The emerging Muslim manosphere
Why are some young Muslims drawn into the manosphere?
Islam is the world’s fastest growing religion - in Britain its growth is being driven by a younger population, born and brought up in the United Kingdom. This includes ±«Óãtv reporter Rahil Sheikh. Having grown up against the backdrop of the ‘war on terror’ and rising Islamophobia, he’s seen how young Muslims turn to social media to forge online safe spaces where they can connect, celebrate and discuss their faith. These spaces have spawned influencers who have millions of followers around the world. Critics say some of these are mistakenly using Islam to advocate alpha masculinity. This came under the spotlight recently when controversial influencer Andrew Tate converted to Islam, a decision that polarised Muslims online, mainly on gender lines. Despite their ubiquity of Muslim influencers, they are shy of the mainstream media. To find out more, Rahil speaks to writer and journalist Hussein Kesvani who predicted the ‘Muslim manosphere’ back in 2019 – he says the growth of these type of influencers has surpassed his expectations and that they are becoming more influential than traditional religious scholars. Rahil also meets young Muslims Saimah and Mohamed who say these social media stars explain the faith in a more relatable way than imams or spiritual leaders in the mosque. And Rahil tried to track down one of the biggest Muslim social media stars to find out who is influencing them - the faith or the algorithms? Presenter: Rahil Sheikh
