THE PARTICIPATION OF MUSLIM WOMEN IN ISLAMIC TELEVISION PROGRAMMES IN GHANA

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ABSTRACT

Islamic television programmes are avenues used by Muslims to counter misrepresentations of Islam. In Ghana, Islamic television programming has been significant in contributing to the enhancement of the image of Islam and Muslim women (Samwini, 2006). The liberalization of the airwaves in 1995 led to the proliferation of Islamic television programmes in Ghana, thereby increasing avenues which can be used by Muslims to present a true image of Islam. This study sought to examine how Muslim women in Ghana are taking advantage of the availability of Islamic television programmes to present their perspectives concerning issues in Islam. The study was specifically interested in finding out the motivation behind Muslim women appearing on Islamic television programmes, issues they discuss when they appear and the opportunities and challenges they encounter as a result of appearing on such programmes. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 Muslim women who appear either as guests, hosts or serve as producers of Islamic television programmes that air in Ghana, specifically in Accra. The findings revealed that Muslim women who appear on Islamic television programmes tend to use such platforms as avenues to challenge and introduce new perspectives on discussions concerning the Muslim woman. It also revealed that poor sponsorship of Islamic programmes, criticisms of their appearance and having an unsupportive husband pose a threat to Muslim women participation in Islamic television programmes.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

This chapter begins with the background of the study and information relevant to what the study sought to achieve. The chapter also presents the research problem, objectives of the study, the significance of the study and a summary of how the study has been organised. The chapter ends with the operational definitons used in the study.

1. 1 Background of the Study

The September 11 attacks in the United States (US), the actions of terrorists groups claiming to be Muslims such as Islamic State (ISIS), Al-Qaida, Boko Haraam and Al -Shabab, together with the misrepresentation of Muslim women have continuously made it difficult for Muslims and non-Muslims to understand the true teachings of Islam. According to Darvishpour (2003), Muslim women are usually portrayed as submissive, oppressed, and backward. These representations, which Darvishpour (2003) attributes to the role the mass media has played in perpetuating, has made attitudes towards Muslims harsher in recent years.

Islamic television programmes are avenues used by Muslims to counter such representations of Islam especially in relation to women. “Sisters AM”, a programme that airs on the UK-based satellite channel Islam Channel is an example of an Islamic programme dedicated to discussing issues that affect Muslim women and to challenge and provide alternative views on the status of women in Islam. Islamic television programmes are also used to project the true teachings of Islam to both Muslims and non-Muslims and provide content that is “Muslim –fnrdiely”.

According to Galal (2009), Islamic TV programming is „programming that embeds a specifically Islamic perspective on life and promotes a pious religious life-style as part of “Islamic identity politics” ‟(p. 55). This means that such programmes may not necessarily be religious in nature, but that discussions are contextualised within Islamic principles. Discussions may therefore range from issues of health, education, politics, gender relations, marriage and other social issues. The use of “Islamic communication” is key when it comes to Islamic television programming. According to Muhammed Kamal al-Din (1984:2120), “Islamic communication is the act of transmitting ma‟lumat (information, ideas and attitudes) which are true and accurate according to Islam.” Islam Channel, a UK-based Islamic-focused satellite channel, Peace TV, a United Arab Emirates based Islamic satellite television channel owned by Islamic televangelist, Dr. Zakir Naik and Guidance Television, a satellite Islamic television channel in Accra are examples of television channels that produce Islamic television programmes.

Sætren (2010), who refers to Islamic television programming as “preaching spaces” categorises  it in to three forms. The first form of preaching spaces is the type of channels that advocate pluralism, openness towards the world, are business oriented and are more receptive to having female presenters appear on screen. Ghanaian based satellite television channel Guidance Television and UK based satellite television channel Islam Channel are examples of such channels. The second forms of preaching spaces are more conservative. They tend to advocate a particular Islamic ideology; most often Salafism and are very particular about importing television programme formats from the West. These channels are usually not receptive to having female preachers appear on screen. A classic example of such television channels is Al Nas, a television station in Egypt which does not permit female presenters on screen, even if they wear a face veil (Religious Broadcasting in the Middle East, 2010). The connection though, between

the first form and the second form of preaching spaces is that both ensure their content does not conflict with Islamic teachings. The third form of preaching space, which is more prevalent in Ghana, is the type of preaching space available on channels that are not Islam – oriented and thus such channels are more likely to broadcast content that contradict Islamic teachings. This relates especially to public as well as commercial television channels that seek to serve a diverse audience and not necessarily promote an Islamic agenda.

     Political Economy of the Ghanaian Media

The return to democratic rule after years of authoritarian rule has had a positive impact on the growth of the Ghanaian media (Ninson, 1998). Liberalization and commercialization of the media, which resulted from the return to democratic rule also opened the space for religious broadcasting in Ghana, as it incapacitated the state from fully controlling religion and media and thus, the politics of representation (Meyer, 1998; 2006). Currently, the Ghanaian media is a big industry with a lot of privately owned electronic and print media functioning side by side with the state owned media (Mukhongo, 2016). Media ownership and management is largely male dominated, with only two female owners out of 25 monitored media companies (Media Ownership Monitor, Ghana Report, 2017). Audience concentration exists in the print and broadcasting (television) sector. Graphic Communications Group Limited, New Times Corporation (both of which are state-owned), Western Publications Limited and The Business and Financial Times Limited (both of which are privately owned) dominate the print sector. Multimedia Group Limited, Despite Group of Companies, Media General Ghana Limited (all of which are privately owned), and Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (state-owned) dominate the broadcasting (television) sector and have a considerable market position by operating several nationwide outlets (Media Ownership Monitor, Ghana Report, 2017). Ownership of the private

media in particular is majorly by politicians who seek to use them to push their party interests (Gadzekpo, 2008, Hasty, 2005).

Even though the broadcasting rules of Ghana do not permit the operation of religious broadcasting outlets for the sole reason of preserving diversity of religious media content, some private media outlets are owned by religious individuals. These individuals use such media outlets to project their religious ideologies. Examples of such media outlets are Guidance Television (an Islamic satellite based channel sponsored by an Islamic non-governmental organisation), Sunny FM (a Christian radio station), Sweet Melodies FM (a Christian radio station) and Healing Jesus TV (a Christian satellite based channel owned by Ghanaian Evangelist Dag Heward Mills). However according to De Witte (2008), Charismatic churches dominate the airwaves as they appear to have the financial resources to develop their own programmes and pay for airtime on radio and television. Because both private and state owned media outlets rely on advertising and sales revenue, Charismatic Churches in Ghana have enjoyed the „monopoly‟ of religious broadcasting over Islamic and African traditional religious media content. Muslims on the other hand have not been able to compete in this regard. According to the Managing Director of Guidance Television, many Ghanaian Muslims seem not to have understood the importance of the media in propagating Islam and are thus reluctant to sponsor Islamic media content due to their belief that access to God‟s word should be feesabeelil‟lah (free and easily accessible) (A.R. Toure, personal communication, June 14, 2017). Most Islamic television programmes airing on channels are slots that have been given out of the benevolence of the channel owners. This makes it easy for the programmes to be lost to when a client is ready to pay to have that slot (S. Ibrahim, personal communication, July 23, 2017). Commercialisation of the media has thus affected the diversity of religious content in Ghana (De Witte, 2008).

     Islamic broadcasting in Ghana

Before the advent of television broadcasting, radio has been very influential in promoting Islamic teachings in Ghana. Prior to the advent of television, Radio ZOY, a wired relay station in Ghana was established in 1935 by Sir Arnold Hodson to relay programmes from the BBC (GBC 75th Anniversary Publication, 2010). In 1943, the Religious Broadcasts Department was set up under Radio ZOY, on which Islamic programmes such as “The Koran” and „Muslim Worship” were broadcasted (GBC Golden Jubilee Publication, 1990). After Ghana gained independence in 1957, Radio ZOY became the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). Two radio services were introduced under GBC: GBC Radio 1, which transmitted local language programmes and GBC Radio 2, which transmitted in English. Local language programmes, particularly Hausa and Dagbanli programmes that aired on GBC Radio 1 were known to have been used as avenues to promote Islamic teachings (Samwini, 2006). Those programmes now air on GBC Radio 2 (now Uniiq FM), after GBC Radio 1 went out of service due to the breakdown of its transmitters (GBC 75th Anniversary Publication, 2010). Uniiq FM has been airing Islamic programmes every Friday at dawn since independence till date (Samwini, 2006). As GBC opened radio stations across the country, more avenues became available for the propagation of Islam.

In 1965, the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation Television (GBC-TV) was established. However, it was not until 1985 that Islamic television programming began with the introduction of a weekly magazine television programme called  Aqida, which translates as „The Muslim Creed‟ (Samwini, 2006). A former host of the programme mentioned that though the programme still airs, it was re-named to „Islam and Life‟ after the September 11 attacks because some viewers were beginning to link the title of the programme to the terrorist group Al-Qaida (H. Chodi, personal communication, July 23, 2017). As is with many Islamic programmes, „Islam and Life‟

has the basic objective of explaining what Islam is and dealing with social issues from an Islamic perspective. Issues such as Hajj, Islam and polygyny, as well as religious tolerance issues, are some of the issues that are discussed on the programme.

Media liberalization of the airwaves in 1995 opened up more opportunities for Islamic programming. In 1999, Metropolitan Television, a private television station introduced an Islamic programme called „Islamic Perspectives‟ (Samwini, 2006). The current producer of the programme mentions that the programme is still on air, but now under the name “Islamic Belt” (S. Ibrahim, personal communication, August 28, 2017). Since then, the number of media houses, particularly television, has increased. According to the National Communications Authority (NCA), as at the fourth quarter of 2016, there were 93 authorized TV operators in Ghana .Some of these

television operators air Islamic programmes on their channels in order to appeal to the Ghanaian Muslim community, who according to the 2010 population census make up about 17.6 percent of the total population of Ghana.

Most of the television channels that air Islamic television programmes are located in Accra. Currently, there are 11 television channels in Accra that air Islamic television programmes. Four out of the 11 television channels are free to air. These stations are Ghana Television (GTV), Metropolitan Television (Metro Television), Network 2 Television (NET 2), and TV3. The rest of the eleven television stations are satellite based television channels. They are GTV Life, Amasaman Television (ATV), Faith TV, Cine Plus, Guidance Television, Muslim Television Ahmadiyya (MTA) and Kantanka Television (KTV). However, only six of the stations are consistent in the airing of Islamic television programmes: MTA, KTV, GTV, Metro TV, Cine Plus and Guidance Television. This is primarily due to lack of sponsorship of Islamic television

programmes. For example, As Siraj (The Path), an Islamic television programme on NET 2 Television does not air regularly due to lack of sponsorship. The same can be said for Faith TV‟s Al Mu‟raa (The Women) and two of ATV‟s Islamic television programmes, Irshad (Guidance) and As Sahawah (The Awakening).

Guidance Television and Muslim Television Ahmadiyya are the only television channels that run programmes from an Islamic perspective, thus falling under the first category of preaching spaces acknowledged by Saetran (2010). Apart from Guidance Television and Muslim Television Ahmadiyya (MTA), other un-Islamic television channels provide a specific time within their programme schedule for the airing of Islamic programmes. Most of the un-Islamic channels choose to air Islamic programmes on Friday since it is the day Muslims attend Jumuah (the weekly congregational prayer). Islamic television programmes usually air in either English or most popularly, in Hausa and Twi.

Nonetheless, the availability of Islamic television programmes provides the opportunity for Muslim women in Ghana to gain access to more avenues that can help them contribute to the discourse regarding Muslim women in Islam.

Viewership ratings of Islamic Television Programmes

Viewership ratings of Islamic television programmes in Ghana are not readily available, as there are no records of such information kept by channels. However, most Islamic TV producers and hosts estimate viewership based on the time of the year Muslims are most likely to view Islamic programmes, the reach of the channel and the geographical location of contributors to the programme. Viewership of Islamic television programmes are usually high during the Ramadhaan (Month of the Muslim fast) period, Eid days (Muslim festive days) and the Hajj

(Major Pilgrimage) periods. For example, the Islamic Programmes Department of Faith TV introduced an Islamic television programme called „The Ramadhaan Show‟ which ran specifically for the Ramadhaan period of 2017 (M. Lawan, personal communication, August 15, 2017). It is usually during these periods that both Muslims and non-Muslims seek answers to questions pertaining to the season at hand (S. Ibrahim, personal communication, July 23, 2017). The Head of the Islamic Programmes Department at Faith TV also indicates that occasional events such as the visit of a renowned Islamic Preacher to the country also increases viewership (M. Lawan, personal communication, August 15, 2017).

However, from statistics available from the Geopoll Media Measurement on audience share of television stations in the Greater Accra Region, for the first and fourth quarters of 2016, as well as the second quarter of 2017, only one out of the 11 television channels that currently air Islamic television programmes (GTV) appears to have significant levels of viewership. Table 1 shows the latest audience measurement of TV Viewership of TV stations in the Greater Accra Region by the Geopoll Media Measurement across the day during the second quarter (Q2) of 2017 (next page).