In the wake of the American-produced film about the holy Prophet Mohammad, deemed offensive by most of the Muslim world, a number of wise people proposed the production of a new film focusing on the biography of the Prophet. However, Al-Azhar, a center of Islamic learning and doctrine, which also imposes fatwas— laws issued by an Islamic scholar— forbids the portrayal of Prophet Mohammad in works of art.

In the wake of the American-produced film about the holy Prophet Mohammad, deemed offensive by most of the Muslim world, a number of wise people proposed the production of a new film focusing on the biography of the Prophet. However, Al-Azhar, a center of Islamic learning and doctrine, which also imposes fatwas— laws issued by an Islamic scholar— forbids the portrayal of Prophet Mohammad in works of art.

“All restrictions must be removed,” said writer and scenarist Bashil Al-Deek, “now that we do not have any Koranic text or Hadith that forbids the portrayal of the Prophet and his companions,” he said. “I do not know why Al-Azhar is afraid of such a step. I think these restrictions are simply pseudo-sensitive and a hobby to complicate the situations and impose more restrictions.”

However, Dr. Abdulfattah Idris, head of the Comparative Jurisprudence Department at the Faculty of Sharia and Law at Al-Azhar University, says there are indeed restrictions in the Koran and hadiths—sayings of Prophet Mohammad. 

“There are numerous hadiths that refer to the greatness of the Prophet who was unerring and so close to the Lord and that is why no one may portray his personality,” he said.  “I am not a film producer but if the artists have sincere intentions to respond to the offensive film by producing a major work of art, they can use the stories of tens of sahabah—his companions— who lived with the Prophet. In this way we can explain how our noble Prophet used to treat them and impact their lives.”

Cinema critic Tarek el-Shinnawi has a different view. He believes the Egyptian cinema has the ability to produce religious and social films reflecting the Islamic principles in spite of Al-Azhar’s barriers. “We can produce a social film that embodies the spirit of Islam or a contemporary religious film explaining the Prophet’s career.” El-Shinnawi called on Al-Azhar to reconsider the fatwa that prohibits the portrayal of the Prophet and Islamic figures. He believes that these restrictions should be removed because they do not fit in the technology and Internet revolution of today.

“Living in the Internet era, does not mean that we should ignore the constants of our religion,” Idris insists. “Producers willing to present serious religious works should talk about Islamic principles and about the Prophet’ kindness and compassion without portraying his personality on the screen.”

Playing in the big league

But religious law is not the only obstacle to the film’s production. “Another barrier will be how to bring these films to internationalization,” says artist Ezzat Alayli.  “The west does not need us, or our films. That is why we should force such works into international festivals through high quality. This is, for example, the case of Al-Qadisiyah film, in which I took part. The film was shown at Cannes and managed to change a number of Islam-related concepts.”

Although Alayli admits that reaching European countries requires an enormous budget, he believes this can be overcome by cooperation amongst several production companies, adding that the film could be produced in both Arabic and English.  This is the case with Al-Risalah, where the Arabic version was played by Abdullah Ghaith and the English by Antony Quinn, allowing millions to view the film in America and Europe.

Halo of light

But beyond budgets and fatwas, Dr. Afaf Al-Najjar, dean of Islamic and Arab Studies Faculty for women at Al-Azhar University says no person could capture the Prophet’s greatness. “How can we guarantee that after portraying the Prophet he will not deliver trivial roles and vulgar works.”

She proposes to address the Prophet’s career through art work, provided he is portrayed as a halo of light rather than a normal person.