Northern Lights Volume 6 © 2008 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/nl.6.1.165/1 Magic spells and recitation contests: the Quran as entertainment on Arab satellite television Ehab Galal Abstract Religion in the Middle East is, in general, related to political discussions on Islam’s position and influence on the development of democracy. The same approach has been dominant in research into new media in the Islamic world. The argument of the article is that the mediatization of Islam with the latest development of religious popular culture supports a process, where a political and rational version of Islam is increasingly being replaced by a more individualized and consumer-based version. The article analyses two different types of popular religious programmes on religious satellite TV: the Quran recitation competition and the Quranic healing programme. By analysing the media’s use of the central symbol of Islam, the Quran, it is possible to discuss the question of re-enchantment as a part of popular culture. It is, in this way, illustrated how traditional religious practices are perceived as instrumental for constructions of ‘the Islamic self ’. The Quran is seldom associated with popular culture, due to the common tendency to view the Quran as a book connected to Islamic orthodoxy. As the Quran is defined as the directly revealed words of God, it is a book to sanctify and treat with respect and awe. At the same time, the rejection of modern popular culture has been a core element of the Islamist project in the 1970s and 1980s. Based on political activism and the principle of dissociation from a decadent, westernized society, the Islamists 1 rejected its corrupt values, excesses and consumerism (Abdelrahman 2006). Modern popular culture was condemned as non-Islamic and an expression of hedonism and idolatry. Despite the denial among some conservative reli- gious authorities as well as Islamists, Islam and popular cultural practices have always lived in fruitful interdependence. Contrary to the self-ascription by some Islamists as being the purifier of Islam from superstitious, heretical, modernist and western practices, 2 researchers have argued that the Islamic revival is a result of moderniza- tion processes, including processes of individualization and consumption. This development has made room for Islam as a powerful discourse creat- ing religious and consumer identities (for example, Roy 2004). In this per- spective, it is possible to see the development of a particular Islamic 165 NL 6 165–179 © Intellect Ltd 2008 Keywords Arab satellite TV Islamic media Quran healing magic Quran recitation 1. By the term ‘Islamist’, I refer to persons pro- moting Islamism. Islamism is here defined as a political ideology of establish- ing a society and policy on Islamic prin- ciples. In practice, the term ‘Islamism’ covers a range of different policies, from radical to moderate, due to different interpretations of the Islamic principles. 2. One of the main figures to inspire criti- cism of the western, and particular American, culture, was Said Qutb (1906–66), an Egyptian and a prominent member NL_6_11_art_Galal.qxd 6/11/08 3:57 PM Page 165