Humza: Forgiving the Unforgivable

for BBC One

 Watch on BBC iPlayer here

 

Asian Media Awards 2023: WINNER, Best Programme

RTS West Awards 2024: WINNER Best Documentary

SHORTLISTED Sandford St Martin TV/Video 2024

 

What happens when your instincts tell you to seek revenge, but your faith demands that you forgive? YouTube sensation and stand-up comedian Humza Arshad embarks on what is, at times, an uncomfortable journey to see if unsettled scores can be left behind. 

As a teenager, Humza’s cousin suffered a brutal and unprovoked attack by a group of young men – an attack which left the family fragmented and scarred. As the perpetrators have now walked free, Humza is driven to search for ways of containing the anger he feels towards them. He seeks out others who have made the headlines by forgiving their attackers: a father whose sons were killed by rioters in Birmingham, a mother who lost her daughter at the Manchester Arena bombing and an imam who survived a vicious racist knife crime. 

Grappling with his inability to move on, Humza has an unexpected encounter with a killer and goes head-to-head with a ‘forgiveness academic’. With the help of his straight-talking mum and kept afloat by his faith and his unique sense of humour, he must confront the past and look for a way forward. Humza has clocked up more than 100 million views on YouTube, has won an MBE for his work in education and has over 240,000 followers on Instagram, but fame and notoriety has done little to prepare him for his current mission. This could be his toughest gig yet