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Muhammad: The Biopic
Is Islam ready for a big-budget Hollywood blowout? Barrie Osborne, the producer of such blockbusters as The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix, has set to work on an English-language biopic about the Prophet Muhammad—despite an Islamic law that forbids the prophet from actually ever appearing on-screen. Still, the movie has a $150 million budget and is backed by a Qatari media company that put Muslim cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi in charge as its theological consultant, according to the Guardian. At a press conference at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, Sheikh al-Qaradawi said the film was a response to “the crusader-styled distortion of Islam [that] continues to influence [the] world population today,” reported the Gulf Times. Meanwhile, the cleric himself has been banned from Britain over his controversial views, which include reportedly supporting the stoning of homosexuals and pardoning the Holocaust, the London Times reports.
Plantagenet
There is no universal Islamic "law" which forbids depictions of Muhammad. There are numerous illustrations Muhammad in both Persian and Turkish art. Some fundamentalistic groups in Islam do proscribe pictures of Muhammad, and have even issued fatwas and threatened to murder artists and political cartoonists who show Muhammad in their art.
ap2008
There is NO illustration of Muhammad in "Persian and Turkish art", or indeed in any art in the Islamic world. The proscription on any visual representation of either Allah or Muhammad is part and parcel of ALL sects of Islam, not just some "fundamentalistic" (sic) groups. Please cite specific instances if you have seen anything to the contrary.
kdj-kdj
He's still researching.
easton
ok, then cite the verses in the Koran that forbid illustrations of Mohammed.
There is a miniature from Siyer-i Nebi, a Turkish religious biography of Mohammed completed in 1388 and later lavishly illustrated with 814 miniatures under the reign of Ottoman ruler Murad III, being completed in 1595. Many of the miniatures depict Mohammed, and this particular one shows Ali bin Abu Taleb beheading Nasr bin al-Hareth in the presence of Mohammed and his companions.
It took me 15 seconds to find it on google.
ap2008
Did you bother to look at the "illustrations" you found in 15 seconds? Can you see that Mohammed's face is not depicted in any of the illustrations?
easton
ap2008, google that picture, that is a picture of Mohammed. You said there is no illustration of Mohammed, now you change your tune to his face isn't shown. yeesh, admit you were wrong. Beyond this You can also find numerous portrayals of Mohammed in medieval Afghan, Uzbek, Ottoman, and, especially, Persian Islamic art. In some of these, especially the Ottoman ones, Mohammed's face is hidden or blank, but there are also many detailed, and often quite exquisite, full portraits illustrating his life. The University of Edinburgh has a miniature of "Mohammed re-dedicating the Black Stone at the Kaaba," which is taken from the Jami Al-Tawarikh, "The Universal History," written by Rashid Al-Din and illustrated c. 1315, as well as a "Birth of the Prophet Muhammad," taken from the Jami' al-tavarikh, "Compendium of Chronicles," dated c. 1314-15 (Edinburgh University Library). France's Bibliotheque Nationale has a "Mohammed meets the prophets Ismail, Is-hak and Lot in paradise" and a "Mohammed arrives on the shores of the White Sea," both taken from the Apocalypse of Muhammad, written in 1436 in Herat, Afghanistan. There is a strong tradition within Islam that making portraits of Mohammed is wrong, but it is by no means universal. Some, especially Shiites, believe it is legitimate. Others believe that it is legitimate to portray him when he was young, before becoming a prophet.
So ap you are dead wrong.
SFGiants
Uh, Plant, where do you dig your facts up? You're kind of like Lucy in the "Peanuts" who keeps telling Linus bizarre "little known facts of science." When Charlie Brown asks her where she gets these little known facts, she admits, "I make 'em up."
Housebird
Plantagenet is either an idiot or a complete idiot who constantly posts lies.
One can only wonder if Plantagenet is paid to carry on as the "house" buffoon here..
.
nightdragon09
"Meanwhile, the cleric himself has been banned from Britain over his controversial views, which include reportedly supporting the stoning of homosexuals and pardoning the Holocaust, the London Times reports."
... or as the liberals call it... TOLERANCE!
Can't wait to see the 72nd Virgin Brigade get their suicide belts in a collective bunch once this film hits theaters, even despite the fact that it will probably be a glowing puff piece on the pedophile prophet Muhammad (may beasts pee upon him) and Islam in general, as opposed to the typical Hollywood films that bash Christians and other religious groups that they disagree with and have an axe to grind for, whatever the case may be.
hockeydog
I din no he were a pedophile
U gon git fatwa'd
4 dat 1
drag on
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kdj-kdj
Lot had sex with his daughters.
goldgoose
A lot of sex?
kdj-kdj
I'm sure.
Granite
There are always a couple wacko clerics who denounce everything--the Pat Robertsons of the Islamic world.
Am I alone in dreaming the crazy dream that perhaps this will foster a greater understanding between our cultures?
kdj-kdj
There can be no 'understanding' between religions.
spotted
You can hope, but there's still the messy business about killing all Infidels that needs to be resolved.
The Islamic folks need to be like everybody else in calling out and denouncing their lunatics.
kdj-kdj
Everybody else does this?
spotted
kdj-kdj - OK, everybody should do this.
Glenn Beck is a raving lunatic and I denounce his beliefs!!!
Rush Limbaugh is a raving lunatic and I denounce his beliefs!!!
Sarah Palin is a raving lunatic and I denounce her beliefs!!!
Michelle Bachmann is a raving lunatic and I denounce her beliefs!!!
Ooooohhh, that felt good!!!
kdj-kdj
LOL...
Larryfine
Will there be a tasteful bedroom scene when the prophet weds his favorite wife when he was 56 and she was 13 in this upcoming movie?
amapola101
I would stay away from this. they could really attack the US for this. Let's just respect their religion,because they think we are immoral,hidenous,perverted, society,infidels as is. This is not what we need now,to make money.It will incite rage.
kdj-kdj
No religion deserves respect.
spotted
Amen!
kdj-kdj
Did you know that 'amen' was taken from the Egyptian 'Amen-Ra'?
spotted
No, I did not. Does that make it less amusing?
kdj-kdj
More so, actually.
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johnwr3
I have no problem with Muslims and Islam but trying to equate "right wing" Christians with Muslim extremists is like comparing a cat to a tiger, one purrs in your lap the other rips you to pieces. Live and let live just don't try and tell me what to believe and how to worship. That goes for all faiths.
isabella
I have a problem with the interpretation of Islam currently being broadcast by Islamic Youth Groups worldwide as well as "extremist" groups like Al Q'aeda and Jamal Islamiya, which proposes that the Koran justifies conversions "by the sword" if peaceful persuasion fails. Although Islam forbids suicide, this interpretation also justifies suicide bombing if it advances the cause of Islam by killing or injuring unbelievers.
Your cat and tiger analogy is apt. Islamic extremists behead people who disagree with them. Christian extremists excommunicate them.
rightly
Have any of you actually read the Qur'an? The literal meaning of the text and the belief that it is the actual words of the Prophet have been debated since it was collected into a written record.
The oral history of the life of the prophet leaves much to interpretation.
Like the Bible, believers will have emotional convictions and violent reactions to any deviation from their ideas and the morality derived from such ideas. That is a religious problem, not a historical or rational consideration.
isabella
The literal meaning of the text is irrelevant when terrorists control its interpretation and teaching.
Believers in extreme interpretations of Islam certainly have violent reactions to deviation from their ideas and morality, but it is dangerously misleading and just untrue that Christians react violently to people who deviate from their understanding of the Bible. (Abortion clinic bombers are not Christian. They defy Christian teaching.)
Christians have an obligation to spread the word of God by loving example, not by violent conquest or brutality, unlike Islamic extremists who claim Koranic authority to convert the unwilling by violent means. Mohammed was a warlord. Jesus Christ was a man of peace.
The difference cannot be dismissed as merely a religious problem when millions of Islamic extremists funded by fabulously wealthy governments have vowed to destroy the non-believing West in its entirety.
kdj-kdj
It's bound to be a much better movie than the horror-porn 'Passion of the Christ.'
nightdragon09
Heh, you call that movie "horror porn", but it's perfectly fine for Hollywood to put out a Saw movie every year right?
Just1ne
Saw is torture-porn, not horror-porn....just saying. :)
kdj-kdj
But Saw has never claimed to be a life-affirming experience... has it?
And I never said it shouldn't have been released... it just should have been more honest about itself. After all, 'passion' plays, which this movie was based on, were notedly anti-semitic... yet that is never addressed.
Horror-porn.
spotted
Horror-porn about a Jewish Messiah produced by an admitted Anti-Semite.
paganmartyr
Who said, "Religion has some value." Well, perhaps for use as a club (not the kind you join).
goldgoose
Religion is inherently intolerant. Each and every religion, all religions are inherently intolerant claiming exclusive rights to "after life"; any other thought is wrong. A religion is an opinion that exists with no empirical truth; t is substantiated by faith alone. It has mystical comfort for all believers and therefore it is without doubt "an opiate of the people" serving interests of tyrants whether good or bad. Religion in our present world is an instrument of hatred and a disease for which there is no known cure and there are no exceptions.
Jinglebob
Sounds like ass kissing, public relations, PC stunt. I'm sure it will be an honest showing off what kind of man this Muhammah was. What a waste of money.
Dekrahs
They should get Bill Maher, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens as consultants just to balance things out.
authenticity
comments after deep study make sense otherwise shows arrogance,ignorance & envy.i can just giv u all advise to learn and studdy islam through authentic sources of Islam. to know islam know Quran.otherwise ur comments r like a arrow shot in air.or do u fear to know Islam from Qur an and fear the realization of truth
authenticity
as far as depiction of Prophet Muhammad PBUH .any painting or depiction is forbidden in islam.the word used in arabic is tasveer which comes from the root word tasawwur which means imagination so it means any drawing or or depict on the basis of imagination is prohibited in islam
The Noble Qur'an - Al-A'raf 7:148
And the people of Moses made in his absence, out of their ornaments, the image of a calf (for worship). It had a sound (as if it was mooing). Did they not see that it could neither speak to them nor guide them to the way? They took it for worship and they were Zalimun (wrong-doers).
The Noble Qur'an - Al-Anbiyâ 21:51-54
51. And indeed We bestowed aforetime on Ibrâhim (Abraham) his (portion of) guidance, and We were Well-Acquainted with him (as to his Belief in the Oneness of Allâh, etc.).
52. When he said to his father and his people: "What are these images, to which you are devoted?"
53. They said:"We found our fathers worshipping them."
54. He said: "Indeed you and your fathers have been in manifest error."
Hadith - Bukhari 3:428, Narrated Said bin Abu Al-Hasan
While I was with Ibn 'Abbas a man came and said, "O father of 'Abbas! My sustenance is from my manual profession and I make these pictures." Ibn 'Abbas said, "I will tell you only what I heard from Allah's Apostle . I heard him saying, 'Whoever makes a picture will be punished by Allah till he puts life in it, and he will never be able to put life in it.' " Hearing this, that man heaved a sigh and his face turned pale. Ibn 'Abbas said to him, "What a pity! If you insist on making pictures I advise you to make pictures of trees and any other unanimated objects."
Hadith -Bukhari 4:47, Narrated 'Aisha
I stuffed for the Prophet a pillow decorated with pictures (of animals) which looked like a Namruqa (i.e. a small cushion). He came and stood among the people with excitement apparent on his face. I said, "O Allah's Apostle! What is wrong?" He said, "What is this pillow?" I said, "I have prepared this pillow for you, so that you may recline on it." He said, "Don't you know that angels do not enter a house wherein there are pictures; and whoever makes a picture will be punished on the Day of Resurrection and will be asked to give life to (what he has created)?"
Hadith - Muslim, Narrated Ali ibn AbuTalib
AbulHayyaj al-Asadi told that Ali ibn AbuTalib said to him: Should I not send you on the same mission as Allah's Messenger sent me? Do not leave an image without obliterating it, or a high grave without levelling it. This hadith has been reported by Habib with the same chain of transmitters and he said: (do not leave) a picture without obliterating it
Hadith - Sahih Bukhari 2.425, Narrated Aisha, r.a.
When the Prophet became ill, some of his wives talked about a church which they had seen in Ethiopia and it was called Mariya. Um Salma and Um Habiba had been to Ethiopia, and both of them narrated its (the Church's) beauty and the pictures it contained. The Prophet raised his head and said, "Those are the people who, whenever a pious man dies amongst them, make a place of worship at his grave and then they make those pictures in it. Those are the worst creatures in the Sight of Allah."
the prohibition on depiction of prophetor any other person is prohibitted and its a universal law.
authenticity
the pictures or sculpture drawn by persians or turks carries no weight in islam.the authentic source of Islam is Qur an and hadith.
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