Islam versus Europe

The Iranian government is criticising the BBC's decision to broadcast a documentary series about the life of the so-called prophet Muhammad.

Speaking to Iran's semi-official Fars news agency, he said: "The BBC's decision to make a documentary on the life of [the] prophet Muhammad seems dubious and if our suspicions are proved to be correct, we will certainly take serious action."

Hosseini added: "What the enemy is trying to do in ruining the Muslims' sanctity is definitely much more than causing us to react and unfortunately, some Islamic countries are not taking this issue seriously. One way to show objections is to express condemnation of the West over their despicable actions."

However, Iran needn't have worried as the documentary is in the surely reliable Muslim hands of Aaqil Ahmed, head of religion and ethics at the BBC.

The Guardian story provides some interesting details about the upcoming broadcast, however. Apparently no image of the con man Muhammad will be shown, nor will there be any attempt to show scenes from the paedophile prophet's life.

The BBC has also made clear that its series is "in line with Islamic tradition" and "it does not depict any images of the face of Muhammad, or feature dramatic reconstructions of Muhammad's life".

This is outrageous. Why is the BBC pandering to the Muslim dogma that no images of the so-called prophet can be shown? And why is the whole documentary "in line with Islamic tradition"? Are the BBC's documentaries about Christianity "in line with Christian tradition"? Of course not. They are sceptical, challenging, even mocking. The BBC recently offered us 'The Bible's Buried Secrets', which mocked Christianity and Judaism, claimed to debunk the Bible and worked to undermine the state of Israel.

The atheist Francesca Stavrakopoulou definitely seemed to have this prejudiced view of Christians and Jews. She also appeared to have an unwavering admiration for Muslims. Some might wonder whether this had anything to do with the fact that Stavrakopoulou lectures at the University of Exeter, which is now known for its pro-Islamic links, for its European Centre for Palestinian Studies, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies (funded by the Saudi Prince Turki Al Faisal) and European Muslim Research Centre (funded by the Muslim Brotherhood)!

The premise of last Tuesday's The Bible's Buried Secrets was that King David probably didn't exist. If this was the case, argued Stavrakopoulou, then the modern state of Israel could be severely undermined! She suggested that the founding fathers of Israel used the story of King David merely to justify their re-settlement of Palestine, and therefore any archaeological evidence for the existence of David which had been discovered by Jewish archaeologists was questionable. At one point she even said that Jewish or Christian archaeologists dig "with a trowel in one hand and a Bible in the other"! Stavrakopoulou never for a moment thought that Muslim or atheist scholars might have ulterior motives or agendas - apparently, in BBC-land, these two groups are above any suspicion!

So, under Aaqil Ahmed's tutelage, the BBC now offers programmes that marginalise, challenge and deconstruct Christian and Judaic religious traditions alongside other programmes that respectfully conform to Muslim religious traditions. This is a clear example of the Enemy Within. This is what Muslims do: work to advance the Muslim agenda in small, subtle ways that the average person might not even notice.