Well that’s not going to be the actual title, but it is the premise nonetheless. Qatari media group Al Noor Holdings are to back a £90 million ($150 million) English language epic charting the Prophet of Islam’s life from cradle to grave. Barrie Osborne, he of The Matrix and Lord Of The Rings fame, will produce the blockbuster – for that’s what it will be – whilst Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi will be on hand to offer guidance on Islamic jurisprudence. And yes, that is the very same Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi whose rather controversial views on topics such as the Holocaust, homosexuality, and suicide bombings resulted in his being banned, quite unjustly in my view, from the UK.
So to the question that’s on everyone’s mind. How, taking into consideration the aniconistic nature of Islam, to portray the protagonist? We all remember the Danish cartoons, after all. One of my favourite shows, Muhammad The Final Legacy on the Islam Channel, has the answer:
With a cast of well known actors – in Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon at least – this televisual depiction in Arabic overcomes the problem by use of the first person, i.e. people addressing Muhammad do so to the camera, with a shepherd’s crook often being waved about for clarity. See for yourselves
Neat trick, I’d say. So all we have to do now is wait for Osborne and al-Qaradawi to work their magic and then see if the reaction to their finished product lives up to the 134 person hostage situation and two fatalities that topped the backlash surrounding the last Western dramatisation of Muhammad’s life – The Message (1976) . . . .
NB: The Islam Channel is available without subscription via Sky channel 813 at Eurobird 1 (11681V 27500 2/3) or on Hotbird 6 (11585V 27500 3/4). If those figures mean nothing to you, and there’s every likelihood they don’t, then you may as well watch online:
