The recent spike in Islamic text messages coincided with news that Pakistan’s most popular private television channel had rehired Aamir Liaquat, a Muslim televangelist and a darling of television advertisers, who is infamous for faking his educational credentials and discriminating against religious minorities.
Source/Credit: The New York Times | Latitude Blog
By Huma Yusuf | July 16, 2012
KARACHI, Pakistan — When my mobile phone beeped last week, I expected to see a message from a friend. Instead, the SMS came from an unfamiliar number and stated that the traditional practice of distributing halwa, a dessert, during the religious holiday of Shab-e-Barat was neither required nor forbidden. To know exactly how to think of it, the message suggested I text back and ask, at a cost of a few cents.
In the run-up to the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, the number of spam SMS messages on Islamic themes — featuring verses from the Koran, the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, exhortations to be charitable and advice on how to pray — is soaring. For some, this use of mobile telephony is evidence of the Pakistani public’s growing religiosity. For others, it’s an annoying intrusion.
To me, it’s an uncomfortable reminder that rapacity, rather than spirituality, drives most religiosity in Pakistan.
Under the guise of outreach, religious organizations are mimicking advertisers and trying to tap the vast market of cellphone users in Pakistan, which boasted more than 114 million subscribers as of January. In addition to promoting religious textbooks and deals for travel to Mecca, the text messages invite users to access more religious content via SMS after paying a premium.
Earlier this week, I received a message inviting me to text “2020” to access audio translations of Koranic verses, religious sermons and hymns, the Prophet Muhammad’s sayings and a variety of other information on Muslim religious rites — all for two rupees (about two cents) plus tax per minute.
In the run-up to Ramadan, the number of spam text messages containing verses from the Koran and other religious content is soaring.Sam Phelps for The New York TimesIn the run-up to Ramadan, the number of spam text messages containing verses from the Koran and other religious content is soaring.
With mobile penetration in Pakistan at more than 66 percent, SMS marketing — spam text messages promoting products and services at extremely low rates — is understandably popular here. The message about halwa I received on the eve of Shab-e-Barat was sandwiched between others advertising discount hair transplants, water-filtration systems and immigration consultancy firms. The volume of SMS in Pakistan grew by 253 percent between 2009 and 2010, to a large extent because of mobile-marketing.
But it’s also a growing hassle: personal messages are often crowded out of phone inboxes by spam. Many cellphone users consider the messages an invasion of their privacy; others complain that spam drains their pay-as-you-go credit. Earlier this year, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (P.T.A.) announced that it would suspend the cellular services of any cellphone user who sends 200 or more identical SMS messages for commercial purposes within 15 minutes.
But with Ramadan approaching, and users increasingly willing to dole out for religious content, SMS spammers are unlikely to be deterred by the P.T.A.’s threats. Religious spam is more about profit than proselytizing — and profitable it is: last year, anticipating great returns, the cellphone company Nokia doubled its spending in Pakistan during Ramadan to provide religious content via SMS to users at a high fee.
The recent spike in Islamic text messages coincided with news that Pakistan’s most popular private television channel had rehired Aamir Liaquat, a Muslim televangelist and a darling of television advertisers, who is infamous for faking his educational credentials and discriminating against religious minorities. According to media insiders, the channel, which had previously employed Liaquat, saw its profits drop during the month of Ramadan last year, which he spent at a rival channel.
Cellphone companies have more reach even than private television channels. And now that they are offering dial-a-prayer services, religion in Pakistan is selling out.
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Huma Yusuf is a columnist for the Pakistani newspaper Dawn and was the 2010-11 Pakistan Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.
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