful teachings from God?
As soon as anyone comes to know what true Islam actually is, then he or she converts and becomes a Muslim. Which is why Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Allah has said He will make His religion overcome all others religions no matter how much Kaafirs hate this happening.
Ayatollah rightly named America as "Great Satan".
www.presstv.ir
Of course Islam is the perfect and most beautiful way of life.
But Non-Muslims see the Muslims before they read the scriptures and books…take a look around us, are we Muslims portraying that beauty in our actions?
Why did people convert to Islam at the time of the Prophet
and in the early history of Islam? It was due to seeing the beauty of Islam being implemented in the lives of Muslims.
Islam was spread through the character of the Muslims/Shuyukh, not through the distribution of literature (which modern Muslims seem to think is all there is to da’wah).
It was because of the characters of a few Muslim merchants that thousands of people reverted in Indonesia, now it is the most highly populated Muslim country.
Most people (correct me if im wrong) revert after studying Islamic literature not because they have been impressed by the actions of a Muslim they may work/study with, imagine how fast Islam would grow if Muslims adopted the characters of early Muslims.
Allah says that he only changes the state of a person/nation if they help themselves.
'To cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always'
Alexis Carrel (French Surgeon)
Who watched it?
It was good stuff. I loved Ajmal's no nonsence - smooth talking approach.
Wasnt too sure about the bit when the south london Imam randomly approached girls in the town centre looking to 'fix' the gay gay.
I felt for Carl, her boyfriend doesnt set a good example for Islam.
With a gay gay, a glamour model and some opininated non Muslims - the team have their work cut out for them.
Look forward to watching the next episode.
i didn't much like it, especially the imam who's way of making the gay guy be more 'strait' was to stop him wearing bright coloured clothes. has he ever seen the nigerians on hajj/umrah? bright oranges, pinks, purples etc.
they had a tough time though, the non-muslims were, on the whole, not approaching it with an open mind at all
Don't just do something! Stand there.
I think the tasks might be made to push the people to the limits just to create entertainment and not what islam preaches and if this is the case the imam should try and prevent this.
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane, by those who couldn't hear the music...
Where did they got those Imams from? Thay are not very good at explaining why certain things are prohibited in Islam even i was confused at times.
No not the gum drop buttons! – Gingy
I think the tasks might be made to push the people to the limits just to create entertainment and not what islam preaches and if this is the case the imam should try and prevent this.
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane, by those who couldn't hear the music...
Be sure to watch it 2night at 8 guys.
Its cringy, but makes compelling viewing.
Aww man.
I hate these shows.
They're like throwing Islam into the spot light and take diggs at it.
They make me sick.
Well this is one viewer who wont be watching.
Back in BLACK
i missed it, again! was too busy sleeping.
what happened?
It was cringy - the non Muslims were bad mouthing Islam, taking the mick out of the tasks they were supposed to do and losing their temper during their 17hour fast.
And the team of Muslim mentors...I dont know what they were thinking getting a bunch of non Muslims, most of whom have never experienced self control/self dicipline etc to suddenly wake up at the crack of dawn, cover up, pray five times a day and get through a 17hour fast.
No wonder the non Muslims were complaining.
i watched some of it
a bit embarrasing like alot of these documentaries lately...
the 'scholars' cant really answer the questions
i dont blame the views and attitudes of non muslims
programme is a bad advert for islam
Without Ash's girlfriend and the taxi driver it would have been a good experience for the other people in the group.
Ash's girlfriend, calls herself a professional business woman and then gets all giddy and excited when she finds out someone smuggled in a portable DVD player and makes jokes about being locked up and flogged. And she expects that by wearing a scarf for few days, fasting and doing it all on TV Ash's family is going to except her. The woman has issues with her boyfriend and his family but it is projecting them onto all things Islam.
There's way too much focus on Ash's girlfriend and the taxi driver. They're the ones who make the most fuss so the producers reckon that's good TV. They might as well not put the programme on.
This is a very cheap and immature imitation of the Sufi retreat docu on BBC 2.
I also dislike Dawns zero tolerance approach...at least ajmal can win some people over with his smooth talk.
I think Dawn is expecting everyone in the group to follow the rules and make the most of the experience. She probably didn't expect people to come in and start refusing to do basic things.
new movie to be realised - Muslim Harry. it's disgusting
http://www.youtube.com/russrazz
...You'd think as a convert she'd be a tad bit more considerate and understanding regarding where they're coming from.
I doubt she covered, fasted, started praying and gave up all her bad habits over night.
Think about it from her perspective, she is subjected to people who swear, drink and in her eyes disrespect her religion which she loves.
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane, by those who couldn't hear the music...
No I thought she lacked a bit of sense of humour. She's taking it so seriously and nobody else is.
Hardly any of the non-Muslims seem up for it, so why take part?! Sure it's all about entertainment but it makes Islam look crazy in the process.
It just makes Islam look like it's all about salah, fasting, and girls must wear hijab and absolutely nothing else. Islam is so much more, but it doesn't seem like they understand or realise that at all, so what's the point of the show?
this show is so stupid, makes me angry! all this show is going to do is, put people of islam! it's going to make islam seem so hard and strict, imo the best way into islam is through sufism. they will only become muslim if they believe in the shahdah, and that should be their ulimate goal (the imams or whatever), then after that, they will naturally want to practice and learn.
i disagree. sufism is a part of islam, BUT only a part of it. if people go to sufism through mainstream islam that is much better. i know of sufis who dont do their 5 daily prayers because they're already 'so close to God'. What on earth is that? The Prophet
is the most beloved of Allah (swt) and he used to prayer his 5 daily prayers.
I think certain sects of sufism can be dangerous for people without a firm basis in mainstream islam.
Don't just do something! Stand there.
lol. people are so ignorant about sufism it is unbelievable! define to me what a sufi is Ya’qub. sufis are very rare, just because you follow a certain tehreeq which promotes sufism, it doesn’t make you a sufi!
there is no such thing as certain sects of sufism, sufism is all about conquering the nafs and submitting completely to the will of Allah and taking all dunya away from the heart. don’t get sufism confused with the practices of different groups.
i've been to syria, i've been to egypt, i've seen it with my very own eyes. its simply wrong of you to say there aren't different sects of sufis, some of whom go on their own pilgrimages to different places, have their own sets of turbans to identify them as 'seperate' from other muslims.
there may be long explanations as to why it is ok to turn your back to the qiblah and towards a tomb to make du'aa, but these might be confused by someone who is not yet a muslim and is trying to learn about tawhid.
i have nothing against the practice of tasawuf, but to pretend there arent sects calling themselves 'sufis' and doing all sorts of crazy forms of 'worship' is misguided to say the least.
Don't just do something! Stand there.
i agree with yaqub
sufism is a part and parcel of islam
but there are peopel who abuse the name of sufism/tasawuff eg i dont pray cos im so close to god is nothing but misguidance.
As long as every practise is backed up with quran, sunnah and consensus of our classical scholars then we have no probs.
as imam shafi said (rough translation):
Islam without tasawwuf is incomplete
Tassawuf without islam is misguidance
The combination of the two is complete Islam
So u cant deny tasawuf but u cant just follow tasawuf and ignore othere tenents of islam.
Salam
I hate this program.
Absolutely pathetic.
Omrow
best program today
was surprised with final feedback from all the volunteers
it has had positive impact on most of them.... which i wasnt expecting at all.
all in all ajmal was good, the imam mohammad wasnt.
some tasks defeated the purpose n were a bit embarrassing.
i think channel 4 are the winners here and 1 thing this show has done is that it has got many many non muslims to watch program about islam, discuss islam at home and at work places, question it, look in to it...which is a massive thing to acheive...
many work colleagues were discussing it with me who never watch anything religious or stay away from religion etc.
overall i think the programme did some good, some damage, but i think overall it has reached out to mainstream non muslims to look at islam
Good to see that spending time in the Muslim shop made a difference to the taxi driver - he was a difficult guy...(but do Britsh Muslim Paki's really support England when it comes to cricket?)
It was good to see that the gay gay knows how to practise self-control.
Not happy about Ash marrying Carla - she's a bit too gobby and critical of Islam.
Not sure what the point of the 'niqab' task was? How is that introducing people to Islam - esp given that the Hijaab was hard enough to do...it wasnt surprising that the people of harrowgate didnt want to know.
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