BBC Special: Inside The Koran

Thanks to HerRoyalWhyness for sending along this notice:



Earlier this week, I mentioned a film I watched on National Geographic called "Interpretting the Koran". While looking to see if anyone uploaded the program, I came across this information:
Inside the Koran will be seen Saturday, August 9, at 10 a.m. in Japan, Korea and Central Europe; 11 a.m. in Iraq; and 12:30 p.m. in Afghanistan on AFNspectrum.

Inside the Koran is produced by Juniper Communications Ltd. Producer, writer and director is Antony Thomas. For National Geographic Channel, executive producer is Noah Morowitz, senior vice president of special programming is Michael Cascio and executive vice president of content is Steve Burns.

Now, Antony Thomas is the only individual mentioned in JW archives 7/28/08 for a BBC Channel 4 film called The Qur'an which featured Lena Fawzy, Ajmal Masroor and Tariq Ramadan. Familiar with the views of the above individuals, there were no surprises from them.

I was surprised however with the inclusion of views from Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo and German scholars, including qu'ranic interpretation by Christoph Luxemberg (of 72 virgins translates in Aramaic to 72 white grapes/raisins fame). That's where the balance came in.

Quoting Dr. Sookhdeo at marker 52:00:

"Over the past twenty years or so, it has been argued that over one hundred billion US dollars has been expended by the Saudi government in propagating their version of Islam across the world. New mosques, madrassas, muslim teachers, imams, school textbooks, literature are all being shaped by a wahabbi agenda. More than agenda, an ideology which is deeply rooted in a puritanical form of Islam.

The film then goes on to demonstrate the ferocity of this interpretation with a report about the King Fahd printing press in Medina, Saudi Arabia which publishes ten million korans a year in Arabic and 44 other languages distributed around the world, well below cost and in some cases for free, is currently augmenting the quranic text (augments are bolded):

Surat 1. Al-Fatlhah Part 17. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor o fthose who went astray (such as the Christians).(image of page at marker 53:00 on video)

In the next segment, "Dr. Timothy Winter" (school of divinity, Cambridge) is interviewed.

Checking for history on this fella at Jihadwatch revealed this tidbit:

Timothy Winter is also known as Adbul Hakim Murad. Timothy Winter appeared in Channel Four's 'Undercover Mosques documentary as Abdul Hakim Murad.

So, yes, there apparently was some deception in this film.

Overall, however, the producers did make a considerable effort to reveal a more balanced program.

Of note: the BBC film (video link) is remarkably similar if not identical to the the NG film. Despite not having a copy of the NG film, I will go on record and say that this is the same film.