The BBC has appointed its first Muslim head of religious programming, following the agnostic Alan Bookbinder who was appointed in 2001.
Channel Four’s Aaqil Ahmed has been selected to run the BBC’s Religion and Ethics department as part of the second round of Knowledge appointments – in which four of the key commissioning jobs have been handed to existing BBC staff.
Mr Ahmed’s previous commissions for Channel Four included the Emmy short listed two part series ‘The Cult of the Suicide Bomber’, the two hour documentary ‘The Qur’an’ and the genre breaking series ‘Priest Idol’ and ‘Make me a Muslim’. He was moved to the BBC after Roman Catholic priests raised the issue that his Channel Four documentaries appeared to contain a pro-Islam bias and failed to give enough attention and respect to Christianity.
The move is likely to be controversial with some – the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, was reported to have raised concerns with the BBC Director General Mark Thompson that the ‘Christian voice is being sidelined’ after Mr Ahmed was first connected to the role last month.
(See http://www.ccfon.org/view.php?id=719)
Mr Ahmed's appointment follows claims by Mr Thompson that Islam should be treated more sensitively by the media than Christianity.
The Daily Telegraph reports that it is believed that Mr Ahmed has impressed BBC executives by commissioning a series on Christianity that featured high-profile names, including Cherie Blair and Michael Portillo. However, the series, Christianity, A History, was criticised by Church figures for trivialising the religion.
Leading church figures suspect that the BBC is giving preferential treatment to minority faiths, with a Muslim now in charge of its programming on television and a Sikh producing Songs of Praise, its flagship Christian show.
Christina Rees, a member of the Archbishops' Council, stated: ‘The vast majority of the population identifies itself as Christian and as the established Church in England we would be negligent not to take an active concern in the changes happening with the BBC's religion and ethics department.’
Rt. Rev. Nigel Mcculloch, Bishop of Manchester and the senior Church of England spokesman on broadcasting, said that Mr Ahmed’s appointment came ‘at a time when the BBC’s coverage of religion has caused some disquiet.
'We are interested in [the programme's] specifically religious output, in light of this country's Judaeo-Christian heritage. It is the quality and quantity of that output that matters.
‘The Church of England will be watching how the future of religion and ethics develops. We wish him well in this very important post’, he added.
The selection of Mr Ahmed follows the appointment of Andrew Copson to the BBC’s Standing Conference on Religion and Belief, a new body which replaces the Central Religious Advisory Committee which advised on 'religion-related policy and coverage'. He is a secularist and director of education and public affairs for the British Humanist Association,
Daily Telegraph
Daily Telegraph (Commentary)
The Times
entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article6271981.ece
Daily Mail
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1180715/BBC-appoints-Muslim-religious-post-controversial-first.html
Daily Mail (Commentary)
Guardian
www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/may/12/bbc-first-muslim-religion-commissioner
Christian Today
www.christiantoday.com/article/muslim.to.head.up.bbc.religious.programmes/23331.htm