BBC2 - The Retreat

HelterSkelter

Did any of you guys watch this over the past 3 weeks ? I watched it and really enjoyed it. I think it showed Islam in a totally different light and made a refreshing change from all the crap in the media portraying it as a violent and opressive religion.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/misc/retreat_1.shtml

http://al-madrasa.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=47

wes

Nope, not seen it. Will have to look out for repeats.

blackthorn

Yes, watched it. Enjoyed it immensely. Seeing Pom taking shahadah was very emotional. I was transported back to the moment of my own conversion. Her happiness was so evident it was beautiful to see.
What I learned from the programme most was from Sidi Abdullah, about the best approach when dealing with Salafis. It's love and acceptance that opens hearts. Ok, Aisha probably did not see that Sufism is part and parcel of Islam, but when Sidi Abdullah expressed his gratitude to her for being there at the retreat (despite the differences the two of them had), it was clear that his words affected her positively.

InFront

Ah no, missed it! Sounds like it was worth watching alright, I wonder if it is repeated?

the_new_mr

Sounds class!! I saw The Monastery and liked it a lot.

Hopefully, someone will put the episodes up on youtube or something. I see there are a couple of clips already.

Clip 1
Clip 2

the_new_mr

Hmmmmmm......

I actually put those links up before I watched them. Just watched them there now. Not too sure about it to be honest. Didn't like the "couldn't care less" comment very much at all.

The stuff in the second clip isn't Sufism anyway. Whether it's okay or not is another matter. Only God knows. I can see this becoming an interesting thread...

HelterSkelter

the_new_mr wrote:

Hmmmmmm......

I actually put those links up before I watched them. Just watched them there now. Not too sure about it to be honest. Didn't like the "couldn't care less" comment very much at all.

I think he was becoming fed up with Aisha's negativity and it was a bit of an outburst. She wasn't interesting in doing anything that the Prophet didn't do in his life. And to make it worse she kept critising a lot of the activities as the practices were not familiar to her. The other members of the group (both Muslim and non-Muslim) asked her to stop doing this as she was ruining the Retreat for them. I think you need to watch the whole series to appreciate how annoying she really was!!

the_new_mr

Yeah, I definitely want to see the whole show. I can see how it might have been an outburst but a comment like "couldn't care less" is pretty serious.

Anyway, like you said, I should probably see the whole show before I judge. Even then, these things are always edited to death anyway You can even notice in the clips there.