UK TV historian triggers storm after calling Islam a ‘made-up’ religion

Channel 4 has become embroiled in controversy after viewers claimed that a programme distorted the history of Islam .

The broadcaster and regulator Ofcom and received nearly 550 complaints after Islam: The Untold Story was screened last week .

The show’s presenter, Tom Holland, was subjected to a wave of criticism for his investigation into the origins of the religion and its early texts .

He said there was little written contemporary evidence about the life of the Prophet Muhammad, and claimed that the Koran makes little or no reference to Islam’s holy city of Mecca .

Holland, an award-winning writer and historian, received abusive tweets questioning his views on the religion .

Some Twitter users even posted physical threats to the Cambridge-educated historian, while one called him a ‘fool’ for suggesting Islam is a ‘made-up religion’. Ofcom – which received 150 of the complaints regarding the programme’s inaccuracy, alleged bias and offence to Muslims – said it was considering launching an investigation .

The row comes days after Ofcom said it was considering whether to investigate Citizen Khan, the BBC’s new comedy based on a modern Muslim family, after receiving only 20 complaints .

Holland was still locked in debate with his critics on Twitter last night. In one tweet, he even talked of his regret at making the programme, writing: ‘U [sic] are reminding me very effectively why I had vowed to keep off this topic .’

The Islamic Education and Research Academy denounced the programme as ‘historically inaccurate’ and published a long paper criticising Holland’s interpretation .

It described Holland’s claim that records of Muhammad do not appear until 60 years after his life as ‘historically obnoxious ’.

‘Holland appears to have turned a blind eye to rich historical Islamic tradition,’ wrote the academy .

In a statement defending the programme, Holland rejected claims of bias. ‘This film is wholly in keeping with other series and programmes on Channel 4 where the historical context of world religions has been examined,’ he wrote .

‘We were aware when making the programme that we were touching deeply-held sensitivities and went to every effort to ensure that the moral and civilisational power of Islam was acknowledged .’