Ahlulbayt TV + Hidayat TV R Not Charity

These stations can do a lot of good dawa BUT essentially donations will ultimately go to private businessmen who have not declared their names on the above Companies House registration proofs which also PROVE they are not charities. Many people had assumed they were charities. (THE SHAREHOLDER NAMES ARE ALSO BEING REQUESTED). It is sad that the ulema (whether Abidi on Hidayat or Modaressi on Ahlulbayt) capitulate to businessmen just like political parties do to get donations and in doing so are forced to bring in money for them (in fact it seems the ulema themselves ARE running these stations as a business).

Calls to make such television stations charitable trusts continue to be ignored causing outrage in the shia community. The most detail is found on the following link from the previous management at Hidayat TV.

http://www.hidayattv.net/

What are your views?

Mine is that while initial investment by rich shareholders can bring in much-needed cash it ALSO means that the objective of the media station is ultimately making a profit for its shareholders to whom they are accountable. Ulltimately the shareholders have to be paid back and depending on the directors's decisions will be paid out of the profits dividends. The 95% shareholder in Hidayat TV is a wealthy Khoja community doctor called Dr Kadiwal (nice man I have met him) , who invested approx. £60,000 and apparently wants it paid back from the donations shias give the channel. He will continue to receive profits as determined by the Board after this also. The shareholders in Ahlulbayt TV are members of the wealthy Khoja community who will likewise want your donations to be paid to them, it is not yet known with any reliability if Syed Mahdi Modaressi (nice guy, I have met him) 's family are shareholders though this information is being requested and has been suggested - confirmation is awaited. Anyway, nice guys or not, I personally feel these should all be charities not private limited companies. Otherwise what is the difference between me donating to a shia bookshop and one of these channels? Both do dawa, both are about making profit for a businessman. Might as well give it to a poor shia in a third world country so he can get hospital treatment or his kids go to school and become ulema and do dawa, instead of going into a businessman's hands.

Should we have a poll? Should these channels be charities or private companies?

In fact as the former management of hidayattv make clear in the above videos and their resignation letters, charitable status brings MASSIVE financial benefits as you pay mush less tax than a private company. In fact the 3rd tv station broadcasting in UK is a charitable trust (the urdu ahlalbayt tv, not to be confused with the private company Ahlulbayt tv touted by the Modaressi family) and is the most likely to survive the increase Rupert Murdoch is demanding on rentals from Sky.

Wa Salam

Sayed Ammar's Lectures Banned By Ahlulbayt TV

Sources from within AhlulBayt TV have confirmed that Sayed Ammar Nakshawani's lectures will no longer be shown on AhlulBayt TV. Sayed Ammar, who has continuously and tirelessly supported the channel and been the reason behind greats sums of donations, has had his lectures BANNED by the channel due to what the channel has described in a phone call made to them as ideological differences concerning certain figures in history. His lectures have not been televised since the first week of the Holy Month of Muharram, over 3 months ago.

The head of the channel, Sayed Mahdi al Modaressi, insists that Sayed Ammar's lectures will not be televised again. His stance, according to sources at the Channel, will not change, despite the efforts of others to persuade him otherwise. The public answer currently being given to AhlulBayt TV viewers regarding Sayed Ammar's talks is ''InshaAllah Soon'', or the very vague ''We are showing his clips in documentaries but we cant accomodate his lectures.''

The irony is that AhlulBayt TV uses clips from Sayed Ammar's lectures worldwide to persuade people into donating, while they now have decided to BAN his material. However, they will continue to claim that this ban is not permanent to ensure that his worldwide following will continue to donate with the perception that he remains a part of the schedules on the channel. You will not be seeing Sayed Ammar's lectures on the channel again.

Ahlulbayt TV Khums Scandal? - Using Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani with out his permission

I am here to really investigate this matter and create awareness amongst the Shia Ummah. Frankly I live in a large community with many centers and the issue of Khums ijaza is a huge farce. Virtually anyone and everyone related to a Islamic Center, organization, TV station, etc. is out collecting Khums without proper paper work in the name of various Maraja3. Arguably the most well-known is His Eminence, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani . This is not to say we should not pay Khums or to speak out against the idea but to ensure that when we pay Khums we do it in line with the guidelines set out by the offices of the Maraja3 who we may not always be in contact with.

Now im not here to bash AhlulBayt TV but to be very academic about the channel and its funding from Khums money. The reason I say this is because I have been in contact with tens of people on the inside and the outside of the channel and after consistently asking to proper verification of Khums Ijaza from Sayyid al-Sistani I began to do research and ask around. My conclusions are below and Allah [swt] and his deputy are my witness that my aim is not to create fitna or problems but awareness surrounding Khums and who is eligible to collect it and spend it.

I hope AhlulBayt TV speaks out clearly about this matter and not bungle it like the banning of Sayyid Ammar Nakshawani from the channel, who I asked personally and he confirmed to me that he is banned from the channel for what I would consider to be very immature reasons. Thats another topic for another day.

I will present some information and give some conclusions. Each person can be the judge and come to a reasonable conclusion.
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First let me say that this is a months long investigation after speaking to many scholars, intellectuals, activists and other persons of interest. This is a serious matter and should be taken as such.

We have a responsibility to the Imam (atfs) and to his general representatives, the Marjaeya, to promote proper teachings and we should not be afraid to discuss matters openly in a courteous and academic manner.

Our criteria for proper teachings and direction, in the time of occultation, are our verified respected Maraje3. They are the trust of our beloved 12th Imam (atfs) in our hands. May Allah (swt) give us the inspiration to fulfill our trust, and may the Imam's re-appearance be soon.

Last month, Grand Ayatollah Sayed Ali Al-Sistani was personally asked from a well trusted individual about whether he has given Ahlulbayt TV any moral support or ijaza (permission) for collecting and using Khums money. He responded that he has not given them permission to collect Khums or to use it. He and his son were specifically asked about the reason for not supporting the channel. They mentioned that we are not aware of the authenticity of the content of the channel, and therefore cannot support it at this time.

A call was also made to Grand Ayatollah Sayed Ali Al-Sistani's office in Qum, Islamic Republic or Iran, and upon speaking to Sayed Jawad al-Shahristani, the representative there, he personally denied giving AhlulBayt TV permission to collect or use Khums. He was also quite angry at the fact that they were saying they do have permission on their website. Now I mention the Qum office for a reason as you will see below and not the London office which resides in the same city as the offices of AhlulBayt TV.

As more intensive research and continuing to ask around, I learned from a brother that the word had gotten around to AhlulBayt TV that they were under scrutiny for collecting Khums money in the name of Sayyid al-Sistani. Since that was the case I collected any and all evidence from the webpage of the channel and other resources to make a case and create awareness in this matter if the information were to be pulled from the website.

Lo and behold that is what happened. In fact I was duly unimpressed that the website of the channel was edited without a proper explanation from the channel. This is seriously deceptive and i hope the channel can clarify the change. See for yourself the evidence attached of screen shots of the page (I have highlighted the areas on concern)

Ahlulbayt Tv Banned In Middle East

On a trip to Iraq I was trying to find to see if ABTV was on the satellites there both the Arabic and English one. I gone to many tea shops and peoples houses and could not find the channel at all.
So as I was in Najaf I asked a member of the Iraqi government in the UK ABTV always say we are a worldwide channel and we have many viewers in Iraq, how come I can not find the channel on any satellite here he said he has never heard of the channel but he will find out why.

A few days later he came back to me and said the Iraqi government had banned the channel becasue it was found it that the channel got Israeli funding and was giving Islam a bad name by making Sunnis and Shias fight, Using Sistanis name with out his permission to get funds and saying things like Imam Hussein committed suicide etc. Then he said a joke maybe that is why Iranians boycotted the channel from its start they are smart and knew something we don't but thank Allah we know what the channel is about and banned it better late then never.

I also found out the channel has been banned in Iran, Syria and Turkey.

I emailed and phoned ABTV UK about this but they refused to answer me and just kept on asking for my bank details. Now if a member of stuff is reading this, I know for a fact shiachat has many members of ABTV stuff as its members and ABTV always read shiachat. So please tell me what is going on and why has the channel been banned in the main Shia countries in the Middle East?

If ABTV does not answer this is shows you what kind of people the channel is run by and we as lovers of Imam Hussein we should follow the Imams message in the battle of Karbala and stand up to this oppression and join our Shia Brothers and Sisters in the Middle East by boycotting this channel till we get answers from them.