Nikhat Qureshi (above) taping the The Guftgu Show. Photo by Farah Janjua

 

FEATURE VOLUME. 6 ISSUE. 4

Across The Airwaves
by Fadoua Abida

While I was cooking and listening to the radio, I heard two women conversing about the importance of spouses defining their love language in order to have a successful marriage. Captivated, I kept listening as I worked; it felt like they were right there talking to me. At that point, I realized the power of a Muslim radio station.

That show, Family Connection, became my favorite from One Legacy Radio, but others were also riveting and provocative. From the Fitness Power Hour, I learned that the perception that weight exercises can make women big was nothing more than a myth. During Serenity, in which the focus was on faith and spirituality, the messages were inspirational.
Today, numerous young American Muslims are seeking to define themselves and their identity. As they look to fortify their faith and sense of belonging, it is essential to have a vibrant Muslim media to play a major role in developing our ideas of self and community.
Radio Islam, One Legacy Radio and AmericanMuslim360 are three broadcasting institutions filling that need. Founded by Muslims wanting to contribute to the media landscape, these radio channels have a variety of backgrounds and speak to the diverse generations and segments of our community while providing information and inspiration to their listeners.
When the founders of Radio Islam (RadioIslam.com) launched the first show in December 1999, more than 200 radio shows were catering to Muslims. Wanting to break new creative ground, the producers decided to reach beyond the standard pre-recorded, religious issues-oriented shows and create programming that featured call-in talk shows, live interviews, reports and regular daily segments. Their market expanded beyond the Muslim audience, according to producer Amnah Murad. “We purposefully decided to gear this toward the mainstream market so as to act as a bridge of communication between us Muslims and our neighbors, to educate them and to invite them into our “living room” by providing a live, call-in talk show format,” she said. “This way, a dialogue is created rather than a unidirectional monologue where listeners with questions remain with just that: questions (without answers).”
Another goal of this media institution is to have hosts who were born in the US to shatter the myth that all Muslims are foreigners. Some of those weekly hosts include attorney Janaan Hashim, editor Ayesha Mustafaa, professor Aminah McCloud and poet Jamila Firdausee. Ms. Hashim relays that a listener called in to ask where they found hosts with such good American accents. “Muslim radio such as ours is one way of undermining such ignorance and replacing it with knowledge and sound fact,” she says.

Like Radio Islam, One Legacy Radio was founded to provide information to, and about the Muslim community. Co-Founder and producer, Yasmin Bhuj helped to shape its concept. “One Legacy was created as a lifestyle radio station for Muslims in the West, dealing with contemporary issues in the social and spiritual day-to-day lives of Muslims,” she says. “We hope for those talking ‘about’ Muslims that it provides a perspective other than what the mainstream media often only negatively reports. It reveals the character of the contemporary ummah in the US, as a thriving spiritual, evolving, healing and active community within wider society.”
The owners, Nour and Sami Mattar have received feedback from listeners who find the content relevant, inspiring and diverse. That content includes discussions on parenting, spirituality, health and women’s issues, as well as civil rights and political commentary on national and global issues. One show, focusing on family relationships, is hosted by Munira Ezzeldine and Noha Alshugairi. Ms. Ezzeldine states the show covers numerous relevant and contemporary topics that significantly impact the radio audience. The show receiving the highest listenership featured obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, who discussed sexual intimacy in Muslim marriages. “The discussion was authentic and unveiled concerns that are considered taboo to discuss and generally are not addressed in our community,” says Ms. Ezzeldine.
Based in Irvine California, One Legacy Radio is making its presence felt with such thought-provoking content. “This media platform is an opportunity for us to speak about issues concerning the Muslim community, while at the same time educating the general community about Islam and Muslims,”

Nikhat Qureshi gets an exciting discussion going on Radio Azad with her radio program, “Guftgu” (“Conversation” in Urdu). Conversing with change makers and talented artists and innovators in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Ms. Qureshi is giving a voice to those who are contributing to the community. When she invites accomplished people to discuss their work and share their gifts, her in-depth interviews provide her listeners inspiration for animated feedback at the end of each show. Along with her co-host Tasnim Ali Zaki, Ms. Qureshi is helping Radio Azad to reach its aim of being the leading platform for the South Asian community in Dallas-Fort Worth and beyond. With content ranging from global news to talk shows to Bollywood music entertainment, the station has a diverse listening audience that includes all South Asian ethnicities, age groups, and professions.
The “Guftgu” show, beginning in May 2011, has already interviewed several notable figures. Ms. Qureshi has featured Nicole Queen, an event photographer who shared her journey as a Muslim convert and spoke about her work as an outreach speaker about Islam.
Another notable guest was Farah Janjua, a Dallas-based photographer who has exhibited her work in Pakistan and around the world. Ms. Janjua recounted her work with UNICEF and how she won a Kodak photography award for her work at the Afghan camps in Pakistan.

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