Sermons bring touch of Islam to broadcaster (Feature)

By Jean-Baptiste Piggin Jun 30, 2009, 2:52 GMT

   Berlin - A controversy in Germany a couple of years ago about Islamic content on tax-funded websites has faded and broadcasters are now gingerly wondering if Islamic spirituality should be permitted on German radio.

   It is hard to imagine a more cautious start to presenting Islamic faith on the staid airwaves of German public broadcasting.

To listen to the mini-sermons, which were launched in 2007, listeners must visit a website and download the audio or video files on Islamic topics, because they are not carried on radio or TV at all.

The five-minute podcasts by the Suedwestrundfunk (SWR) broadcasting corporation are issued once per month and contain non-controversial spiritual guidance from a panel of four Muslim authors, all of whom are graduates of German universities.

They write the texts, which are edited by broadcasting staff and then read aloud by professional German announcers.

Anodyne as the talks are, the SWR corporation says they are being downloaded up to 50,000 times monthly.

The only other content aimed at Muslims on German public broadcasting, ZDF national television's Forum on Friday, also began in 2007.

It comprises video interviews by ZDF journalists with a wide variety of Islamic intellectuals talking in German about issues including political Islam.

The ZDF series generally takes a hostile stance towards religious conservatives.

The 10-minute ZDF video clips are not broadcast, but have to be viewed on the ZDF website, just as the SWR podcasts are.

   Both SWR and ZDF are funded by a tax on all TV sets and personal computers.

Back in 2007, many Germans saw red about the plans to spend 'their' money on what were dubbed 'Friday prayers' on SWR, a family of radio and TV stations in the Stuttgart area.

Secular critics railed against 'backward religion' gaining a foothold on the airwaves. Some Christians perceived an insult to their own faith and Jewish groups demanded, and won, matching privileges.

SWR's political masters intervened, demanding caution. Muslims make up 5 per cent of Germany's population, new figures show.

   At a seminar in June which reviewed the podcasts service, editorial staff admitted they were still treading very carefully.

The seminar was hosted by the Catholic bishop of Stuttgart, Gebhard Fuerst.

His endorsement of the podcasts may partly reflect recent suggestions from high Vatican officials that the Catholic Church and Islam share an interest in resisting the rise of atheism and defending the rights of religious communities.

Bishop Fuerst obliquely criticized the German authorities for choosing the authors of the Islamic talks.

The Christian churches largely have the freedom to choose their own speakers for similar weekly talks on public radio.

He said SWR should study whether Muslims actually like the podcasts.

'There are practically no qualitative assessments of what listeners think about them,' he said.

That meant it was open to question whether the talks were in tune with what most of the 4 million Muslims thought.

Despite the criticism, academics at the seminar agreed it was a good thing that SWR had taken the first step.

Most of the 25 talks recorded so far stress that Muslims should be good Germans. In a recent talk for example, Bekir Alboga of Turkey's mosque authority DITIB declared, 'Our religion obliges us Muslims to abide by the laws of the country in which we live.'

Joerg Imran Schroeter, who teaches Islamic studies at the University of Freiburg, said the service helps to counter anti-Islam feelings in Germany.

Bernhard Hermann, director of radio at SWR, told the seminar, 'The strange thing is that we are the only the regional public broadcaster offering something like this.'

From his remarks, SWR clearly feels it is still too early to stick its neck out any further.

Asked if he could imagine imams preaching in their own words, rather than submitting their addresses to SWR's editorial filter, he replied that this would only be conceivable if Islam were to be incorporated under the constitution in Germany as a body, like a church.

Analysts say this is inconceivable for such a pluralistic religion spanning so many ethnic groups.

Seminar speakers urged SWR to move the talks onto the air, but Hermann was cautious, warning that this might arouse opposition.

'Remember the storm of protest when we started,' he said. In 2007, some politicians claimed SWR was going to offer a platform to 'preachers of hate.'

Those claims have gone silent, but SWR is wary of upsetting xenophobic listeners who might happen unawares onto a live radio broadcast of Islamic spirituality.