16 May 2016 - 17:45
 BBC May Broadcast Muslim Call to Prayer

The British Broadcasting Corporation could broadcast the Muslim call to prayer according to plans from the corporation’s head of religion.

Aaqil Ahmed, Commissioning Editor Religion and Head of Religion & Ethics — the first Muslim to hold the position at the BBC — said the Beeb’s programs are too Christian, the Sun reported.

He said that it should increase its coverage of Muslim, Hindu and Sikh religions.

Mr Ahmed — whose appointment in 2009 was criticized by the Archbishop of Canterbury of the time Rowan Williams — told a Commons meeting on religious literacy he had written a report for director-general Tony Hall that would answer criticisms from non-Christian faiths that they were under-served.

It now means the BBC might televise Friday prayers from a mosque in a similar way to Songs of Praise, according to Ibrahim Mogra, of the Muslim Council of Britain.

In a statement, Mr Ahmed said: "We do look at the number of hours we produce, and measure that against the religious make-up of society.

"We also carry out checks to give us a better understanding of how we represent the different faiths across the various BBC channels and services.

"Christianity remains the cornerstone of our output and there are more hours dedicated to it than there are to other faiths. Our output in this area is not static, though. It has evolved over the years and we regularly assess it.”

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