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The BBC and Islam: sensitivity or sycophancy?

ceo_esq

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I haven't seen this mentioned on the forum yet. Has anyone noticed that the Beeb, both on the air and on its website, now frequently adds the phrase "peace be upon him" when mentioning the Prophet Muhammad?

I haven't yet decided what to make of it. Any thoughts?
 
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ceo_esq said:
I haven't seen this mentioned on the forum yet. Has anyone noticed that the Beeb, both on the air and on its website, now frequently adds the phrase "peace be upon him" when mentioning the Prophet Muhammad?

I haven't yet decided what to make of it. Any thoughts?
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I haven't seen that, I will go and check it out.

If it's true, then they are idiots.
 
I just searched the BBC news website and couldn't find any examples of this. Do you have a link? What is your source? Hearsay or first hand?

Otherwise I'm going to dismiss it as propaganda I'm afraid.
 
I've seen it before on the BBC...and i posted the fact on other boards...

After the Muslim bus bombings in London, it seemed that every newspaper had articles about how Muslims were opening 'day care centres' and how they funded 'multi-cultural kindergartens'...

It was Muslims helping old people across the roads kinda thing...It was so obvious...

Dont bother checking...nearly every UK national / local / regional newspaper had at least three of four main stories about how lovey the Muslims were...

And the BBC was the most patronising...

DB

( PS...Who'd be surprised if all the related newspaper articles seem to be giving 404 Errors now...? )
 
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Interesting. They include it on an education page but not on news pages?

Presumably, then, the page linked to above was written by a Muslim.
 
ceo_esq said:
Right, but what does that have to do with anger?
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I think it is a figure of speech meaning it was used as part of the article, not as a reference to the phrase. I don't think he meant they used it because they were mad at Islam or Muslims.

I know that doesn't make it very clear, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to express what I mean this morning. Maybe I'll try again after coffee.
 
AK-Dave said:
I think it is a figure of speech meaning it was used as part of the article, not as a reference to the phrase. I don't think he meant they used it because they were mad at Islam or Muslims.

I know that doesn't make it very clear, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to express what I mean this morning. Maybe I'll try again after coffee.
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Thanks that's exactly it. I take it the phrase "using it in anger" isn't commonly used on the left side of the pond?
 
Use of pbuh on bbc.co.uk/religion
The BBC uses the pbuh in the Islam section out of courtesy, and we would do the same for any other religion if they had a similar phrase that was universally used as a sign of respect.

When the site refers to the Prophet on pages that are not in the Islam section, we do not use the phrase.
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from :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/pbuh.shtml

BTW I did check the date on Ceo's post. A bit late for April fool, isn't it?
 
ceo_esq said:
I also found 103 hits for "pbuh" on the BBC site, which, as a written abbreviation, would not be expected to appear in quotations of oral remarks.
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When I searched the BBC news site I got this
http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?edition=d&go.x=34&q=pbuh&tab=news&go.y=16&scope=newsukfs

3 article results (all in the religion section, in line with their stated policy) and 4 other hits, all of which point to comments made by the general public in "have your say". I have never heard a presenter use "Peace be upon him".
 
I think if the material on the particular page that uses the phrase is intended for a Muslim audience, then fair enough.

I will be interested to see if this does creep into everyday usage though (one slippery slope fallacy coming right up, you want fries with that?), cause then it will be very wrong.
 
If the Beeb really wants to go Islamic, then they should use the phrase after mentioning Jesus, Moses and all the prophets since Adam. But they don't do that, even on the religion pages.

For instance, here's a mention of "Jesus Christ" without any blessings appended. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/

And a mention of "Abraham" and "Moses" without any blessings appended. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/index.shtml



I will be interested to see if this does creep into everyday usage though (one slippery slope fallacy coming right up, you want fries with that?), cause then it will be very wrong.
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I've seasoned my hat ready to eat it.... When Jeremy Paxman uses the phrase in earnest. :)


(Is that better than 'in anger'?)
 
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