New Film About Prophet Muhammad (saw)

When I heard that a new film about the life of Prophet Muhammad is to be made by Barrie Osborne, the producer of the Lord of the Rings and The Matrix, I had mixed emotions.  My natural reaction was of excitement because of the real possibility of a greater understanding of Islam.  My apprehension, after some thought, stemmed from the logistical nightmare of creating such a film that pleases everyone.

We have assurances that the noble countenance of the blessed and holy Prophet Muhammad will not be shown and his voice will not be heard.  The same too of his close companions and I would have thought the same would be true of the Angel Gabriel who visited him on many, many occasions to deliver the Message of the Qur’an.

With this in mind,my thoughts swiftly move to the quality of the film in its portrayal of the greatest story and the greatest man ever in human history.  The Message, a film made in the 1970s about the rise of Islam, was a classic film, loved by many (mostly Muslims) but it never had the wider appeal of the non Muslims.

Today’s film buffs are used to visually spectacular epics, like the Lord of the Rings, and I think it will be very hard to match that if the main characters are never seen or heard.  I would think that the film would have to be seen through the eyes of a companion rather like Hamza (ra) was central to the story of The Message; I can’t think of another way the film would work – then again, I’m not a director!

The story of our beloved Prophet Muhammad can be told from so many different angles and contains so many events so it will be largely dependent on the producers’ intentions in what he wants to achieve through this.

Will he focus on Prophet Muhammad   “the statesman,” or “the commander,” will he focus on his miracles, the great battles he participated in, his relationships with the companions and his wives, his amazing character or will the film be an orientalists’ dream movie based upon weak narrations and the incorrect and unfounded opinion of certain non Muslims?

He told Reuters that it would be “an international epic production aimed at bridging cultures. The film will educate people about the true meaning of Islam”.

With a budget of £93.5 million he will certainly have the resources at his disposal to produce something fantastic, but I wonder who is advising him, we are told that Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi will be overseeing certain areas in order that the film is made in accordance with Islamic law.  If that is true, I hope he will also be ensuring that those topics which orientalist and Islamaphobes love to beat the Muslims with are dealt with wisdom, because there is potential to cause real offence.

I really hope that the film works and is a huge success because the story of our beloved Prophet Muhammad needs to be told, I just hope it’s made correctly, accurately and with lots of wisdom

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