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Assalaamualaikum and welcome to Ummah This Week.

My name is Noor-Houda and today I will be speaking about Muslims in the Media.

Whether we like to admit it or not the media directly affects our lives, it influences our opinions and tastes and it penetrates our subconscious - we are all affected by the media. Most people are happy and confident with the opinion that the media brings us the truth - an honest picture of the state of our world and the people within it but facts are facts and we take on the opinions and the beliefs of the media giants because that is our only way to know about the world outside our homes and communities.

It comes as no surprise then that people today believe what the media says about Islam and Muslims; biased reporting in the media has fundamentally engendered the current wave of Islamophobia. Islamophobia: has led to the de-humanisation of Muslims worldwide, allowing the pain the suffering of Muslims to pass pretty much unnoticed by the majority.

Although for a number of Muslims 9/11 brought misery and hatred towards them, it also had an positive  effect. For the first time in many years, the Muslims of Britain realised that we no longer have the luxury to sit in our homes and do nothing. It meant we either fight the battle for Islam or sit back and suffer.
 
Alhamdulillah, many Muslims chose to fight back. And this has not been more evident than in the demonstrations that took place in London against the wars in Afghanistan, Palestine and Iraq, where Muslims and non-Muslims marched together against injustice.
 
But that is not enough.

We are still under attack everyday in the media and the battle has not yet been won. Articles and documentaries are still written that vilify us and portray us dangerously. If we can't be bothered to take a few minutes out each week to fight back, then we might as well give up now. Doing nothing is not an option in Islam. If Islam is under attack, it is a fard(obligatory)  upon every able Muslim to defend Islam. Defending Islam is not limited to fighting in a battlefield. If we are being fought on paper, we must fight back on paper. {Jihad Al Kalam }

What can we do?

There are a number of ways that Muslims can help defend themselves in the media war. Firstly, before we can defend ourselves we need to know who and what we are fighting. It is vital Muslims get over the misconception that ALL journalists hate us - some are well-informed and balanced, some simply lack knowledge about Islam, and a powerful few do push their own prejudices and agendas. We cannot possibly find out about our enemies without knowledge of the media. It is imperative for Muslims to read newspapers and pay attention to the news and current affairs programmes on television and other media outlets. If you read an anti-Muslim or anti-Islam article, it is vital that you express your disapproval to that media source. This can take the form of letters, emails or even phone calls. In fact, nearly all media outlets have a special team handling complaints and comments only. Therefore, they are happy to hear from you and welcome your views. There is no other collection of organisations that is more dedicated to encouraging Islamaphobia than the Zionist organisations.
The Zionists have set up specialist teams for no other purpose than to lobby the media and pressure them in to portraying Islam in a bad light and their own cause in a favourable light. This is a fact and it is something that Muslims in the West need to address urgently. The media must never be under estimated. It is an extremely powerful weapon and it is being used against Muslims every day.

So many annoyed young Muslims think that they are in a 'one on one' duel, when arguing on websites & blogs. But what we need to understand that there are indeed TEAMS of Muslim haters at work, who literally work full time posting to news sites, blogs and other websites - all to 'create an illusion of opinion'. Day and night they are at it.

But  instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, or developing helpless feelings of 'what can we do about the media?' we have to go where the haters go and challenge them. If people are only hearing 'half of the story' because our voices are silent - then the question we need to ask ourselves is whose fault is it?

To learn more about what you can do to improve the portrayal of Islam in the Media then come to the MPACUK Media Workshop which will take place on Sunday 3rd February from 1pm to 5pm at the London Muslim Centre located between Whitechapel and Aldgate East.

Admission is free but registration is required.

You can email us at: info@mpacuk.org  for registration or any queries you may have.

We will have expert speakers from journalism and new-media who will share their experience and advice.  Alongside that we will have activists who will provide practical solutions and will be giving out a free campaign resource pack for all participants.

All Muslims who want to make a difference to the Ummah will benefit from the workshop insha’allah.

We look forward to seeing you there. Assalaamualaikum.

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