Saudi cleric slams Turkish soaps as "wicked"

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al al-Shaikh told a seminar in conservative Saudi Arabia this week that Arabic television channels airing the soaps were un-Islamic.

"Any channel that helps to further perpetuate the popularity of these shows is ultimately a warrior against God and his Prophet," he said in comments cited by al-Watan newspaper.

"It is not permitted to watch Turkish series ... They are replete with wickedness, evil, moral collapse and war on virtues that only God knows the truth of."

He said he was speaking in the name of the Higher Council of Religious Scholars, the government body charged with advising on religious affairs.

It was not clear what specific objection the Mufti had to the programs. Saudi clerics demand gender segregation in public places and women are not allowed to drive cars.

They have previously objected to young Saudis taking part in popular music talent shows along the lines of American Idol.

The show "Noor" this year became an overnight sensation in the Arab world when it was first aired on Saudi-owned satellite channel MBC. It was a flop when first shown in Turkey in 2005 with the title, "Gumus".Â

 

Centering around a family whose patriarch strives to ensure his sons focus on the family business and maintain cohesion without straying into romantic temptation, its blonde hair blue-eyed star, Kivanc Tatlitug has become a heart-throb for many Arab women

 

"It seems most viewers are female," said Hana Rahman, who runs an Arab entertainment blog (waleg.com). "They're so swept away by the main character. He's become a heartthrob here! He has even caused divorce cases in Saudi Arabia."

  

"We made the series with a Turkish audience in mind," Tatlitug told al-Arabiya Television during a recent visit to Dubai. "The fact that it has amassed such a following in the Arab world just proves how much our cultures have in common."

 

Many Saudi women explained their devotion to the show as a form of escapism from stifling, love-less marriages.

 

"Our men are rugged and unyielding," quipped a 26-year-old house-frau who preferred to remain unnamed. "I wake up and see a cold and detached man lying next to me, I look out the window and see dust. It is all so dull. On Noor, I see beautiful faces, the beautiful feelings they share and beautiful scenery."

 

The drama has since spurred a large number of Gulf Arab tourists to visit Turkey, including the Saudi first lady Princess Hissa Al-Shaalan.