Message on screen: Ramadan soap operas mirror Arab plight

After consuming an elaborate feast at sunset to break the day-long fast, Arabs gather before their television sets to watch the year's favourite soap operas.

This has become as much a part of the holy month of Ramadan as the breaking of the fast itself.

The holy month is considered prime-time television for producers in the Arab world, and an opportunity to convey politically-charged messages to the Arab masses.

A plethora of social and political themes are explored in these programmes, which range from serious dramas to slapstick comedies. Controversial matters, such as globalisation, poverty, spinsterhood, polygamy and drugs, are but a few of these themes.

What has an Arab tyrant who lived in the Middle Ages got to do with the present day situation in the Middle East? During this year's Ramadan entertainment bonanza, Syrian producers resurrected the story of Al Hajjaje, a bloodthirsty army commander from the time of the Omayyad caliphate.

Al Hajjaje was sent to Iraq to quell an uprising. Upon reaching the country, he is said to have uttered his infamous line: "I see heads have ripened and it is time to harvest them, and I will be the one to harvest them."

It is reported that he killed thousands of Iraqis and his reign is remembered as one of the darkest chapters in Iraqi history. The series was produced at a cost of $3 million, one of the most expensive in the Arab world.

According to Aisha Sultan, Head of the Culture Department at Al Bayan, the timing of the series suggests that the Iraqis have always been cursed with tyrants as rulers throughout their history.
Aisha believes there are political messages embedded in most Ramadan serials, even if they may appear "silly".

Omar Al Jastaniya, Head of Public Relations at MBC, one of the channels showing the series, does not agree that Ramadan serials focus on disseminating political messages.

"I think that Al Hajjaje is exploring one of the most controversial figures in Arab history. Even his detractors admitted that he was a military leader of the first calibre, politically shrewd and a noted literary figure."

Aisha Sultan backed up her point, citing a seemingly innocuous Egyptian drama, Al Amma Nour (Aunt Nour). The series is about an Egyptian-American who returns to Sayeda Zeinab, a low class district in Cairo, after living in America for several decades. She brings with her modern American ideas, but she finds that the country is the same as she left it years ago.

"In the series, many issues that affect Egyptian life and the Arab world in general are discussed, such as drugs, poverty, unemployment, secret marriages and the generation gap. These are messages to the decision-makers that everything in our lives, from the bread we eat to our jobs is affected by politics," she said.

Aisha said the historical drama themes are chosen for their political messages.

"The stories are selected for their similarity to present day events. Two years ago during Ramadan, we had two series on Salahuddin Al Ayubi, who liberated Jerusalem from the crusaders," she said. "It wasn't a coincidence that we had these series at a time when the Palestinian Intifada was at its peak."

She cited another Syrian series which examined a pre-Islamic battle between Arab tribes and the Romans.

"Last year, when the tensions were high because of the pre-war situation, we had a drama on the battle of Dhi Al Qar in which the scattered Arab tribes united to defeat the Romans," she said.

"The Arab tribes were polarized between the two major powers of that time, the Romans and Persians, just like our present day situation."