Heart and Soul: The emerging Muslim 'manosphere'

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2023

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Britain, the growth of Islam is being driven by a younger population, born and brought up in the United Kingdom. This includes BBC reporter Rahil Sheikh. Having grown up against the backdrop of the ‘war on terror’ and rising Islamophobia, he has seen how young Muslims have turned to social media to forge online safe spaces where they can connect, celebrate and discuss their faith. Young Muslims say these social media stars explain the faith in a more relatable way than the imams or spiritual leaders they may encounter in the mosque. But in recent years, Rahil has noticed that some of these male Muslim influencers have been using Islam to advocate alpha masculinity as a way of combating liberalism and feminism. Critics – including some Muslim women - argue this is a misguided interpretation of the faith.

Transcript

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0:00.0	15 years ago, 23-year-old Norwegian student Martina Vic Magnussen was killed in an apartment near Mayfair.
0:07.0	23-year-old Martina Vic Magnussen was found partially buried in the basement.
0:12.0	Before being questioned, the only suspect in the case had fled the UK to Yemen.
0:17.0	I made a promise to Martina's family to find out what happened.
0:21.0	Murder in Mayfair is the new mini-series right here in the documentary. All episodes are available now.
0:29.0	What's up guys, we're alive. We're looking for fresh food podcasts after our position with Joe and Andrew Tate and a full panel.
0:34.0	Let's get into a manhood.
0:35.0	Social media personality, Andrew Tate, made global headlines when he was arrested over allegations of rape and people trafficking, all of which he denies.
0:44.0	But just before this, he caused a stir among Muslims. When he announced he'd converted to Islam.
0:51.0	Is there a problem with feminism? Islam will fix it.
0:54.0	Islam fixes a lot of the problems that men are currently facing.
1:00.0	Tate's embracing of Islam is part of a wider trend online where the religion is held up as the solution to a crisis in masculinity.
1:09.0	You know, Andrew Tate became Muslim because he said that he respects the red lines of Islam and he respects the fact that Islam is an intolerant religion.
1:19.0	On social media, a new generation of Muslim influences are speaking out against what they see as the feminization of society.
1:29.0	These real men, the Prophet of the Prophet, the Sahaba, the Prophet, those are our standards.
1:34.0	So when we compare today's men to that, we find that there's a big difference.
1:40.0	And they're using their religion to argue for a return to traditional gender roles.
1:47.0	A man just likes to know his wife's at home. That is value-adding.
1:52.0	So if you're going to the workplace, that value's taken away from me now.
1:57.0	I'm Rahul Shake and in this episode of Heart and Soul, which explores personal approaches to spirituality from around the world, I'm exploring the Muslim Manosphere.
2:07.0	These are online spaces where men collectively gather to tackle a perceived crisis of masculinity.
2:12.0	It's become popular with my generation of Muslim men, but I'm struggling to understand why.
	...

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