Conversion Wars
In the Arab world, converting from Islam to Christianity is one of the biggest taboos. Omar Abdel-Razak explores the hidden world of converts, from Egypt and Morocco to the USA.
Crossing Continents encounters converts in Egypt who live in constant fear. We meet 'Mariam', a convert to Christianity who is secretly married to a Christian and who lives in hiding as her family have threatened to kill her. She is now pregnant, and says that she will never be allowed to officially marry her husband and that her child will have to be raised without official papers.
But there is also a group of Christian TV channels, mostly based in the USA and run by converts, who are targeting the region's Muslims. The programme gains rare access to one of these channels, where they discover converts using shocking language to attack Islam. The largest of these channels, called Al-Hayat, claims to have millions of viewers in the Arab World. Its most prominent preacher, Father Zakaria Boutros, is famous for his incendiary attacks on Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. Father Boutros lives in hiding after receiving numerous death threats. He has inspired a new generation of preachers who are deliberately attacking Islam as a method to convert Muslims to Christianity. His brand of 'shock' preaching has spread across the airwaves and the internet.
We track down the Al-Hayat channel to the USA, and find that it is a 'vital partner' of one the USA's most prominent TV evangelists. Joyce Meyer Ministries (JMM) receives tens of millions of dollars a year in donations, and much of it is spent on 'Christian outreach.' While JMM deny any editorial control over the station, the 大象传媒 finds they helped to launch it and they buy airtime. A spokesman for JMM eventually sends an email saying that Father Boutros will no longer be hosting a show on Al Hayat.
The programme is written and reported by Omar Abdel-Razak of the 大象传媒 Arabic Service and narrated by Hugh Levinson.
Last on
Broadcasts
- Thu 5 Aug 2010 11:00大象传媒 Radio 4
- Mon 9 Aug 2010 20:30大象传媒 Radio 4
- Thu 12 Aug 2010 12:32大象传媒 World Service Online
- Thu 12 Aug 2010 16:32大象传媒 World Service Online
- Fri 13 Aug 2010 00:32大象传媒 World Service Online
- Fri 13 Aug 2010 04:32大象传媒 World Service Online
Podcast
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Crossing Continents
Stories from around the world and the people at the heart of them.