BBC Pilgrimage star takes dig at modern-day media's coverage of Islam: 'Muslims are normal, nice people!'

Alex Davies
Sun, 05 Apr 2026 05:01:01 +0000

Pilgrimage star and comedian Hasan Al-Habib has spoken out against the way in which Muslims are portrayed in the media ahead of the new series of the BBC show.

Mr Al-Habib stars in this year's series, titled Pilgrimage: The Road to Holy Island, alongside seven other celebrities, all of whom are from different faiths and backgrounds.

The eight famous faces travel across picturesque landscapes in North-East England, learning more about each other's faiths and religions along the way.

They visit significant landmarks including Whitby Abbey and the Unesco World Heritage site of Durham Cathedral, as well as the Holy Island of Lindisfarne.

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Mr Al-Habib is an observant Muslim, and when asked what his hopes were for people watching at home, he was unequivocal in his desire to change negative assumptions

He explained: "I think my desired outcome from any conversation with anyone is for people to think, you know what, these Muslims aren't so bad after all.

"If I've achieved that, I've done a great job."

The BBC star continued: "I do gigs all across the country where I'm definitely the only Muslim in the room, and I might well be the only Muslim those people have ever met."

Taking aim at the way Muslims are portrayed in the media, Mr Al-Habib went on: "I remember someone from my madrasa, madrasa being the Arabic word for school, saying we have a responsibility to be street Muslims, or to be cool Muslims, because you want people to get a sense that Muslims are normal, nice people, given how much information there is in the media to the contrary.

"If people come away thinking, oh, that's interesting, I didn't know that about Islam, or even just start a conversation with their Muslim colleague and learn a bit more about them and their faith, then that would be amazing."

Mr Al-Habib also touched upon what impact the series has had on him in discussing his faith in public.

"I think I'd always been comfortable doing that, depending on who I’m speaking to," the comic said.

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He continued: "If someone comes with an open mind and genuinely wants to understand, then yes.

"I grew up in a very small village about half an hour outside of Birmingham. I was the only Muslim and the only Arab in my school.

"I was very used to constantly having to explain why I can't eat certain things, why I need to do certain things. So I'd grown up being able to have those conversations.

"If anything, what was different on this show was that I wasn't explaining things out of circumstance. I was explaining because people were genuinely interested. That's a much nicer feeling.

"It also works the other way: when people ask you questions, it interrogates your own knowledge and exposes the gaps.

"I tried to be careful on the show to say, just because I'm saying this doesn't mean it's 100 percent accurate.

"I would never claim to be an expert on Islam. But when you realise there are things you don't know, it makes you want to find the answers."

Mr Al-Habib is joined by Ashley Banjo, Hermione Norris, Tasha Ghouri, Jayne Middlemiss, Ashley Blaker, and Patsy Kensit for the series.

The comedian has appeared on the BBC before, showing off his stand-up skills at the BBC New Comedy Awards in 2024.

He's also starred on several BBC Radio 4 shows as well as participating in the BBC podcast, Evil Genius.

Mr Al-Habib has taken two stand-up shows to the Edinburgh Fringe too, named 2 Muslim 2 Furious, and Death to the West (Midlands).