After Defaming Islam & Terrorizing Muslims,

Now films on Prophet of Islam?

Holy Quran and Prophet Muhammad (SAS) are most revered in Islam, but the anti-Islamic world, in trying to intervene in Islamic practices, is indeed working deadly against them in order to defame Islam. Focused on denouncing Islam the Anti-Islamic world has been dead against the Muslims and Islam and it has been causing one problem after another for the Muslims the world over. Veil problem, cartoons, articles, books, documentaries, stories, novels, etc, invented by the West to defame Islam, have done enough damage to Muslims as well as the image of Islam as a peaceful religion. Global Terrorism plank has been utilized to the fullest possible extent to throw mud on the religion and kill and terrorize Muslims the world over.

Western forces are eager to fix Muslims according to their own scheming. US-led West has been harping on new Middle East, freedom and democracy along with regime change in Arab world, in order to do any thing the anti-Islamic world wants to do with Muslims Islam, and Prophet (SAS). These nations have been making all out efforts defame Islam by promoting those Muslims who help the anti-Islamic world to slam Islam at low cost. As a hidden policy against Islam, the Western rulers and media encourage cartoons and documentaries and films on Islam and Muslims. With a label of a "democracy' the anti-Islamic world could do any thing they please with Muslims, while the Islamic world, especially the Arab world, to tow the line of the West by allowing nasty anti-Islamic projections.

Not knowing which way of worship is the best, Muslims are confused and at a crossroads now. They seek all material benefits out of Islam while renouncing and even denouncing Islamic faith at spiritual level. As global Muslims are threatened by anti-Islamic forces, Islam is also being reduced as business stuff by Muslims themselves. What is missing is the faith vacuum and weakness of inner faith. Since making more and more wealth has become the dominant concern of Muslims, deceptive methods and cheating characterize both the mindset and life patterns of good majority of Muslims every where. None is able to guide them. Heavily influenced by non-Islamic practices around, Muslims especially in non-Islamic nations perhaps think they have to adhere to other faiths to prove to the world their secular and democratic credentials, return to worshipping of multigods and man-made stone and clay gods and embrace their religious rituals that are just to show off their status and wealth as well hatred towards Islam.

Islam under siege

As Islamic nations and Muslims are concerned exclusively on non-religious aspects, the west is now making efforts to produce films on Prophet (SAS) and generate endless controversies about religions and freedom expression etc.  A new film depicting the life and times of the Prophet Muhammad is to begin shooting soon, its producer has said. In keeping with Muslim tradition, however, the faces and voices of the Prophet and his companions will not be seen or heard on screen. In modern electronic age when bulks of audio-video gadgets are being employed in neo-Islamic practices ostensibly for propaganda purposes, at times against the spirit of Islamic faith, the true concepts of Islam get diluted and merged with other religious practices. Many Muslims make money by merely making hollow Islamic propaganda against the Islamic values while not in fact practicing the religion in true spirit. They justify even ugly sides of such modern machinery.   

Of course, Islam exists in spite of anti-Islamic trends and self-interested Muslims in every society who use the religion and people for their upward development.  Focused only on pleasures and wealth, Islamic world seems to be sleeping over the anti-Islamic trends in the world affecting the Muslims all over the world.  Visual media promoted terrorism and the West used this against Islam and Muslims. But Muslims are least bothered. Already the West has created documentaries, books and films defaming Islam and Prophet Muhammad (SAS). The Messenger of Peace will be a remake of The Message, a 1977 film starring Anthony Quinn as Muhammad's uncle. The events of the Prophet's life took place primarily in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, now in Saudi Arabia. Producer Oscar Zoghbi said his team had "only the utmost respect" for the original film, directed by the late Moustapha Akkad. "But technology in cinema has advanced since the 1970s and this latest project will employ modern film techniques in its renewal of the first film's "core messages". They argue that in the 21st century there is a real need for a film that emotionally engages audiences on the journey that led to the birth of Islam. Are they really for Islam or for the benefits of Muslims to practice their faith truthfully?  

The West keeps the world busy by creating senseless controversies. The mistaken belief that Quinn was portraying Muhammad himself in the 1977 film sparked riots in the US in which two people died. In the film, though, the Prophet was represented by gentle organ music and, in scenes where he was present, by subjective camerawork that depicted the action from his point of view. Portrayals of Muhammad have triggered protests in recent years, notably in 2006 when Muslims around the world reacted angrily to satirical cartoons of the Prophet published in Denmark. Earlier this year, the planned UK publication of a novel about the Prophet Muhammad's child bride was postponed over fears it might incite violence.

Weak Muslims?

Islam is being used by some as an avenue for business and mint money by some by video and audio and book productions. In Fact it is not the propaganda of Islam, but the opposite is being done. But they are unaware of this. Islam could be practiced as the most viable religion by showing personal experience and examples. A new trend has emerged on Internet where a few self-interested guys create illusions to fool the world in the name of Islam. By using Internet form, even Muslim soft engineers are creating magical illusions to show Islam is a religion of magic and magical effect is a part of Islam. They are awfully wrong to play such mischief on behalf of Islam. Even sending spam to Muslims is not a good practice though many Muslim editors do it for fun.

It is fact that several Muslims consider money as the only useful thing in the world and use unethical and immoral means to perform Hajj on almost stolen money and on fabricated or mutilated passports. After returning form Hajj pilgrimage many "Hajji" Muslims resume their old dirty practices and continue to mint money and harm the interests of fellow Muslims, in stead of helping them solve their problems. This is because they consider Hajj as a usual tour and a business trip and, therefore, no religious significance is attached to being Hajjis. What is being sacrificed is the spiritual value of this holy pilgrimage and they still justify their behaviors by comparing themselves with others, including people from other faiths.

Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (SAS) does not have a figurative or pictorial image as He Himself did not let his followers and true believers have His picture to worship as human worship is forbidden in Islam. Unlike prophets of other religions (and gods), Muslims don't have photographs or statues to worship; they pray to Almighty directly without using any photos or films. Muslims don't worship human beings. Prophet Muhammad (SAS) took special care in not leaving behind any picture of Himself for the people to worship as God and preached people to worship only the formless all-powerful Allah, the creator of universe and every thing within and outside.  As such it is against the spirit of Islam to make a film about their prophet, crating illusions about Islamic prophet. One is free to film about anything except on Muhammad (SAS). The anti-Islamic forces not realizing the true nature of Islam and its tenets, are trying to create tensions in the world by focusing on what is not permitted in Islam. This will undoubtedly generate confusion in Islamic world, fuel tensions between Islam and Christianity. Enough damage ahs already been done to mutual respect between these faiths by provocative actions and speeches by Christians.

But why should the West harp on themes that hurt the religious and spiritual sentiment of Muslims? Why should the Christian "scholars" want to interfere in Islamic faith? Don't these so-called filmy "scholars" have any thing else to do in the world? Indian libraries are infested with the anti-Islamic stuff and books of "terrorism" occupy the central place in any research library in the world, including India, known for its anti-Muslim credentials. Indian universities have churned out not only anti-Muslim stuff, but also generated a chunk of terrorism specialists who live on writing about anti-Islamism and terrorism. .

 Postscript

The anti-Islamic forces use the new trends in Islamic practices and behavior of Muslims and advance their own historic agenda to slam Islam and insult Muslims. This is the most dangerous issue the Muslims should pay due attention to. Muslim journalists have a positive role to play. On the one hand, anti-Islamic forces are trying to cause damages to Islam and Muslims, on the other, Muslims by and large are only trying to squeeze maximum monetary and other material benefits out of Islam, while kicking the essence of Islam and spiritual aspects of it.

There has been a growing trend across the world to interfere in Islamic way of life and Islamic faith per se by the forces that seek to insult in order to strengthen the membership of their own religions. This dangerous phenomenon has resulted in killing and terrorizing Muslims across the word on fictitious pretexts like the so-called "terrorism" and "fundamentalism" and madrasas", etc. This universal intolerance towards Islam and Muslims by those anti-Islamic forces needs to be combated effectively by those who can articulate on behalf of Islam. Muslim nations should try to protect Islam from being either misused by some self-interested Muslims or by anti-Islamic nations/forces in maligning it, while maintaining business and other ties with the non-Islamic world. Islamic world, particularly the Arab nations, most importantly Saudi Arabia which houses Two Holy Mosques, must raise their strongest protest voices against these anti-Islamic trends in films. Unless the Islamic nations are watchful about the hidden agenda and simmering scheming, Muslims would find the future bleaker than now.

The most painful issue is the fact that the anti-Islamic forces have maintained such a clueless containment strategy against Islam and Muslims that even the enlightened Muslim scholars are at a lose as how to streamline afresh the Islamic way of life which is under modern threats.

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DR.ABDUL RUFF Colachal

Independent Researcher in International Affairs,

South Asia