In the past century, the life stories of Moses,
the Buddha and even Mormon founder Joseph
Smith have been told in film. Jesus Christ is such a prolific thespian that
there are top-10 lists of his movies.
But a prophet of one of the world’s largest religions, a man with a
fascinating life story and 1.5 billion adoring followers, has never had his star
turn.
Until now.
“Innocence of Muslims,” the film that fueled violence and anti-American
sentiment around the world, is notorious for bad acting, leaden dialogue and
ham-handed production values overseen by a two-time felon from Cerritos. But in
the annals of cinematic history, it marked an exceptionally rare portrayal of
Muhammad by an actor on film.
Overshadowed in the debate over the film and its controversial producers is
an ancient prohibition on the depiction of the prophet Muhammad, one that has
been sacrosanct for centuries but now is likely to be increasingly
challenged.
Undaunted by the outcry over a YouTube
trailer for “Innocence of Muslims,” two ex-Muslim filmmakers are trying to
develop separate feature-length biopics that would offer critical takes on
Muhammad’s life. Experts predict that those projects will trigger further anger
and violence, as has accompanied nearly every attempt to portray the prophet in
any media in recent decades. But some believe that the faith will inevitably
embrace showing Muhammad on film as the best and most effective way to get his
message to the masses.
“Multimedia is the language of the day,” said
Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the California chapter of the Council
on American-Islamic Relations. “It might be another 100 years, another 50
years. At this point, I would rather we do not do it in a way that shocks
people.”
Although depicting Muhammad is not specifically prohibited by the Koran,
Islamic law bars the practice.
The prohibition, scholars say, is an extension of
the idea that the faithful should worship only God and not an idol. That ban
even covers the prophet’s grave in Medina,
Saudi Arabia, where
pilgrims are not allowed to kiss the ground at the site.
Under that paradigm, an actor playing the role of Muhammad — even in the most
flattering of lights — would be unacceptable to most Muslims, experts said. “The
Message,” an Arab-financed 1977 film about Muhammad’s life, worked around this
prohibition by stationing his character off camera or behind the lens, and was
preceded by a disclaimer explaining that the prophet would not appear.
Experts on film history and Islam said “Innocence of Muslims” marked the
first time they could recall of an actor’s actually playing Muhammad, though it
was impossible to verify if it had ever happened before.
Born in Mecca, Muhammad received his first revelation at about age 40, and in
just two decades unified the Arabian peninsula behind his new religion before he
died in Medina.
Mosab Hassan Yousef, a Palestinian who moved to Los Angeles several years
ago, said he sees a compelling narrative film in that story and has already cast
a “prominent Hollywood actor” in the title role of his film “Muhammad,” which
has a proposed budget of $30 million.
The film will tell the story of the prophet from
age 12 to his death, and will have the look and feel of Mel Gibson‘s “The
Passion of the Christ,” Yousef said. “My goal is to create this big mirror
to show the Muslim world the true image of its leader,” Yousef said.
While Gibson used the film to glorify his subject, Yousef’s project is likely
to have a different take.
His book, “Son of Hamas,” tells the tale of
his progression from terrorist to Israeli spy to born-again Christian. And
though he says he is not anti-Muslim — and notes that his mother still practices
the religion — he acknowledges that his religious awakening was sparked by the
preaching of Father Zakaria Botros Henein, a radical Egyptian Christian who has
for years critiqued Muhammad as a pedophile and buffoon.
Botros is closely associated with several of the individuals behind
“Innocence of Muslims,” and the filmmaker, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, is a devout
follower.
A second film in preproduction is the work of Ali Sina, an atheist raised
Muslim in Iran. A prominent critic of Islam, he maintains websites that promote
what he calls “the truth” about the religion.
To date he says he has raised $2 million from Southern California investors for
the film, which does not yet have a title but will portray the prophet as a cult
leader in the vein of David Koresh or
Jim Jones. He hopes to raise a total of $10 million, he said, and begin filming
next year.
Now a resident of Canada, Sina began contemplating a biopic about Muhammad a
decade ago, but stepped up his effort in the last two years as technological
advances made it feasible to circumvent government censors and wary
exhibitors.
“We can bypass theaters completely and sell the movie online with a profit to
a large number of people, especially Muslims,” Sina said. “They can download it
and watch it even if they are living in Karachi or Mecca or Medina.”
Among anti-Muslim activists, these two projects are fairly well known and the
two filmmakers at one time discussed collaborating. But Muslim scholars and
activists said they were not aware of either movie and dubious about their
prospects of shaking the faith of believers.
“That strategy has been tried and hasn’t worked,” said Ebrahim Moosa, a
professor of Islamic studies at Duke University, noting centuries of Christian
missionizing in the Muslim world. “It’s certainly not going to persuade people
who believe in Muhammad as a religious figure because these issues have to do
with something that transcends reason or rationality. It has to do with
questions of faith and salvation.”
Reactions to the films, if they are ever finished, are likely to be
severe.
“This is crossing a line,” said Akbar Ahmed, a former Pakistani ambassador to
the United Kingdom and now professor of Islamic studies at American University.
“If there is an actor physically portraying Muhammad, there will be a violent
reaction.”
He said that would likely be true even if a devout Muslim made a movie about
the prophet, because most people in the religion are just not ready to see
Muhammad on screen. But it’s doubly the case for works that aim to provide
unflattering views of the religion.
After a Danish newspaper published cartoons ridiculing Muhammad in 2005,
three Muslims hatched an ultimately foiled plot to murder the artist.
In 2006, Comedy
Central refused to air an episode of “South
Park” because it depicted Muhammad, and four years later New York’s Metropolitan
Museum of Art acknowledged that it had removed all paintings and sculptures
with images of the prophet — some centuries old — from public display for fear
of inciting protest.
Both filmmakers are closely guarding details of their productions due to
security concerns. They decry “Innocence of Muslims” as historically inaccurate,
offensive and of poor quality.
In the wake of its release, Yousef has been scrambling to meet with his
investors — whom he describes as a mix of Egyptians and Americans — and ensure
that they’re still on board.
Sina, for his part, said he had been exploring ways to hide the identities
of the producers and actors in his movie and said he would not reveal the
planned location for the movie shoot. He described his investors as a handful of
Persian atheists who live in Los Angeles.
“I’ve become more secretive,” said Sina, who insists that his goal is not to
incite Muslims but to persuade them.
Some Muslim activists said anti-Islam depictions of Muhammad might lead,
ironically, to an eventual relaxation of the prohibition. However offensive,
“Innocence of Muslims” showed the long reach and emotional punch of videos in
the Internet age and suggested a highly effective way for religious leaders to
conquer barriers of language, literacy and youth apathy.
“There’s a whole industry that is intent on defaming and misrepresenting the
prophet and his teachings. It becomes difficult to counter that campaign with
books, stories and sayings,” said CAIR’s Ayloush.
“To compete and remain relevant, eventually some of these religious opinions
will have to be revisited,” he said. “I think it’s going to happen.”