The lights dim and, across the land, viewers hold their breath. With the judges’ next utterance, a young dream will be shattered. Five others will survive to continue the fight for the ultimate bonanza: cash, pilgrimage, and a lifetime of piety. These are the penalties and inducements of Imam Muda, an Islam-themed reality TV game show that has captivated Malaysia in its search for an “idol” imam.
Over the past few weeks audiences have tuned in to watch the “I Factor” hopefuls face various challenges, including fighting back nausea as they ritually cleanse a corpse that has lain unclaimed in a morgue for a month. The contestants, aged 19 to 27, have also been tested on the sweetness of their voices as they call the faithful to prayer and how accurately they recite the Koran. For the winner, the spoils include a religious scholarship, a laptop, a car and a job as a real imam.
In a progressive Muslim-majority country, some believe that the show offers precisely the right mix of religious sensibility and drama. Others think that it goes too far. Many of the fans in the Imam Muda chatrooms that have sprung up since the show first aired last month, however, appear to be women on the lookout for young idols rejected by the judges and now potentially available as sons-in-law.
Superficially, the format of Imam Muda (Young Imam) will be familiar to anyone who has watched American Idol or The Apprentice. A field of attractive young hopefuls is whittled down to a single champion through a series of high-pressure performances over a period of ten weeks.
The contestants live away from their families in a federal mosque dormitory. They are denied any communication with the outside world and have no idea that the series has become the Astro Oasis channel’s most successful show ever.
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That is where the similarities with Western reality television end. For one thing, the public is not trusted to vote: the decisions are in the hands of the judges.
One task involves preaching at a local mosque; two weeks ago a 25-year-old was thrown off the show for inadequately learning the Koran. Hasan Mahmud al-Hafiz, the former Mufti at Malaysia’s national mosque and chief judge on Imam Muda, said: “We have no shouting or jumping. We provide spiritual food. We are not looking for a singer or a fashion model.”
The makers of the show have consulted Muslim authorities to avoid offending. Despite the moderate form of Islam practised in Malaysia, the show’s emergence comes amid what some see as a tightening of religious law. Earlier this year three Malaysian women received lashes with a rattan cane under Sharia for “illicit sex”.