‘Muawiya,’ a Ramadan TV Series, Stokes Tensions Between Sunni and Shiite Muslims
Posted on: Mar 28, 2025 14:30 IST | Posted by: Nytimes
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The story of a divisive Islamic swayer from antediluvian times, produced by a spreader in the sunni islam kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has drawn rebukes from Shiite-majority Iran and Iraq.
Reporting from Dubai, United Arab Emirates
A new TV series airing for the holy month of Ramadan is stoking sectarian tensions in the Middle East with the story of a divisive figure in Islamic history who is revered by Sunni Muslims but reviled by many Shiites.
The series, “Muawiya,” tells the story of Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan, a major figure in early Islam. He was one of Islam’s early rulers and the founder of the Umayyad dynasty — the first hereditary rulers in Islam where power passed down within the same clan. He was also a reputed companion of the Prophet Muhammad.
The show chronicles events in the seventh century that led to Islam’s first civil war between Sunnis and Shiites.
The show was produced by a media conglomerate in Saudi Arabia, which, like most other Middle Eastern countries, is dominated by Sunnis. Some in Shiite Iran and Iraq, one of the only Arab countries with a Shiite majority, are balking.
Iraq’s media regulator said on March 1, the first day of Ramadan, that it would block broadcasts of the series.
“The airing of historically controversial content could provoke sectarian debates, threatening social harmony and disrupting the fabric of society, especially during Ramadan,” the regulator said at the time.
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