The BBC has just given the game away
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has hardly covered itself in glory in recent times over its reporting on race, faith and conflict.
Whether it is referring to Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in June 2020 as 'largely peaceful' anti-racist demonstrations after dozens of police officers had been injured by violent protesters, or airing a documentary involving a narrator who is related to an official of Hamas – a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK – the BBC's judgement has been left wanting time and again.
The latest scandal to rock our national broadcaster was an article focused on Eid al-Fitr – the Islamic celebration which marks the end of Ramadan – which consistently used the term 'revert' without quotation marks.
Failing its duty for transparency, there was no detailed explanation of what 'revert' means in the piece – with the BBC now removing the term from the headline and the other instances where it was used outside of quoting an interviewee.
The theological basis for the term 'revert' stems from the Islamic belief that all humans are born with an innate understanding of the oneness of God and a natural inclination to submit to Allah.
In other words, the understanding is that all humans are born Muslim – meaning that atheists and those with non-Islamic religious affiliations have strayed from the 'righteous path'.
Therefore, converts to Islam are considered 'reverts', as it is believed that they are 'reverting' to their original state of submission to Allah.
While 'New Muslim' could be used as an alternative phrase for such converts, it could be considered unpalatable by some Muslims who believe it fails to capture the theological essence of 'reversion'.
However, it is worth recognising that the term 'revert' does not command universal support among Muslims, with Dr Taj Hargey of the Oxford Institute for British Islam saying the term 'should never be used' and that the correct term to use is 'convert'.
The point here is that irrespective of one's views on the central tenets of Islam, the BBC – and those who are in its employ – has a professional obligation to produce content which is respectful of the fact it is the national public broadcaster of a nominally Christian, rapidly secularising and religiously diverse society.
Modern Britain includes people who are proud of their Islamic faith, and those who take pride in their Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, and Buddhist faiths and identities, as well as an ever-growing and significant population who have no religious affiliation at all.
Islamic ideological doctrine should not be presented as fact by a taxpayer-funded broadcasting service in the UK – and this principle should apply to any religious belief system, including rejection of the belief that deities exist.
In a state-funded organisation, which is supposedly committed to balance and impartiality, non-Muslims who decide to adopt Islam should be referred to as 'converts'.
It is a shame that no one at the BBC involved in the publication of the controversial piece in question – the writer, editors, service managers, or head of product – did not raise concerns.
For all its supposed emphasis on the 'progressive' trinity of diversity, equity, and inclusion, our national broadcaster too often reveals that it cannot be trusted to approach modern Britain with the care, sensitivity, and consideration required.
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