There’s no better medium, but the big screen to narrate the life of Prophet Mohamed [PBUH]. As Muslims in Egypt and worldwide observe Mawlid an-Nabi (the birthday of Islam’s prophet) on Monday, a number of movies about this special occasion come to mind. Each film about the Prophet’s life has something unique to say.
Although Islam bans the portrayal of the Prophet and his companions, a number of films tackled his life without featuring any actors playing their roles on screen. Filming the characters of the Prophet and his companions are prohibited by all religious institution including Al-Azhar, Islam’s highest Sunni seat.
The production of religious drama is a great challenge in a Muslim country like Egypt due to a fatwa (religious edict based on sharia) explicitly banning the portraying of all prophets and holy characters.
This fatwa has weakened religious drama and many scriptwriters and directors stay aloof from any religious theme.
However, one of the early movies that filmed the Arab Peninsula prior to the emergence of Islam was Zohor El-Islam (Emergence of Islam), which produced in 1951 and directed by Ibrahim Ezz Eddin.
The movie, which is based on a novel titled “The True Promise” by Egyptian intellectual and author Taha Hussein, tackled the hardships that early Muslims faced. It was crucial to shed light on the life of Arab tribes prior to Islam and how Prophet Mohamed changed it for the best of mankind.
The film started with horrific scenes depicting how idolatry, ignorance and corruption were spread in the Arabian Peninsula at that time. The movie, then, shows how people, particularly the poor, believed in the Prophet regardless of the torture they suffered.
Ezz Eddin’s movie simply stressed the true cause of early Muslims, who believed in Prophet Mohamed and his message, which has become universal in a few decades.
Zohor El-Islam was followed by another film titled “Intsar El-Islam” (Islam’s victory) in 1952, then Bilal [the first mu’azzin (prayer caller) in history], in 1953. Capitalizing on the glamor and spiritual nature of early Islamic themes, Egyptian filmmakers produced other movies to narrate how early faithful Muslims suffered patiently.
From an artistic point of view, the best films were produced in the 1970s, i.e. Fagr El-Islam (Dawn of Islam) in 1971, Al-Shyma (the Prophet’s foster sister) in 1972, and Moustapha al-Akkad’s extravaganza El-Resala (The Message) in 1976.
Although the 1970’s films tackled nearly similar themes, the colored pictures featured a different flavor with the portraying of Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib, the Prophet’s uncle, for the first time on the big screen.
In fact, all of these movies are considered to be a great heritage, although young generations may not find it appealing to watch films in the classical Arabic language, not to mention unrealistic makeup and costumes. It was rather evident in the colored movies produced in the 1970s.
Filmmakers have stopped producing religious movies since 1975. Probably, the reason was low box-office revenues. This has urged producers dramatize religious themes for TV series, which usually get higher viewership in the holy month of Ramadan.
Gradually, TV has overtaken the big screen as the best medium to produce religious drama.
Moreover, the production of religious drama for the big screen is highly expensive, as this type of movies requires historical costumes and decors. With low box-office expected revenues, the filmmakers simply keep away from costly religious drama.
However, religious drama for the big screen may become popular if there’s a high production budget and a well-written script delving much more into the historical details.
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