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Cairo: Movies depicting the life of Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) are at a competing production stage
by filmmakers in Iran and Qatar, racing to bring the movie to the
big screen.
The Qatari production is set to be shown as a series of films
aiming to target a worldwide audience. With a spending budget of
$1 billion, the movie is funded by Qatar-based Alnoor Holdings.
The film’s production will be led by the world-renowned Islamic
scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradwai to ensure that events in the
movie are parallel to the Qur’an.
“They are being understandably
very cautious," said The Lord of the Rings producer Barrie
Osborne, who was hired as the project advisor, according to a
report carried by Al Arabiya.net.
Now, Iranian director Majid Majidi is competing with Qatar’s
production, beginning to film another story of the Prophet in
October, with a set budget of $30 million.
The character of the
Prophet will be shown in Majidi’s production; his figure shown
without revealing his face. However, it is unlikely that the
prophet’s figure will be shown in the Qatari production, in
accordance to Sunni Islamic laws stating prophets cannot be
depicted on screen or in print.
Last year, protests swept the Muslim
world in September following the release of the U.S. produced
movie, Innocence of Muslims, which depicted the image of the
Prophet as a womanizer.
Following the protests, the United
Arab Emirates held an event in Dubai, as part of global campaign,
named “The True Message of the Prophet,” involving a group of
young Muslims offering roses with a message of “peace and good
manners” inspired by the sayings of the Prophet.
Similar initiatives were seen across
the Arab world as a backlash to the film they deemed offensive.
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