Constantly, neglecting the idea of Islamization in Pakistan under the political fundo’s of Islam and Socialism was keep creating an agony in me. I was never pleased by the Islamization storm blazing the soul of Islam and direct relation of this pure and sacred land neither I was happy to see the provocative, malicious standard of this newly deployed media. We were not happy when all the democratic powers did not rule out the importance of media by making it their own puppet nor did we appreciate the birth of media’s freedom under a dictator.
Some where, I realized that media was too young to handle that freedom just like a 19 years old guy out in his dormitories after high school jumping around and fusing marijuana. But, that 19 year old undergrad rookie does have other activities as well. Unlike, the media in Pakistan which is running out of software all the way. Copying and pasting lots of neighborhood programs and few international one’s but of them are better enough to make the vibe around.
Where, political talk shows hold all the lime light and the politician see it an opportunity, an honor to be invited by the one of the major anchor who hold all the right to tarnished his image. However, we have made equal space for our cult – religious; I’m saying cult-religious because we do not follow or practice the soul of our religion we just announce the combination of our religious attributes which go along our cultural Diaspora, our mothers prefer following them. I do not know the major and core impact of all these religious channels and religious talk shows except the claim to fame of these religious show anchor who later turned themselves out to be a “Islamic Scholar” without doing making any difference in society they do get enough modeling assignment’s that now Halal Ghee and Oil are selling on their name as they have turned out to be their brand ambassador.
Whereas, I see a complete change in an Islamic state who doesn’t bang the beat of being a successful Islamic state and socially, academically, technologically way ahead than rest of the Islamic state. It’s Malaysia I have always been fond of how they make it this big around the globe by making huge impact in technology where rest of the Islamic states doesn’t even care about except investing trillions of dollar per annum on consumer electronic products and various gadgets. How peacefully a small country like Malaysia expand its wing to have a slogan of the continent that “Malaysia Truly Asia”.
By far leading the other Islamic states Malaysian media has led the rest of the media of Islamic world by not copying those westernize program or if they do at least they have come up with something of their own roots. Something, that goes along the religious and moral values. Like in my country we never pay much attention on nominating Imam’s in mosque. Malaysian media has run a reality show to discover the best Imam for their mosque and for their society the one who can imbalance the religion Islam and social values of the society described in religion very clearly.
The 10-episode, prime time program sought to stimulate interest in Islam among the young and create some modern role models for them by combining a reality TV format with traditional religious teachings.
The show attracted interest in Malaysia and overseas as the good-looking contestants dressed in sharp-looking black suits recited verses from the Koran, sang religious hymns, washed corpses and slaughtered sheep according to Muslim rules, as well as counseled promiscuous young Malaysians. As the last man standing, Asyraf won a scholarship to the Al-Madinah University in Saudi Arabia, a job as a cleric at a mosque in Kuala Lumpur, a car, an iPhone, an all-expenses paid pilgrimage to Mecca, and a cash prize. Asyrak said he was delighted “not about me being the champion, but I felt happy the moment this program had reached the ears around the world.”“All the “Imam Muda” participants are very satisfied as our target is not about individual success, but our target is the success of the community, the success of youths and success of Islam itself,” he told reporters.
More than 1,000 Malaysians auditioned for the show but only 10 candidates were selected to battle for the young imam title, based on their understanding and practice of Islamic teachings. Imams are tasked with leading prayers and sorting out community problems at mosques in Malaysia where more than 60 percent of the 28 million populations are Muslim.
For the show Asyraf and the other contestants had to live an austere life away from families for three months, with no TV, Internet or phones and following strict learning schedules with prominent Islamic preachers. Each week the candidates were tested on their religious knowledge and assessed on how well they performed tasks with the final word down to former grand mufti of Malaysia’s national mosque, Hasan Mahmood. Producers of the “Young Imam” TV program at Kuala Lumpur pay-TV channel Astro Entertainment said they were delighted with its success although declined to release audience numbers. The network hoped the content would be of interest in other markets.
The grand finale of “Imam Muda” was streamed live on Internet in 16 countries, including the United States, United Arab Emirates, India, Canada and Germany, and a Facebook page for the show had attracted nearly 60,000 fans and made the contestants into local celebrities.
“From the content perspective we certainly want to be able to turn this into a format, to be duplicated, translated and replicated in other countries, in other markets,” said Astro Entertainment executive director Zainir Aminullah. – REUTERS
