Depth
At a glance
- Era
- The Contemporary Era
- Region
- Arab world · Global / Diaspora
- Review
Summary
"Al-Wasatiyya" is a televised panel programme presented by Tareq al-Suwaidan. Opening the first episode, he says the programme takes up issues that people live with in Arab and Muslim life, on which there are several points of view and real disagreement, and that it tries to hear those different views so that the participants may reach the middle way together. 1 2 The Assabile archive holds forty episodes of the programme. 3
The shape of an episode
An episode opens with the presenter setting out the issue and its questions. He then welcomes guests, experts and scholars, some of whom have come from abroad and from the West, and a large audience of young men and women, most of them university students. 4 5 The programme usually begins with a general poll: the presenter puts a question with two or more choices, the audience votes on handheld devices, and the result is announced after the break. 5 6 7 Young people from the audience and the guests then take turns, with further polls along the way, and the presenter closes with a summing-up in which he sets out what he sees as the middle position. 8 9 10
The vote results in these episodes are the opinions of that episode's studio audience, not representative surveys, and the museum presents them as such.
Episodes in the archive
Each episode is written up in the entry for its topic and added to this list as it is written:
- Episode 1: Islamophobia, the West's exaggerated fear of Islam, between fact and illusion — Islamophobia 11
- Episode 2: contemporary Islamic discourse between maturity and reactivity — Islamic discourse 12
- Episode 3: democracy, justice or tyranny, and its relation to the sharia — Democracy and the sharia 13
- Episode 4: implementing the sharia, all at once or in stages — Implementing the sharia 14
- Episode 5: secularism and Islam, clash or concord — Secularism and Islam 15
- Episode 6: patriotism, nationalism and Islam, where the line falls — Patriotism and nationalism 16
- Episodes 7 and 8: unbelief and takfir — Takfir 17 18
- Episode 9: wala' and bara' among Muslims — Wala' and bara' 19
- Episode 10: the human rights of the Arab — Human rights 20
- Episode 11: emigration to the West, hope or pain — Emigration to the West 21
- Episode 12: Arab satellite channels, a tool for building or for demolition — Arab satellite channels 22
- Episode 13: satellite fatwas between benefit and prohibition — Fatwa on satellite channels 23
- Episode 14: women's empowerment between support and rejection — Women's empowerment 24
- Episode 15: the Arab woman, globalisation and the international conventions — The woman and the international conventions 25
- Episode 16: the scarcity of female symbols — Scarcity of female symbols 26
- Episode 17: resistance between jihad and violence — Resistance and terrorism 27
- Episode 18: youth culture between shallowness and distortion — The youth cultural crisis 28
- Episode 19: reading among the young, effective or marginal — Reading and culture 29
The close of the first episode, as an example
Closing the Islamophobia episode, the presenter said the West is not one bloc, that many of its thinkers are fair to Islam, that Muslim thinkers, scholars and communities in the West bear a particular responsibility, and that governments bear the main responsibility because they hold tools no one else has. 30 31 He called for showing what he sees as the true picture of Islam and of most Muslims, for rejecting terrorism, and for Muslims to act rather than only criticise, and he called this the middle way on the question. 9 10
- Episode 20: graduates of the sharia colleges between the challenges of the present and academic weakness — Graduates of the sharia colleges 32
- Episode 21: the new preachers between renewal and innovation (recording cut after about seven minutes) — The new preachers 33
- Episode 22: women and their role in political work — Women and political work 34
- Episode 23: the dialogue of civilisations, reality or mirage — Dialogue of civilisations 35
- Episode 24: prophetic medicine or alternative medicine — Prophetic and alternative medicine 36
- Episode 25: fatwa between freedom and monopoly — Fatwa between freedom and monopoly 37
- Episode 26: repeated in the archive as a second copy of episode 9 (see episode 9 on wala' and bara') 38
- Episode 27: changing the religion curricula in the Arab world (recording cut at about minute 54) — Changing the religion curricula 39
- Episode 28: Sufism, spirituality or deviation — Sufism 40
- Episode 29: the hijab, worship or custom — The hijab 41
- Episode 30: the effect of jinn and magic, between denial and affirmation (part one; part two is not in the archive) — The effect of jinn and magic 42
- Episode 31: the religious person in Arab visual media, wronged or wrongdoer — The religious person in the media 43
- Episode 32: qiwama, domination or responsibility — Qiwama 44
- Episode 33: scientific miracles in the Qur'an and Sunna, fact or exaggeration — Scientific miracles 45
- Episodes 34 and 35: Islamic and conventional banks, the difference, the doubts and the performance — Islamic banks 46 47
- Episode 36: dream interpretation, reading the vision or selling illusions — Dream interpretation today 48
- Episode 37: art between commitment and freedom — Art between commitment and freedom 49
- Episode 38: education between westernisation and preserving identity — Education, westernisation and identity 50
- Episode 39: Islamic history between idealism and realism — Islamic history: idealism and realism 51
- Episode 40: conspiracy theory, fact or fancy (the archive's last episode) — Conspiracy theory 52
Connections
- About
- Islamophobia (the phobia of Islam)· The contemporary Islamic discourse — maturity versus reactivity· Democracy and the Sharia — compatibility and conflict· Implementing the sharia — totality versus stages· Secularism and Islam — conflict or concord· Patriotism, nationalism and Arabness — the boundary with Islam· Takfir· Wala' and bara' among Muslims· Human rights — the violations file in the Arab world· Emigration to the West — hope or pain (the brain drain)· Arab satellite channels — evaluating the experiment· Fatwa on the satellite channels — its benefit and harm· Women's empowerment — between support and rejection· The Arab woman and the international conventions· The scarcity of female symbols across history· Resistance and terrorism — the dividing line· The youth cultural crisis· Reading and culture (al-qira'a wa-l-thaqafa)· Graduates of the sharia colleges and the challenges of the present· The 'new preachers' — between renewal and innovation· Women and political work· Dialogue of civilisations — reality or mirage· Prophetic medicine and alternative medicine — what it is and its limits· Fatwa between freedom and monopoly· Changing the religion curricula in the Arab world· Tasawwuf· The hijab· The effect of jinn and magic on people's lives — between denial and affirmation· The image of the religious person in Arab visual media· Male guardianship in the family (qiwama)· Scientific miracles in the Qur'an and Sunna — fact or exaggeration· Islamic banks and conventional banks — the difference, the doubts and the performance· Dream interpretation today — reading the vision or selling illusions· Art between commitment and freedom· Education between westernisation and preserving identity· Islamic history between idealism and realism· Conspiracy theory (nazariyyat al-muamara) and the nation's decline
People and things also explored
Al-Din al-Qayyim (programme)· Al-Hadara al-Nabawiyya: 'The Prophetic Civilisation' (lesson series)· A'da' al-Islam (lecture series)· Al-Fawz al-Mubin (lecture series)· Al-Naba' al-Safi (programme)· Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Karim (lecture series)· The ruling on one who abandons prayer· The 'new preachers' — between renewal and innovation
Sources
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 1, at 00:00:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 1, at 00:01:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , al-wassitiya
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 1, at 00:03:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 1, at 00:03:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 1, at 00:04:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 1, at 00:05:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 1, at 00:06:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 1, at 01:19:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 1, at 01:20:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 1 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 2 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 3 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 4 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 5 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 6 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 7 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 8 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 9 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 10 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 11 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 12 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 13 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 14 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 15 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 16 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 17 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 18 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 19 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 1, at 01:18:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 1, at 01:19:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 20 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 21 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 22 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 23 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 24 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 25 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 26 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 27 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 28 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 29 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 31 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 32 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 33 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 34 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 35 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 36 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 37 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 38 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 39 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
- Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 40 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Al-Wasatiyya (panel programme)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/work/al-wasatiyya-program/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-01.