UK’s Channel 4 will air a daily Islamic call to prayer throughout the month of Ramadan.
The plans, which start on the first day of Ramadan on 10 July, have been fiercely defended by the broadcaster, who say that the channel gives “a voice to the under-represented.”
The broadcast will be heard for three minutes from around 3am. Channel 4 said the call will be transmitted “directly into British living rooms at the exact time Muslims prepare for their first prayers and as they begin their fast every morning during Ramadan.”
Programming will also be interrupted during the first day in order for the channel to air short films ahead of the call to prayer.
Head of factual programming Ralph Lee also said that Ramadan was bigger than the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which received blanket coverage on TV.
He told the Radio Times: “No doubt Channel 4 will be criticised for focusing attention on a ‘minority’ religion but that’s what we’re here to do – provide space for the alternative and a voice to the under-represented.
“And let’s not forget that Islam is one of the few religions that’s flourishing, actually increasing in the UK.