Friday, Dec 23, 2005
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Manama: Bahrain will soon launch an Islamic television station that will help meet the needs of people keen on information about Islam, a deputy minister has said.
"The station will be a moderating voice and will help reorient the Muslim mind and behaviour in accordance with the teachings of Islam. It will be open to all sects in Bahrain," Islamic Affairs Undersecretary Dr Fareed Yacoob Al Meftah said in Manama late on Wednesday during a ceremony to honour laureates in Islamic contests.
Targeting youth
The TV station, still in its conception stage, will keep up with the latest developments within the Bahraini society, the official said. "The programmes will cover all contemporary and relevant issues and will target young men and women.
"It will be vastly different from the current stations and will not follow the traditional style of presenting Islamic and cultural programmes. It will be both outstandingly creative and highly informative," he said.
The private sector will help finance the satellite channel which will also feature competitions and quizzes to boost its ratings and finances.
Al Meftah added that Bahrain Radio and Television Corporation would contribute to the establishment of the channel. Bahrain currently has an Islamic radio station which broadcasts Quran verses, but no sermons or comments, round the clock.
Bahrain television channels are owned and operated by the government but the first privately-owned radio, Sawt Al Ghad, started broadcasting its entertainment programmes in September.
The owner of the station, Khalid Al Shimmari, told Gulf News that he would launch a private television channel next year. A business television channel is expected to be launched from the Bahrain Financial Harbour.
Genuine channels 'a must to bar extremists'
The proliferation of Islamic satellite channels within the Arab media world largely follows pressure from academics, thinkers and journalists with an Islamic orientation who made calls to establish these type of channels following the launch of Arab satellite channels in the early 1990s.
Iqra Channel, which started transmission from Rome in October 1998, was the first Islamic satellite channel established to serve Arabic-speaking viewers. It was soon followed by scores of channels in both Arabic and English, with varying results.
Former Iqra Channel director general Dr Abdul Qader Tash welcomed the formation of genuinely Islamic channels, saying that they were "essential to block the road of extremists, who want to drive a wedge between Muslims and other nations, and light the fire of the clash of civilisations in an age which demands close cooperation among nations to achieve peace and prosperity for all peoples."
Gulf News 2005. All rights reserved.
