Papers by Abdullahi Abdi Sheikh, A. A
Al-I'lam: Journal of Contemporary Islamic Communication and Media, 2024
This study investigated measures taken by Muslim religious scholars to counter media representati... more This study investigated measures taken by Muslim religious scholars to counter media representation of terrorism in Kenya. As country with diverse religious groups and unique terrorism experience, Kenya presents a unique context for the study. Muslim scholars in Kenya, therefore, play a critical role within Muslim communities as they look after their congregation. The phenomenological theory was used as a framework for the study. The study used qualitative approach and phenomenology method. The study involved 10 participants drawn from the community of Muslim religious scholars operating in mosques and religious centers in Nairobi. The scholars were purposively sampled. The data was generated through in-depth interviews, analyzed thematically and presented in narrative form. The study found that Muslim religious scholars had taken measures like opening the mosques for the public and reaching out to non-Muslim religious leaders as a measure to counter what they perceived as a negative media representation of terrorism as a result of directly linking Islam with terrorism. The study concluded that there is need for guidelines and policies on terrorism coverage that recognize the place and the sensitivities of the Muslim population in Kenya, to improve media representation of terrorism, and as well as differentiate between Islam and terrorism, as part of the guidelines, and training journalists on their implementation.
IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 29, Issue 9,, 2024
This study investigated the perceptions of Muslim religious scholars on media representation of t... more This study investigated the perceptions of Muslim religious scholars on media representation of terrorism in Kenya. Kenya presents a unique context for the study because of its diverse religious landscape, its specific experiences with terrorism and upsurge of digital platforms for news dissemination. Muslim scholars in Kenya, therefore, play a critical role within Muslim communities as they look after their congregation. The phenomenological theory was used as a framework for the study. The study found that there was a general perception among Muslim religious scholars that media representation of terrorism was biased towards the Muslim population. The scholars are of the view that Muslims were labelled as terrorists, terrorism sponsors or sympathizers. As a result, the religious scholars had become reluctant to consume Kenyan media products, and some of them had disconnected from various media platforms. There is need for guidelines and policies that recognize the place and the sensitivities of the Muslim population in terrorism reporting in Kenya to improve media representation of terrorism, and as well as differentiating between Islam and terrorism, as part of the guidelines, and training journalists on their implementation.
Journal of African Interdisciplinary Studies (JAIS): ISSN 2523-6725 (online) July 2024 Vol. 8, No. 7, 2024
This study investigated the lived experiences of Muslim religious scholars on terrorism phenomeno... more This study investigated the lived experiences of Muslim religious scholars on terrorism phenomenon as represented by the Kenyan media. Kenya offers a distinctive case for research due to its varied religious composition and its unique experience with terrorism. In- depth interviews were held with 10 participants from Muslim religious scholars. The study found that Muslim scholars were concerned about Kenya’s media association of terrorism with Islam and rampant media stereotyping of Muslims as these had promoted Islamophobia, leading to fears of discrimination and hate crimes. Therefore, the study recommends to media practitioners and policy makers in Kenya to formulate guidelines and practices on terrorism reporting that are more considerate to the sensitivities and experiences of the Muslim community. There is also need for training and awareness creation for journalists and media editors to understand the unique place Muslims occupy in the fight against terrorism in Kenya.
Journalists were quick to adopt to the new world order imposed by the Corona Virus crisis in 2019... more Journalists were quick to adopt to the new world order imposed by the Corona Virus crisis in 2019-2020, and resorted to use of technology, and working from home. While the technology has always been improving, and it was available to journalist, and while journalists and media managers in Kenya considered the fact that the world was moving to technology and they devised new ways of reaching their audiences on digital platforms, there is very little evidence that they were willing to improve the way they work with technology and continued to cramp in newsrooms. The Covid-19 crisis has therefore, woken them to the reality of the importance of technology and working from home, which has made newsrooms completely irrelevant, as journalists easily worked from the comfort of their homes, came up live for radio and TV from anywhere and exchanged material with colleague and editors without physical contact. This paper looks at the future of journalism in the wake of Covid-19, and technology...
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Papers by Abdullahi Abdi Sheikh, A. A