excerpt:

Before each episode, the contestants have gathered to recite a prayer, while the challenges they are judged on have included washing corpses in preparation for burial and ensuring that animals are slaughtered according to Islamic principles.

The prize pool, too, offers a clear indication of the detour the show takes from the usual reality show script. Cash and a new car are up for grabs, but the winner will also be offered a job as an imam, or religious leader, a scholarship to study in Saudi Arabia and an all-expenses-paid pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.

...Some political commentators say the show’s popularity reflects the increasing Islamization of this Muslim-majority nation of 26 million. The program’s creators, who are already planning a second season, say they are trying to provide an entertaining way of making Islam more relevant to the lives of the young and extending the role of religious leaders beyond the mosque.

Read the full article | Print this article