JEDDAH: Residents of a village in Baha region recently smashed their satellite dishes following a scathing Friday sermon in which the imam spoke against Turkish soap operas “Noor” and “Lost Years”, which have in recent months kept the entire Kingdom fixed to their screens.
Following the Friday sermon, the local tribal chief in the village of Al-Hajr, 70 kms from the southwestern city of Baha, smashed his satellite dish and called on people to follow suit, Al-Eqtisadiah daily reported.
Tariq Ansari, a Madinah resident, said his local neighborhood mayor and preachers have been speaking about the Turkish soaps dubbed in Arabic. “It’s a popular topic. However, I haven’t given really much thought to these soaps,” he said.
Meanwhile, the imam of the Imam Malik Mosque in Jeddah said he would devote a sermon to the issue and warn people against watching Turkish soaps.
One Saudi woman, who used to watch the soaps, said she felt bored watching “Noor”, which is very long, and so quit watching. “I skipped 15 episodes and when I returned I found that nothing new took place and so I decided to quit. If the media stops all this fuss then the addiction would go away. There is no need to force people to stop watching the soaps. Just give them time and they will quit themselves,” she said.
Yusuf, a Jeddah resident, said he started watching the soaps after hearing about them in the media. “I became curious when these programs were being mentioned in the press and I started watching them. I found nothing special. There wasn’t anything attractive in the stars and what they present is far from reality,” he said.
Commenting on the aggressive reaction of some people, Yusuf said, “Being aggressive in dealing with such cases is just fruitless. This imam has not done anything positive; the people in the town would simply look for another way to watch the series.”
He added that people reacted aggressively when satellite dishes were first introduced into the Kingdom. “However, that has not stopped them. On the contrary more dishes appeared on buildings,” he said.
Umm Muhammad, a mother of six, said she allows her children to watch the program to ensure they do not become too attached to it. “If you prevent someone from something then the person would try harder in doing what has been forbidden,” she said.
Muhammad Al-Zahrani, a sociology professor at Umm Al-Qura University, said Friday sermons had an ability of affecting the public. “The psychological effect that the Friday prayers have is strong, since people are gathered in one place and sharing one aim, which is obeying Allah,” he said.
“To be a successful preacher, one has to be wise and know how to control his thinking, behavior and speech. He should choose his words carefully and should be forward thinking. He should also have the ability to understand the community and its political and psychological mindset,” he said.
