Ahlulbayt TV

Last updated
Ahlulbayt TV
Country United Kingdom
Broadcast area Ireland, United States, Africa, Middle East, Australia
Headquarters London
Programming
Language(s) English
History
Launched17 August 2009 (2009-08-17)

Ahlulbayt Television Network is the first exclusively English-language Shia Islamic television channel. [1] The channel was launched with much fanfare on Sky in the UK on 17 August 2009 and two months later on the Galaxy 19 platform covering North America from its London headquarters. A few months into its operations it also expanded to Atlantic Bird 4A (Nilesat) which covers the Middle East and North Africa. [2] The channel now broadcasts by satellite only from Astra 2G at 28.2°E [3]

The nonprofit religious channel, whose name is Arabic for the 'Holy Household', referring to the progeny of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, is staffed by British professionals from various backgrounds. In an interview in 2004 with a Kuwaiti magazine, Sayed Mahdi al-Modarresi had announced his hopes to launch the channel to "show the true, undistorted nature of Islam and Islamic civilization to the West". [4]

Ahlulbayt TV frequently features prominent Shia Muslims scholars and intellectuals including Sayed Fadhel Milani, Sayed Mahdi Modarresi, Sayed Mustafa Qazwini, Sayed Mohammad Rizvi, Sayed Mohammed Mousawi, Rebecca Masterton, Zahra Al Alawi, Amina Inloes, as well as others, and also broadcast live video feeds from the Holy City of Karbala.

The network's line-up includes several live call-in shows featuring guests who are invited to discuss religious and social matters. The channel, which seems to enjoy great popularity amongst Western-born Muslim youths, was also featured in Shelina Janmohamed's book Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World. [5] The channel preaches moderation and has several shows dedicated to women, presented by females from various backgrounds. "Reverts World" is also a weekly show dedicated to highlighting the challenges faced by converts. Its stated aim is to "serve the new generation of Muslims living in the West, addressing contemporary issues through cutting-edge programming and world-class shows" [1]

In early 2010 the channel launched its on-screen news ticker which frequently condemned "terrorist attacks" and extremist statements. To refocus the channel towards its religious and cultural ethos, the news ticker has since been taken down.

The channel's financial backing comes from viewers' donations and frequently asks viewers to partner with it in addition to ads and sponsorships.

Related Research Articles

Shīʿa Islam, otherwise known as Shīʿism or as Shīʿite or Shīʿī Islam, is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (khalīfa) and the Imam after him, most notably at the event of Ghadir Khumm, but was prevented from succeeding Muhammad as the leader of the Muslims as a result of the choice made by some of Muhammad's other companions (ṣaḥāba) at Saqifah. This view primarily contrasts with that of Sunnī Islam, whose adherents believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor before his death and consider Abū Bakr, who was appointed caliph by a group of senior Muslims at Saqifah, to be the first rightful (rāshidūn) caliph after Muhammad. Adherents of Shīʿa Islam are called Shīʿa Muslims, Shīʿites, or simply Shīʿa, Shia, or Shīʿīs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq</span> Iraqi political party

The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq is a Shia Islamist political party in Iraq. It was established in Iran in 1982 by Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim and changed its name to the current Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq in 2007. Its political support comes from Iraq's Shia Muslim community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Najaf</span> City in Iraq

Al-Najaf or An-Najaf al-Ashraf, Baniqia, is a city in central Iraq about 160 km south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2013 was 1,000,000 people. It is the capital of Najaf Governorate. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam and one of its spiritual capitals, whilst also remaining the center of Shia political power in Iraq. It is reputedly the burial place of Muhammad's son in law and cousin, Imam ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib. It is also the location of the largest cemetery in the world, Wadi-us-Salaam, of one of the most important seminaries in the Shi'i Islamic world, and a major pilgrimage destination for Shia Muslims.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imam Ali Shrine</span> 8th-century Abbasid-era mosque and mausoleum of Ali ibn Abi Talib in Najaf, Iraq

The Sanctuary of Imām 'Alī, also known as the Mosque of 'Alī, located in Najaf, Iraq, is a mosque which many Muslims believe contains the tomb of 'Alī ibn Abī Tālib, a cousin, son-in-law and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Shī'as consider 'Alī as their first Imām, and the Sunnis regard him as the fourth Sunni Rashid Caliph. According to Shī'ite belief, buried next to 'Alī within this mosque are the remains of Adam and Nuh (Noah). Each year, millions of pilgrims visit the Shrine and pay tribute to Imām 'Alī.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali al-Sistani</span> Iranian–Iraqi Muslim Ayatollah (born 1930)

Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani, is a Twelver Shia Iranian–Iraqi Grand Ayatollah and marja'. One of the most senior scholars in Shia Islam, he has been described as the spiritual leader of Shia Muslims worldwide, "the undisputed leader of Iraq's Shias", included in top positions of "The Muslim 500: The World's Most Influential Muslims", from 2009 to 2023, and named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2004 and 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qom</span> City in Qom province, Iran

Qom is a city in the Central District of Qom County, Qom province, Iran, and serves as capital of the province, county, and district. It is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. The city is 140 km (87 mi) to the south of Tehran, and on the banks of the Qom River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hadi al-Modarresi</span> Iraqi-Iranian Ayatollah

Ayatollah Sayyid Hadi al-Husayni al-Modarresi, is an Iraqi-Iranian Shia scholar, leader and orator. He is viewed as a charismatic speaker, enamoring many Muslims, radiating a certain magnetism in his oratory. He spent much of his career in opposition to the Bathist government, and he spent many years in exile, particularly in Bahrain. al-Modarresi returned to Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and administers humanitarian projects in there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahdi al-Modarresi</span>

Muhammad-Mahdi al-Modarresi is an Iraqi Twelver Shia scholar of Islam born in Kuwait. He comes from a distinguished family of scholars which includes supreme religious jurists, such as Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammed-Taqi al-Modarresi, one of Iraq's leading faith leaders of its majority Shia population. He has led prayers at the United States House of Representatives, and delivers lectures around the world. al-Modarresi is an expert in interfaith relations, he leads Interpath, a unique outreach program designed to strengthen ties between Muslims and other major faith traditions.

The origin of Shia–Sunni relations can be traced back to a dispute over the succession to the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a caliph of the Islamic community. After the death of Muhammad in 632, a group of Muslims, who would come to be known as the Sunnis, believed that Muhammad's successor should be Abu Bakr, whereas a second group of Muslims, who would come to be known as the Shias, believed that his successor should have been Ali. This dispute spread across various parts of the Muslim world, which eventually led to the Battle of Jamal and Battle of Siffin. Sectarianism based on this historic dispute intensified greatly after the Battle of Karbala, in which Husayn ibn Ali and some of his close partisans, including members and children of the household of prophet, were killed by the ruling Umayyad Caliph Yazid I, and the outcry for revenge divided the early Islamic community, albeit disproportionately, into two groups, the Sunni and the Shia. This is known today as the Islamic schism.

Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Taqi al-Husayni al-Modarresi is an Iraqi-Iranian Shia marja' and political theorist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hidayat TV</span> Television channel

Hidayat TV is an Islamic satellite TV Channel based in the United Kingdom. It is notable for being the first Shia Muslim channel in the United Kingdom and Europe and its website is banned by the United States with links with the Iranian regime.

Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is a British writer. She is the author of Love in a Headscarf (2009), a memoir of growing up as a British Muslim woman. Her new book titled Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World was published in August 2016. Generation M, as The Guardian puts it, "is the first detailed portrait" of the influential segment of the world’s "fastest growing religion", Islam. She is also a blogger: her blog is called Spirit 21.

Sheikh Yasser al-Habib is a Kuwaiti Twelver Shia scholar, and the head of the London-based Khoddam Al-Mahdi Organization, as well as Al-Muhassin mosque in Fulmer, Buckinghamshire, and the writer of The Lady of Heaven. Al-Habib's work focuses on Islamic history, drawing on Shia and Sunni sources.

Criticism of Twelver Shia Islam dates from the initial ideological rift among early Muslims that led to the two primary denominations of Islam, the Sunnis and the Shias. The question of succession to Muhammad in Islam, the nature of the Imamate, the status of the twelfth Shia Imam, and other areas in which Shia Islam differs from Sunni Islam have been criticized by Sunni scholars, even though there is no disagreement between the two sects regarding the centrality of the Quran, Muhammad, and many other doctrinal, theological and ritual matters. Shia commentators such as Musa al-Musawi and Ali Shariati have themselves, in their attempts to reform the faith, criticized practices and beliefs which have become prevalent in the Twelver Shia community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arba'een Pilgrimage</span> Pilgrimage to Imam Hussein shrine

The Arba'een Pilgrimage, or the Arba'een Walk or Karbala Walk, is the world's largest annual public gathering. It is held at Karbala, Iraq at the end of the 40-day mourning period following Ashura, the religious ritual for the commemoration of martyrdom of the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the third Shia Muslim Imam, Husayn ibn Ali's in 61 AH. He is believed to transcend all cultural boundaries and be a symbol of universal freedom, compassion and social justice. Anticipating Arbaʽeen, or the fortieth day of the martyrdom, the pilgrims make their journey to Karbala on foot, where Husayn and his companions were betrayed by the very people who invited him to Kufa, Iraq, and then subsequently martyred and beheaded by the army of Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad in the Battle of Karbala.

Ayatollah Sayyid Ali-Akbar al-Husayni al-Modarresi is a Shia Iranian-Iraqi scholar and teacher. He is the brother of grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Taqi al-Modarresi.

Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Kadhim al-Husayni al-Modarresi was an Iranian-Iraqi Shia scholar and mystic. He was a prominent teacher at the seminaries of Mashhad and Karbala, teaching Islamic philosophy. He held the Quranic exegesis chair of the Karbala seminary and taught aqaed in the al-Hindiya and al-Badkubeh schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammed Kadhim al-Qazwini</span> Iraqi Ayatollah (1930-1994)

Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Kadhim al-Musawi al-Qazwini was an Iraqi Shia scholar, poet and orator of Iranian descent. He was born in Karbala, Iraq and died in Qom, Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Modarresi family</span> Iraqi-Iranian Shia clerical family

The family of al-Modarresi, also transliterated in a number of other ways, including al-Moderrissi or al-Mudarrisi are an Iraqi-Iranian Shia clerical family that settled in Najaf, then Karbala, from Mashhad, in the early 20th century. The family claims agnatic descent from Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, through her great-grandson, Zayd, carrying the honorific title of Sayyid.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ahlulbayt TV - the Holy Household for Every Household". Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  2. "TV - Ahlulbayt TV - LyngSat Address". Archived from the original on 2010-02-22. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  3. Ahlulbayt TV Archived 2018-08-21 at the Wayback Machine www.lyngsat.com. Accessed August 21, 2018
  4. "التبليغ في العالم الغربي والعالم المسيحي - لقاء مع سماحة السيد مهدي المدرسي". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  5. Janmohamed, Shelina (2016-11-24). Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World. I.B.Tauris. ISBN   9781780769097. Archived from the original on 2016-11-24. Retrieved 2016-11-24.