TV Drama: An Industry that Casts its Malignant Shadow over the Family and Society!

(Translated)

TV dramas have become very popular among people of all ages of different tastes . Drama channels are keen to broadcast a variety of dramas, such as classic films, modern films, adventure films, as well as TV series from social to comic, love and romance, and children based programs and serials so that television screens with such series have become the friend of every member of the family according to what he likes and wishes. In fact, under the technological development, TV series and programs are no longer limited to television, but can now also be seen online.

These drama and TV series - especially the translated ones - are not devoid of foreign ideas and values on our Islamic culture, which strike the Islamic values and principles at the core, and seek to program the general ideas in the Muslim lands to conform to Western ideas and concepts and to absorb the rotten ones in order to be promoted in our societies as natural and normal, and that is followed by the Media Policy in the Muslim lands, targeting the family and society in the Muslim lands.

We find that these series, for example, decorate the mixing between males and females, and make it the spirit of the age and its requirements, and we find that it encourages the culture of nudity and promiscuity in Muslim women, making these as keeping pace with fashion and open to the world. We also find that they promote the Haram relations between young men and women, making them tolerable and motivated by “love”. In addition, we can also notice the display of Munkar and forbidden actions such as the display of drinking alcohol as a normal thing, as well as the call for full freedom and being free from restrictions and legal (Shar’ii) controls, alongside the rituals and customs of polytheism and idolatry that permeate these series and films, especially Indian ones.

The impact of these films and series is not limited to the ideas and concepts, but has also been reflected on the behavior of eating and clothing as well as relations between members of the community and the family, where unfortunately the heroes of these serials have become role models for some of the sons of  the Muslims, imitating them in their dress haircuts, movements and behavior, and even in their names, naming their children after them!!

If we look at the situation of women in dramas, we find them presented to us in one of these images: either she is powerless and oppressed and has no control of anything and no value in society, and in this context, the main role of women being a mother and housewife was attacked and was shown the reason for her misery. She was portrayed oppressed and suffering because she is a woman who is imprisoned in her home. She has no job except taking care of her home and raising her children, and thus, it was planted in the minds of women that the solution to their problems lies in the rebellion against this role and their responsibilities in it. In the second picture, she was presented as able to dispense with men and manage her affairs and adequate for her own needs and make her decisions all by herself, as she is free in her actions, independent of herself, doing whatever she wants without restriction. There are no controls over her movement and she throws everything that restricts her freedom behind her back.

Whoever follows the television dramas would see that they make love and romance stories a general guide, offering them in a way that is far from reality and presenting unrealistic images which led to the formation of a false vision for those who are seeking marriage on marital life, where the perception of marital life is very ideal and is predominated by romance without paying attention to the responsibilities of marriage, and to what life holds of hardships and difficulties. The husband in these films and serials is a handsome, elegant, young, rich and luxuriant who brings gifts to his wife with and without occasions, and the wife is portrayed as a beautiful, charming, attractive woman, always free for parties, clubs and travel with her husband as if this woman does not have any responsibilities or family duties, and as if this husband knows no expense, no responsibility and no upbringing of children. As a result, these young people will soon thereafter collide with the reality, responsibilities and duties placed on them which open the door of marital problems and disputes that may eventually lead to divorce. This is on one hand.

On the other hand, some young men and women are looking for specifications of those whom they will marry according to the physical standards and materialistic capabilities presented by these serials. This was a prelude to failure in married life because each party is looking for the appearance without the substance, and each party is looking for someone who lives with him a "love story" as seen on serials, not looking for someone of Deen and manners, someone with whom life is full of affection, compassion and tranquility, as Allah (swt) mentioned in His glorious Book in Surat Ar-Rum, verse 21:

﴿وَمِنْ آَيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا لِتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُمْ مَوَدَّةً وَرَحْمَةً إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآَيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ﴾

“And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquility in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.”

 This way of thinking is not limited to those seeking marriage, but has also reached the married couples. The followers of these dramas, especially women, find their lives monotonous and have become obsessed with the lifestyle presented in the dramas, which led to marital disputes and problems in homes.

This is the tip of the iceberg of the poison and malicious ideas broadcast by television dramas among the sons of the Muslims, which seek to corrupt the Ummah by planting Western concepts and distorting Islamic concepts related to various relationships, such as men's relations with women, by addressing topics that are oriented by the West and the ruling leaders such as the topic of “terrorism”, and by presenting the Western lifestyle as a distinctive lifestyle to be followed. The creators of these productions deliberately direct these serials well and photograph them in beautiful and prepossessing landscapes and beautiful and fancy constructions, attractive fashion and music, as well as playing on the tendon of all the beautiful human feelings and emotions in order to influence the viewers, especially the young people.

Therefore, we must deal with the media and what it broadcasts, whether dramas or others, seriously and carefully and we must not leave the sons and daughters of the Muslims as tools in their hands or an easy bait for their mouths. We, therefore, call on parents to take their part in caring for their families and protecting them from all that corrupts and poisons them, Allah (swt) says in Surat At-Tahreem, verse 6:

﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ عَلَيْهَا مَلَائِكَةٌ غِلَاظٌ شِدَادٌ لَّا يَعْصُونَ اللَّهَ مَا أَمَرَهُمْ وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ﴾

“O ye who believe! Save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is Men and Stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who flinch not (from executing) the Commands they receive from Allah, but do (precisely) what they are commanded.”

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Bara’a Manasra