Al-Resalah Satellite TV

Infobox Network
network_name = Al-Resalah
network_
country = flagcountry|Kuwait
motto =
network_type = Satellite television network
available = Middle East, Europe, North Africa, Internet
slogan = "Creative and authentic"
owner = Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal
key_people = General Manager Tareq Al-Suwaidan
launch_date = March 1, 2006
website = www.alresalah.net/ Arabic and English

Al-Resalah ( _ar. ; "The Message") is an Arabic language satellite television channel "to present true Islam". [owner Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal during the station’s launch]

It is funded by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, recorded in all over the United Arab Emirates to Morocco and Kuwait, and broadcasted from Cairo. Al-Resalah has slots on the Arabsat and Nilesat satellites, serving primarily the Middle East, but North Africa and Europe as well.

The General Manager of Al Resalah is Tareq Al-Suwaidan, a former host at the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) and a leading member of the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood [ [http://banking.senate.gov/_files/clarke.pdf Statement of Richard A. Clarke Before the United States Senate Banking Committee] 22 October 2003] .The head of Al Resalah ’s programming in Egypt is Ahmed Abu Haiba, the original producer of Amr Khaled’s first television program. [http://www.tbsjournal.com/Otterman.html Fatwas and Feminism: Women, Religious Authority, and Islamic TV] By Sharon Otterman, TBS 16, 2006] The channel's advisory committee includes Sheikh Abdullah Bin Sulaiman Al-Manai (Senior Ulema Commission, Saudi Arabia); Dr. Abdallah Omar Naseef (president of the Muslim World Congress); Dr. Hamed Ahmad Al-Refaie (secretary-general of the MWC and president of the International Islamic Forum for Dialogue); Dr. Abdullah Al-Muslih (Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah); Sheikh Ali Al-Nashwan (executive manager of the prince's Kingdom Holding Company's Humanitarian Division, and religious advisor to the prince); Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Askar (former head of the media department at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University); and Dr. Walid Arab Hashem (Shura Council member). [The Saudi Gazette, March 7, 2006 cited by [http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=jihad&ID=SP111806 Memri] ]

Al Resalah’s website features a list of fatwas by Egypt’s famous preacher Yusuf Al Qaradawi approving music videos, SMS chatting and hosting non-veiled women on its shows. [http://www.mebjournal.com/component/option,com_magazine/func,show_article/id,160/ Religious broadcasters avoid confrontation] by Ayat Basma, MEB Journal, Jan Feb 2008]

IslamOnline noted that Iqraa TV was the first Islamic channel created, followed by others such as Al-Fajr TV and Al-Manar, but that Al-Resalah had «"taken things a step further, pushing forth into the wider realm of entertainment media"».Al-Suwaidan too speaks of a nascent revival that has started not only in Muslim countries, but also within Muslim minorities, and that Al-Resalah hopes to contribute to. [ [http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1158658444149&pagename=Zone-English-ArtCulture%2FACELayout Hold Your Breath for a Coming Resalah] By Sarah Sharaf, IslamOnline Mar. 16, 2006] In February 2008 al-Suwaidan explained that Al-Resalah began with a wide range of programmes, but in the end concentrated on religious features, aiming to be within the top ten by Ramadan 2008.He claimed that after only one and a half years, Al-Resalah ranks at 18 out of 400 Arab satellite channels and at number one of religious channels outside of Saudi Arabia. The target audience is Arab, young and female: according to al-Suwaidan, 70% of the viewers are women [ [http://www.resetdoc.org/EN/Suwaidan-Conte.php “Islamic and yet modern television” Tareq Al-Suwaidan, producer of Al-Risala] interviewed by Daniela Conte, 5 Feb 2008] (60 % according to Abu Haiba).

Some members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood have expressed enthusiasm for the station. [ [http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0502/p01s04-wome.html The new Muslim TV: media-savvy, modern, and moderate] Ursula Lindsey, The Christian Science Monitor, May 2, 2006]
MEMRI, an organization often critical of Islamic media, has accused al-Reslah of airing anti-Western, anti-Semitic, and pro- Al Qaida content. [ [http://www.nysun.com/article/34836 Saudi Billionaire Prince's Hate TV] By Steven Stalinsky, The New York Sun, June 21, 2006]

References