Al-Resalah (; ''The Message'') is an Arabic language

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

channel "to present true

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

". It is funded by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, recorded in all over the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, and broadcast from

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. Al-Resalah has slots on the Arabsat and Nilesat satellites, serving primarily the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, but

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

and Europe as well. The General Manager of Al Resalah was

Tareq Al-Suwaidan Tareq Mohammed Al-Suwaidan (, September 15, 1953) is a Kuwaiti Islamic author and speaker, and businessman. He has been among the 500 Most Influential Muslims in 2022, 2023 and 2024. He has written many religious, historical and management book ...

, a former host at the

Middle East Broadcasting Center MBC Group (), formerly known as Middle East Broadcasting Center (), is a Saudi media conglomerate based in the Riyadh region. Launched in London in 1991, the company moved its headquarters to Dubai in 2002 and to Riyadh in 2022. It is majority ...

(MBC) and a leading member of the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood. Tareq Al-Suwaidan was fired from his job in August 2013 by the channel's owner, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, because of Al-Suwaidan's support for the Muslim Brotherhood. The head of Al Resalah’s programming in Egypt is Ahmed Abu Haiba, the original producer of

Amr Khaled Amr Mohamed Helmi Khaled (; born: 5 September 1967) is an Egyptian Muslim activist and television preacher. ''The New York Times Magazine'', in reference to Khaled's popularity in English-speaking countries, described him in 2006 issue as "t ...

’s first television program.Fatwas and Feminism: Women, Religious Authority, and Islamic TV
By Sharon Otterman, TBS 16, 2006 The channel's advisory committee includes Sheikh Abdullah Bin Sulaiman Al-Manai (Senior

Ulema In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

Commission,

); Dr. Abdallah Omar Naseef (president of the Muslim World Congress); Dr. Hamed Ahmad Al-Refaie (secretary-general of the MWC and president of the International Islamic Forum for Dialogue); Dr. Abdullah Al-Muslih (

Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah The Commission on Scientific Signs in the Quran and Sunnah is an organization established to publicize what it calls "Scientific Signs found in the Quran and Sunna", i.e. references to what it believes are numerous discoveries of science (everyt ...

); Sheikh Ali Al-Nashwan (executive manager of the prince's

Kingdom Holding Company The Kingdom Holding Company (KHC; ) is a Saudi conglomerate holding company, based in Riyadh. The KHC is a publicly listed company on the Tadāwul (Saudi stock exchange). The KHC consists of a team of experienced investment specialists dire ...

's Humanitarian Division, and religious advisor to the prince); Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Askar (former head of the media department at

Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU) (), commonly known as Al-Imam University (IMAMU) (Arabic: إمامو), is a public university in the sub-municipality of Shemal in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was founded in 1950 as an Islamic semin ...

); and Dr. Walid Arab Hashem (

Shura Council In Arab culture, a Majlis-ash-Shura (; Shura Council in English) is an advisory council or consultative council. In Islamic context, the Majlis-ash-Shura is one of two ways that a khalifa (Islamic leader) may be selected, the other way being b ...

member). Al Resalah’s website features a list of fatwas by Egypt’s preacher Yusuf Al Qaradawi approving music videos,

SMS Short Message Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, t ...

chatting and hosting non-veiled women on its shows.Religious broadcasters avoid confrontation
by Ayat Basma, MEB Journal, Jan Feb 2008

IslamOnline IslamOnline is a global Islamic website on the Internet providing services to Muslims and non-Muslims in several languages. Its motto is "credibility and distinction". It was founded by Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Contents The website consists of for ...

noted that

Iqraa TV Iqraa TV also spelt IQRA TV ( ' "read") is a satellite and internet television channel owned by Saleh Abdullah Kamel's Arab Media Corporation. It was founded in 1998. The channel promotes itself as a "Muslim family's safe haven", present ...

was the first

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

channel created, followed by others such as

Al-Fajr TV Al-Fajr (الفجر) may refer to: *Al-Fajr (sura), the 89th sura of the Qur'an * Fajr, the first of the five salat prayers Media *'' Al Fajr'', a UAE newspaper based in Abu Dhabi *'' El Fagr'' (Egyptian Arabic pronunciation of ''Al-Fajr''), an Eg ...

and

Al-Manar Al-Manar () is a Lebanese satellite television station owned and operated by the Islamist political party and paramilitary group Hezbollah,

. However, Al-Resalah had "taken things a step further, pushing forth into the wider realm of entertainment media". Al-Suwaidan too speaks of a nascent revival that has started not only in Muslim countries, but also within Muslim minorities, and that Al-Resalah hopes to contribute to. In February 2008 al-Suwaidan explained that Al-Resalah began with a wide range of programmes, but in the end concentrated on religious features, aiming to be within the top ten by

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

2008. He claimed that after only one and a half years, Al-Resalah ranks at 18 out of 400 Arab satellite channels and at number one among religious channels outside of Saudi Arabia. The

target audience The target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to the previously intended audience. In marketing and advertising, the target audience is a particular group of cons ...

is Arab, young and female: according to al-Suwaidan, 70% of the viewers are women (60% according to Abu Haiba). Some members of the

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

have expressed enthusiasm for the station.The new Muslim TV: media-savvy, modern, and moderate
Ursula Lindsey, The Christian Science Monitor, May 2, 2006

MEMRI The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), officially the Middle East Media and Research Institute, is an American non-profit press monitoring organization co-founded by Israeli ex-intelligence officer Yigal Carmon and Israeli-American ...

, a nonprofit press monitoring and analysis organization with headquarters in Washington, DC, has accused Al-Resalah of airing anti-Western,

anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

, and pro-al-Qaeda content.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Al Resalah Arab mass media International broadcasters Arabic-language television stations Television channels and stations established in 2006 Islamic television networks