A Mexican couple was inspired to convert to Islam after watching Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s favourite Turkish TV series “Resurrection: Ertuğrul”, and meeting with one of its actors at a convention in the United States (US), a Turkish daily newspaper reported.
According to reports, Celal Al, who plays Abdulrahman Alp in the hit period drama, attended the 22nd annual meeting of the Muslim American Society (MAS), a flagship Muslim organisation, and delivered a speech about the series and Turkey.
Al, who was the guest of Zekat Foundation, was met with great interest at the event, which enables Muslims from all over the US to meet up. At the end of the meeting, a Mexican couple converted to Islam by reciting the Shahadah (Islamic proclamation of faith) with the help of the famous actor.
“We were affected by Turkish TV series ‘Resurrection: Ertuğrul’ and Turkey’s humanitarian activities around the world, and then decided to be Muslim,” the Mexican couple was quoted as saying.
After becoming Muslims, Al gifted the couple two Qurans, one in English and another in Spanish, as well as a Turkish flag.
Taking place in 13th century Anatolia, “Resurrection: Ertuğrul” tells the story of the period prior to the establishment of the Ottoman Empire Ertuğrul Gazi, the father of the empire’s first leader.
The series illustrates the struggle of Ertuğrul and his warriors against a plethora of adversaries from the Knights Templar to Mongol invaders.
Turkey is one of the top five series-exporting countries in the world, enthralling audiences from Latin America to Central Asia. Dozens of Turkish series are being followed by more than 500 million viewers in over 150 countries, according to Turkey’s Culture Ministry.
A day earlier, PM Imran had directed Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) to air the famous Turkish series.
According to Arab News, the drama will soon air on PTV after being dubbed in Urdu. the national broadcaster has gotten exclusive rights for dubbing and screening it in Pakistan and voice actors for the drama have been selected.
The development came two months after the premier announced that Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia have decided to launch a joint English channel to counter Islamophobia.
