Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Sunday, July 18, 2010,
The latest Bollywood thriller Lamhaa (The Untold Story of Kashmir) has been banned in the Middle East raising concerns about free speech in the region. Here is a list of films banned in some Muslim countries over the last few years. Just like books, films are often banned in Muslim-majority countries, but you can get a bootlegged copy just about anywhere. I was in Morocco a few weeks ago and I could buy any film I wanted banned or not, already on DVD or still playing in U.S. theaters. Governm... Continue reading ...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Wednesday, March 31, 2010,
Amr Khaled, the Arab world's most successful teleda'ia (televangelist is a loose translation) is at it again with a new racy show somewhat inspired by Donald Trump's The Apprentice. Mujaddidun (The Reformers) takes reality television away from mindless entertainment and into a new realm of charitable and voluntary work. For 3 months, 16 young (20-30 years old) contestants from 9 Arab countries compete for the brightest and most practical innovative ideas in charitable projects ranging from he... Continue reading ...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Monday, March 29, 2010,
The British are certainly more courageous to deal with Islam on TV more head on. Muslim Driving School is yet another creative series the BBC (BBC2) has aired recently to open up a rare window into the life of Muslim (Asian) women in the north of England. I really like the idea of using driving school as a way to talk about issues British audiences wouldn't want to learn about otherwise. It's a lighter approach to tackling some topical issues like arranged marriage, gender dynamics, a woman's... Continue reading ...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Friday, March 26, 2010,
If you read about the niqab-clad poet
from Saudi Arabia and her anti-extremist verse, you might be wondering
why people are rejoicing over a woman who is allowed to speak only
behind a thick black cloak covering her from head to toe in a
television show where women and men are seated in separate sections.
Yes, it is rather strange to see the male host of the show and the
other male contestants avoid eye contact with the female poet whose
eyes you can't really see, but cultural progress in tha... Continue reading ...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Wednesday, March 17, 2010,
If you visited IslamOnline recently, you may have found dead links to many articles and fatwa answers. That's because hundreds of workers in the site's editorial office in Cairo have been staging walkouts and sit-ins accusing their managers in Qatar of plotting to replace them with a team of religious hardliners. The managers are allegedly unhappy about a recent trend at the site to run more articles and advice columns about social issues, art, and youth-related topics. IslamOnline has become... Continue reading ...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Tuesday, February 16, 2010,
I've devoted this blog to revealing new and for the most part promising trends in Muslim media in the hope of challenging the reductionist views some in the West hold of the contemporary Muslim world. I know that for some people these voices don't matter much in the face of a violent extremism that shows no regard for human life and respect for dialogue. But this attitude is precisely what keeps these progressive voices from making a bigger difference in their communities because we think of ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Monday, January 18, 2010,
A young Muslim businessman in Orange County recently launched onelegacyradio, a 24-hour Muslim radio station in Irvine, Calif. I haven't listened to any of their programs yet, but judging from their schedule and program description online, the topics are quite engaging and very topical, including such issues as youth radicalization, drug use, and many other social problems. One of their live shows is called Objection, a daily talk show hosted by an activist and an attorney specializing in nat... Continue reading ...
Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Friday, January 15, 2010,
It became ever clearer to me after our conference on Islam and the Media that journalists do not work hard to seek out alternative Muslim voices to counteract the extremism of radical Islam. Everywhere you look, the debate on Islam is acrimonious, unidimensional, and excessively security-based. Lots of Muslims have been hard at work creating new spaces for a different kind of debate that is constructive and less polarized. We had many of them here in Boulder during our conference and they cam... Continue reading ...
I was born and raised in Morocco. My research focuses on the intersections between Islam, Arab popular culture and the media. I'm currently an assistant professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
