Egyptian President El-Sisi has ordered his government to begin the regulation of Ramadan television series, accusing current shows of going against traditional values. As a result, Egypt’s National Media Authority and Egyptian TV plan to create their own Ramadan series to reflect Sisi’s demands, with an upcoming show surrounding the life of Talaat Harb Pasha, the founder of Banque Misr (Bank of Egypt). Sisi’s attack on the media comes in the wake of popular shows criticizing his government and shedding light on real issues in Egypt.
For context: Every Ramadan, Middle Eastern production companies, such as Cedars Art Production and Shahid MBC, will produce TV shows specifically for Ramadan, but most of them have nothing to do with Islam. The main idea is that one episode is released every night of Ramadan, so there are thirty episodes in one season, each around an hour long. Some shows only have one season, like Khamsa Wa Nos, and others will have multiple, like Al Hayba. These are seen as controversial because Muslims are encouraged to spend their nights during Ramadan praying and reading Quran, especially during the last ten nights.
Note: If anyone wants to start watching Arabic or even Turkish shows, Shahid MBC is a streaming platform that offers English subtitles. It is a great way to learn the basics of a language!
