Global InformationMuhammad in film information
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The depiction of Islamic prophet Muhammad in film (as with other visual depictions) is a controversial topic both within and outside of Islam. Although the Quran does not explicitly forbid images of Muhammad, there are a few hadith (supplemental teachings) which have explicitly prohibited Muslims from creating visual depictions of figures. Because the different branches of Islam use different Hadith collections, there is a split on this issue between the two major denominations of Islam, Sunni and Shia Islam.
Most Sunni Muslims believe that visual depictions of all the prophets of Islam should be prohibited[1] and are particularly averse to visual representations of Muhammad.[2] In 1926, Egyptian actor Youssef Wahbi was in discussions to play Muhammad in a film financed by the Turkish government under Atatürk. When the Sunni Islamic Al-Azhar University in Cairo heard about it, scholars there released a fatwa stipulating that Islam forbids the depiction of Muhammad on screen and King Fuad then sent a severe warning to the actor, threatening to exile him and strip him of his Egyptian nationality. As a result of the controversy, the film was abandoned.[3]
In Shia Islam, scholars historically were also against such depictions, but have taken a more relaxed view over the years and images of Muhammad are quite common nowadays.[2] A fatwa given by Ali al-Sistani, the Shi'a marja of Iraq, states that it is permissible to depict Muhammad, even in television or movies, if done with respect.[4]
- ^ Larsson, Göran (2011). Muslims and the New Media. Ashgate. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-4094-2750-6.
- ^ a b Devotion in pictures: Muslim popular iconography – The prophet Muhammad, University of Bergen
- ^ Alessandra. Raengo & Robert Stam (2004). A Companion To Literature And Film. Blackwell Publishing. p. 31. ISBN 0-631-23053-X.
- ^ "Istifta". Retrieved 2015-09-28.