Regressive Redemption in CII's Ramadan Serial<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Channel Islam International, often considered to be the \u201cmore progressive\u201d Muslim community radio station in Johannesburg, is broadcasting a radio drama\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Regressive Redemption in CII's Ramadan Serial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Channel Islam International, often considered to be the \u201cmore progressive\u201d Muslim community radio station in Johannesburg, is broadcasting a radio drama\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Muslimah Media Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-31T07:00:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"safiyyah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"safiyyah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/\",\"name\":\"Regressive Redemption in CII's Ramadan Serial\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-31T07:00:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-08-31T07:00:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/8f8edf933ee4388ef458395a08b8f06b\"},\"description\":\"Channel Islam International, often considered to be the \u201cmore progressive\u201d Muslim community radio station in Johannesburg, is broadcasting a radio drama\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Regressive Redemption in CII’s Ramadan Serial\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/\",\"name\":\"Muslimah Media Watch\",\"description\":\"Looking at Muslim women in the media and pop culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/8f8edf933ee4388ef458395a08b8f06b\",\"name\":\"safiyyah\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2a0987957f16702568ac146601f7421e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2a0987957f16702568ac146601f7421e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"safiyyah\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/author\/safiyyah\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Regressive Redemption in CII's Ramadan Serial","description":"Channel Islam International, often considered to be the \u201cmore progressive\u201d Muslim community radio station in Johannesburg, is broadcasting a radio drama","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Regressive Redemption in CII's Ramadan Serial","og_description":"Channel Islam International, often considered to be the \u201cmore progressive\u201d Muslim community radio station in Johannesburg, is broadcasting a radio drama","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/","og_site_name":"Muslimah Media Watch","article_published_time":"2010-08-31T07:00:36+00:00","author":"safiyyah","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"safiyyah","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/","name":"Regressive Redemption in CII's Ramadan Serial","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-08-31T07:00:36+00:00","dateModified":"2010-08-31T07:00:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/8f8edf933ee4388ef458395a08b8f06b"},"description":"Channel Islam International, often considered to be the \u201cmore progressive\u201d Muslim community radio station in Johannesburg, is broadcasting a radio drama","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Regressive Redemption in CII’s Ramadan Serial"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/","name":"Muslimah Media Watch","description":"Looking at Muslim women in the media and pop culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/8f8edf933ee4388ef458395a08b8f06b","name":"safiyyah","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2a0987957f16702568ac146601f7421e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2a0987957f16702568ac146601f7421e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"safiyyah"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/author\/safiyyah\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/177"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6817\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":6817,"date":"2010-08-31T00:00:36","date_gmt":"2010-08-31T07:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/muslimahmediawatch.org\/?p=6817"},"modified":"2010-08-31T00:00:36","modified_gmt":"2010-08-31T07:00:36","slug":"regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2010\/08\/regressive-redemption-in-ciis-ramadan-serial\/","title":{"rendered":"Regressive Redemption in CII’s Ramadan Serial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Channel Islam International<\/a>, often considered to be the \u201cmore progressive\u201d Muslim community radio station in Johannesburg, is broadcasting a radio drama series for the month of Ramadan. The show is titled \u201c Redemption Road<\/a>,\u201d and aims to be a representation of South African Indian Muslim society and its idiosyncrasies while reminding listeners to their often-forgotten purpose in life.<\/p>\n

While the show does deal with important issues like wife neglect\/abuse and teen problems, it is severely stereotypical of Muslim women in a number of aspects.<\/p>\n

The issue of women praying in mosques is used as a scapegoat for one teenager\u2019s nightly escapades. This stance is corroborated in the drama by claims that allowing women in mosques would provide them with \u201ca smokescreen to conduct their nefarious activities,\u201d as a friend put it.<\/p>\n

The constant references to women and young girls using the pretext of attending the mosque to perform their prayers but then engaging in dubious activities is extremely problematic in a community where the notion of women\u2019s attendance at the mosque is thought of as evil and prohibited. This severely undermines the struggles of many Muslim women for integration into their communities via the mosque.<\/p>\n

\u201cRedemption Road\u201d represents women in a many other negative lights. Women who leave home to work and study abroad are portrayed as \u201cup to no good.\u201d Wives are are either nagging\/incessantly obedient\/suspicious, and daughters are wayward.<\/p>\n

I understand that the drama is a work of fiction, and a good depiction of South African Indian Muslim community at that. I also admit that some of the incidents may very well happen in real life. But it still perpetuates the stereotype that women in mosques can only lead to trouble, and that no good can come out of their participation in sacred spaces. The drama also presupposes that all listeners agree with the particular Islamic school of law in South Africa that bars female participation in the mosque.<\/p>\n

Let me reiterate that there are many positive aspects of the \u201cRedemption Road,\u201d especially in its exploration of relationships, organizational politics and especially for driving home the message that women are not duty-bound to the kitchen, especially in Ramadan.<\/p>\n

However, it is important to realize how even subtle jabs at certain actions (like women attending mosques) ostracize women who fight hard for this very Islamic right and\u00a0subconsciously\u00a0cement existing\u00a0misconceptions. \u00a0Perhaps the \u201cRedemption Road\u201d could have balanced this bad representation with a positive one, with women who are active and in mosque participation and the better for it.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"