Arab Culture and MTV

Islam, meaning submission or submitting oneself fully to God, is one of the world’s largely practiced religions. Those that participate and practice the Islamic religion

In Islam, God, grants human rights and therefore they can never be taken away or changed, for any reason. As a result, these concepts are part of the way Islamic individuals are portrayed in society. Every Muslim is required to accept them and recognize the people's right to have them enforced and obeyed. Islam allows complete freedom of thought and expression, provided that it does not involve spreading anything that is harmful to individuals and the society at large. The value of the community and society as a whole is greatly emphasized in Islamic traditions, as the common wealth of the society is important. This in turn reflects on society, because in Islamic culture, it is important to act in a lawful way as it is entrenched not only in their Muslim religion but in their general lifestyle as well. These factors greatly affect society because their customs, traditions and beliefs are embedded in their laws and individuals must act accordingly.

Notably, as Muhammed standardized the Five Pillars of Islam for the “umma,’’ or community of faithful, multiplying followers stayed true to his legal doctrines. Ever since early Islam, the ‘’Sharia’’ stabilized the cults law, even if it combated Greek, Persian, and Indian nations. Along with cultural topics, the Sharia gave

MTV, formally known as Music Television, is one of the most viewed networks on television today. Roughly thirty-three years old, it has changed the American culture drastically in more than just one way. Specifically targeting teens and young adults, the MTV network provides all of the most up to date gossip on celebrities, highlights the latest fashion trends, promotes versified lifestyles, and defines the music industry of our generation. However, this so-called “idolized network” has not always been this way. The American culture has been affected by MTV through the creation of the network, the transformation from simply just music television to inappropriate reality shows, and the promotion of inappropriate content.

Sharia is a major aspect of everyday life for Muslims as it is Islamic law. Yet it is much more than that; in essence Sharia is actually a moral code that concerns one’s personal relationship with God. It has been written over many centuries as it is constantly being updated based on interpretations of modern scholars. It largely focuses on how an individual practices their Islamic faith and follows basic Islamic principles, as well as family law, such as marriage and divorce. However, Sharia is not actually obligatory for Muslims to follow, but the vast majority choses to do so. Sharia can be very diverse as it comes down to how the individual chooses to interpret and follow it.

As America headed into the 1980s, two decades of social and political upheaval have left the nation rattled and the economy weakened. The Iran hostage crisis shook America's confidence and many looked for a new kind of leader to steer the country into the new decade. Ronald Reagan led America into a new era of prosperity leaving the soul-searching of the 60s and 70s behind. The nation was ready to enjoy itself and with plenty of new toys to play like VCRs and video games, Americans spent more time at home and soon something called cable TV would make it even harder to leave the living room. With the new innovation of the TV, one of the ideas for a channel was a marriage between music and television. This new idea for a channel devoted to something called music videos would end up revolutionizing and often scandalizing an industry that had no choice but to embrace the fact that music in the 1980s had to have a face with videos. By having these music videos, they would change the way we look at music and the way we look at the world. This cutting- edge idea was a new medium perfectly suited to a new generation and that idea was called, MTV. This leads to the question: How did MTV influence pop culture of the 1980’s? This topic is worthy of investigation because the coming of MTV has had a significant impact on the way people see pop culture. Before researching the topic, the writer had limited knowledge on MTV and only knew about the music itself. In the paper, the writer was

Sharia law is an ancient compilation of religious rules that most Muslim nations seek reference in governing their people. Also defined as Islamic law, the essence of sharia laws emanated from the life of Prophet Mohammed known as the hadiths as well as the Quran teachings. The hadiths entail the vocal expressions of prophet Muhammad on divine life and his condemnation of immoral behavior that undermine the acceptable way of life. The teachings are accepted by the Muslim community who affirm that Muhammad’s teachings supplement the functionality of the Quran. On the other hand, the Quran, which forms the core reference on Muslim beliefs and regulations provides moral and spiritual guidance among the Muslims. It also dictates how the Muslims should interact with the non-Muslim community without contravening on the sharia doctrines (Hallaq 20-25).

Sharia is enforced in Islamic nations in a number of ways, including mutaween and hisbah. The mutaween are the government-authorized or government-recognized religious police of Saudi Arabia. Hisbah is a historic Islamic doctrine that holds it is a religious obligation of every Muslim that he or she report to the ruler any wrong behavior of a neighbor or relative that violates Sharia or insults Islam. The doctrine states that it is the duty of the ruler to intervene when such charges are made, and to "command right and forbid wrong" in order to keep everything in order according to Sharia. The doctrine of Hisbah in Islam has traditionally allowed any Muslim to accuse another Muslim, ex-Muslim, or non-Muslim of beliefs or behavior that may harm

The region of the Middle East and its inhabitants have always been a wonder to the Europeans, dating back to the years before the advent of Islam and the years following the Arab conquest. Today, the Islamic world spreads from the corners of the Philippines to the far edges of Spain and Central Africa. Various cultures have adopted the Islamic faith, and this blending of many different cultures has strengthened the universal Islamic culture. The religion of Islam has provided a new meaning to the lives of many people around the world. In the Islamic world, the religion defines and enriches culture and as a result the culture gives meaning to the individual. Islam is not only a religion, it is in its own way a culture. It may be this very

MTV was first to establish principles of popular culture. MTV became an iconic presence in popular culture, inspiring visual media culture. Over the years, MTV has played a major role on popular culture on a global scale. MTV has advanced in becoming a leading style of popular culture for younger generations. MTV and its culture has spread world-wide resulting in MTV’s expansion into different channels and countries such as MTV China, MTV Canada, MTV India, etc. however, all the channels belong to one mass media source: MTV.

Sharia – law believed to have originated from the “Koran, hadith, ijam, and qiyas” (Dictionary)

The misrepresentation of minorities is frequent in Hollywood films and Arabs are one of the many minority groups Hollywood misrepresent. Arabs are portrayed negatively in films for long time even before 9/11. The Arabs characters are portrayed with always having accent, wearing traditional attire, untrustworthy, aggressive and almost always associated with terrorism. The continuously falsification could lead to stereotypes, misjudgment, and damage to Arabic culture.

One of the biggest challenges for MTV was the controversial content that it is used to show on their normal channel and regarding this the main difference they had to adapt. The sexuality, use of alcohol, politic criticism and religion criticism are some of the main characteristics of MTV on other countries that are not as conservative as Arabs. With these characteristics MTV has achieved success through the Western hemisphere, be- cause the black humor they use is normal among the youngsters and instead of feeling sensible with these, they see it in a humorous way. But, in the Arab community they still conserve the traditional values supported by their culture. In an effort to adopt the strategy of “Think Globally, Act Locally” MTVN (Music Television Networks) executives made it a point to learn the cultures and make shows that relate to the cultures as op- pose to exporting the American culture. In order to achieve this goal the channel adopted a decentralized

Religion is a big part of Islamic people’s culture and their beliefs. Islamic people are very respectful of traditional ways of worshipping and beliefs of their religion. In the video, “Pop Goes Islam’, we are shown how one man tries to bring people together in a non-traditional way. He uses his knowledge of the younger generation to help bring people together. This raises some criticism and scrutiny from the Islamic people. I believe though this is a big step in trying to eliminate some Islamic stereotypes towards Western music and help bring people together all acrossed the world.

The Quran is a religious manuscript with a unique effect on the legal, social, and political organizations of the numerous societies of Muslims since ancient times until today. Apparently, in the majority of Muslim states, their constitutions are usually canonized by the Islamic regimens. Consequently, the Quran is the foundation of the legal principles in such nations. The basis of numerous lawful codes in ancient Muslim kingdoms was primarily outlined in the Quran and was vastly referred by jurists especially in court proceedings. Additionally, the set of rules marks an integral position in the religious lives of Muslims. It encompasses the five prayers that are typically recited daily, and they entail the