Soap Opera Ruffles Feathers and Fatwas in Arab World

Aug 7, 2008 6:47am

By Lara Setrakian, ABC News, Dubai

Each night roughly 40 million people across Middle East are tuning in to one show: an immenselypopular soap opera from Turkey called "Noor." Its hunky blue-eyed star, Mohannad, is a devotedhusband who supports his wife's career and treats her as an equal - a fantasy for many women, butparticularly those in the patriarchal Arab world.

"Noor tackles issues that close to everyone's heart and mind: love, marriage, divorce, extra-maritalproblems, pregnancy, women at work, you name it," says Mazen Hayek, Director hair chalk ofMarketing with MBC, the network that runs the program. The fact that the show blends traditionalMuslim values with a modern lifestyle broadens its impact, as does the fact that it is dubbed inspoken Arabic - not the more formal, stodgy Arabic used by writers and newscasters.

In tackling taboo topics with its plotlines Noor has miffed the conservative set. One of Saudi Arabia'stop clerics issued a fatwa against the show and according to Saudi's Al Watan newspaper, SheikhAbdul Aziz Al-Asheikh said that soaps like Noor "contain so much evil, they destroy people's ethicsand are against our values." Since then reports have surfaced of some villages smashing satellitedishes in line with the religious edict.

Al Arabia TV reports that in Nasiryah, Iraq pictures of Mohannad have been littered through streetsso that people could step on his face as a show of opposition.

But the religious kerfuffle has apparently done nothing to stem the show's popular appeal and socialrepercussions. Haifa Jedea, a star ABC intern originally from Saudi Arabia, hears that women youngand old are planning their day around watching the broadcast. Al Arabia reports that women at hairsalons in Jordan are requesting the red hair color of Sharifa, Mohannad's TV mother.

Anwar Al-Mansoor of Bahrain says the fact that they can comment on hunky Mohannad is a changein the Arab world. "Usually people are talking about the 'hot' girl, but now women are talking abouta guy...it has become acceptable for a female to comment on a guy romantically in front of herhusband, father, or brother."

Helping "Noor" garner top ratings is its popular lead-in: Oprah. America's empress of talk airs inprime time, in English and has a substantial fan base.

"[Oprah] has the ability to tackle real issues and sometimes taboos without embarrassing anyone,"MBC's Hayek says of Oprah's foothold in the Arab world. "She's capable of reaching hearts andminds of people beyond boundaries or languages."

Chalk one up for American soft power? With more Arab women going to college and joining theworkforce, the spread of 'you go girl' culture can't be a bad thing.

For more on "Noor" check out this item from the AP:

Soap Opera Shakes Customs of Arab Married Life