Weeping, Wailing and Aaqil Ahmed

 
According to the scare stories currently doing the rounds, the BBC is being 'Islamised' as we speak. A string of media commentators have come out of the woodwork, decrying the appointment of Aaqil Ahmed as the BBC's first Muslim Commissioner for Religion and Ethics.

The weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth has been of almost biblical proportions. "How is this possible?", cried Christian Concern for Our Nation. Even the BBC's in-house newspaper, Ariel, was not immune to the furore, splashing the story of the "controversial" appointment on its front page. But is the appointment of a Muslim in such a role a real cause for concern?

In a word - no. As I noted in an interview with Ahmed last year, he believes the Bible (holy book or not) to be at the very heart of British identity. And having met him personally, I got no sense that he was interested in propagandising for Islam. In fact, his film about the Qur'an risked upsetting some Muslims for its frank approach.

The real issue is not his personal beliefs - but his approach to programme-making. Ahmed blazed a trail at Channel 4 by taking an edgy, controversial (some would say sensationalist) approach to covering religion. How such an approach will work in the more sober corridors of the BBC, however, remains to be seen.