EXCLUSIVE: The BBC is to broadcast a stay Eid service from a mosque for the primary ever time on British terrestrial TV.
Eid Reside and Superstar Eid will come from Bradford, a metropolis with a big Muslim inhabitants that’s this yr’s UK Metropolis of Tradition, and is the setting for brand new BBC thriller Virdee.
Hosted by Jason Mohammad, Eid Reside will make UK historical past as the primary service from a mosque broadcast on terrestrial TV, the BBC stated. Coming stay from subsequent month on the morning of Eid, the present will highlight 1,500 worshippers at Bradford Central Mosque. Two presenters will probably be stationed exterior and there will probably be a spread of visitors. Later that day, Superstar Eid will see well-known Muslim faces come along with non-Muslims and neighbors to rejoice the arrival of Eid, with these collaborating set to be introduced in the end.
The pair of reveals function on the BBC’s newest Religion and Hope season, which may even commemorate Easter and Passover. Daisy Scalchi, who runs spiritual commissioning for the BBC, stated it’s shocking the stay Eid service has not been finished earlier than. “This seems like it’s completely the correct second to be doing one thing loudly and proudly, celebrating this key second within the calendar,” she added. “I’d hope this alerts how alert we’re to our spiritual output.” Firecracker Scotland is producing with Amplify Consulting, which is run by considered one of Scalchi’s predecessors, Aaqil Ahmed.
At a time when communities are polarized and Islamophobia within the UK is on the rise, Scalchi stated it’s “extra essential now than ever” for the nation’s oldest pubcaster – commissioner of “99% of the UK’s spiritual output” – to be backing reveals comparable to Eid Reside.
“I actually imagine that to know society and perceive ourselves we have to perceive faith and religion,” she added. “It’s about who we determine with, who we’re and what we imagine. With out having that understanding or appreciation of the most important faiths I don’t assume we actually perceive the neighbors we’re dwelling subsequent to or the people who find themselves a part of our day-to-day lives.”
The media has an “essential position to play” in contributing in direction of “wider societal cohesion,” Scalchi added. Her remarks got here only a few months after the devastating summer season riots. These riots have been brought on partly by a false conspiracy idea claiming the assassin of three women at a dance class was a Muslim terrorist who got here from exterior the UK. “We’re talking to totally different communities, religion leaders and understanding what is going on on the bottom,” she added. “We’re listening to instantly from individuals embedded in these worlds on daily basis.”
Scalchi stated her commissioning staff is extra joined up than ever with the remainder of the BBC and is working with departments comparable to BBC Youngsters’s, BBC Bitesize, Sounds and groups from the nations and areas.
With that in thoughts, the BBC has chosen to broadcast its Eid present from Bradford, a metropolis wherein almost one third of its inhabitants are Muslim, which is being showcased on the BBC for the time being through A A Dhand adaptation Virdee. “At a time when Bradford is celebrating being Metropolis of Tradition, this feels actually essential,” added Scalchi.
For the Religion & Hope season, Scalchi additionally revealed the BBC’s newest Gareth Malone sequence, which can see the well-known choirmaster carry Handel’s ‘Messiah’ to new audiences, together with the previously-announced Amol Rajan Goes to the Ganges [working title], because the College Problem host joins as much as 500 million pilgrims from everywhere in the globe for the world’s largest spiritual competition.
