Every year TV stations around the Arab world enter a drama marathon to see who will seize the attention of millions of viewers, who made it a habit to spend as much time as they can in front of the TV in Ramadan.
Usually, Egyptian productions of TV series made it into the prime time, sometimes in competition by emerging Syrian drama. This year, it seems that the largest drama-special produced for Ramadan in the region, comes from the Gulf states.
The epic series is titled Omar, which tells the story of the second Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, one of the most important Islamic icons. The production is a joint venture between the Saudi MBC media group and Qatar Media Incorporated.
Even before broadcasting, the TV series attracted a lot of attention and controversy by announcing that it will show for the first time the personifications of Caliph Omar and other companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) which is considered taboo for many conservative Muslims.
Further to the debate of personification of the companions, the character of Caliph Omar symbolizes a turning point in the history of the Islamic empire. He introduced the foundations of a modern bureaucratic state, and during his ruling the world witnessed the end of the Persian Empire.
The producers of the series had anticipated angry reactions of some viewers. However, they assured them they had a special committee of prominent scholars and religious figures to go through the historical facts and events to assure the authenticity of the project.
They planned a wide coverage for the series through simultaneous broadcasting dubbed versions in two of the major non-Arabic speaking Islamic countries, Turkey and Indonesia. This will make it the most watched TV production in the Islamic world.
There are many angry calls for stopping the series, but many others are looking forward to enjoy the epic production of the series. This state of disagreement itself provided a flourishing culture for many developed human societies throughout history and continues to do so in our time.
We can learn a lot from history, but the biggest lesson will always be that cultures become stronger by confronting the intellectual challenges that come in its path. Only by adapting a more tolerant and bolder views we can enrich our experiences and knowledge to achieve better control over our destiny.
I don’t think that the series itself will add more than the hours of entertainment it was intended to deliver. Its real value is already in progress, through the intellectual debate throughout various media channels surrounding this series. This is really a great Ramadan special.

A Tweet: “The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas, never returns to its original size.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes