Noor and Muhannad, main characters of the Turkish soap opera
Saudi women flock to Turkey to watch 'sinful' soap
Published 05 August, 2008, 18:39
Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti has slammed a Turkish soap opera which has become hugely popular in the Islamic kingdom. He dubbed ‘Noor’, which has seized the imagination of millions of viewers, “evil” and said it encouraged people to abandon their spirituality and ethics. Meanwhile, thousands of Saudis are now heading to Turkey to watch the ‘sinful’ soap.
Turkey expects the number of Saudi tourists this year to top 100,000, including King Abdullah's wife Hissa al-Shaalan, the Turkish Daily News reports.
The TV serial features the romantic story of independent Noor and her loving and handsome husband, Muhannad. Played by 24-year-old Turkish actor and model Kıvanc Tatlıtu, he treats his wife as an equal, with respect. And it’s the blue-eyed blonde that Middle Eastern women are swooning over.
Several jealous men have even divorced their wives after finding photos of the young Turk on their mobile phones. For women, as they explain, ‘Noor’ is a way to escape the dull reality of marriages without love. “Our men are rugged and unyielding,” one 26-year-old housewife told the Turkish newspaper.
“I wake up and see a cold and detached man lying next to me. I look out the window and see dust. It is all so dull. On ‘Noor’, I see beautiful faces, the beautiful feelings they share and beautiful scenery.”
Obsessed with the TV show, its fans are naming babies after the soap’s main characters and roam shops trying to find blouses similar to those which Noor wears on screen.
In Saudi Arabia, between three and four million viewers watch ‘Noor’ every evening, according to the private entertainment satellite channel MBC, which began airing the soap several months ago.
The secret of the soap opera's popularity also lies in the fact that Turkish families share the same traditions with their Saudi counterparts. Unlike American series, it tells the story of a Muslim family living in a Muslim world.
Meanwhile, religious authorities continue to criticise the soap and are calling on satellite channels to stop airing it. They say muslims are not permitted to watch the series because it is immoral.
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