Cinnamon Zone: Religion

Legacy of a Prophet

Sat, 13 Jan 2007 20:59:00 GMT

A film by kikim media & unity production foundation/a KQED presenation

His father died before he was born, and his mother died when he was only six. But sheltered by a powerful uncle, he made a good start in life, established himself in a profitable business and married well. And then, at the age of 40, he was transformed.

A man who could not read or write, he announced that he was the prophet of God.

His name was Muhammad, and in the next 23 years he would bring peace to the warring pagan tribes of Arabia and establish the new religion of Islam, which today has 1.2 billion followers.

Part 1

Part 2

Three years in the making, Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet travels in the footsteps of the prophet to the Arabian desert and the holy city of Mecca where much of Muhammad's story unfolded. "There are six to seven million Muslims here in America, where Islam is the country's fastest growing religion, but many Americans are completely unfamiliar with the life story of the remarkable man who founded this religion 1400 years ago," says producer/director Michael Schwarz.

This sweeping two-hour documentary goes well beyond the boundaries of the past. "Muhammad is 'history in the present tense,'" says co-creator/producer Michael Wolfe, a well-known Muslim author. "In it, we reflect on this 7th century story through the experiences of 21st century Americans who feel deeply connected to what Muhammad did, said and believed." A presentation of KQED/San Francisco, the documentary is produced by Kikim Media and Unity Productions Foundation. Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet was created and produced by Michael Wolfe and Alexander Kronemer, and produced and directed by Michael Schwarz. Noted actor André Braugher is the narrator. With some of the world's greatest scholars on Islam providing historical context and critical perspective, Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet tells of intrigue and faith, revolutionary ideas and bitter persecution, brutal war and brilliant diplomacy in an arid desert where tribal allegiance was often the only protection.

I think this movie is worth watching, it's good to see some positive attempts to introduce our Religion and our beloved Prophet to the world. Anyone knows whether I can find it on DVD here in Jordan or if it's beign screened somewhere?

You cna check the website for further information:

http://www.pbs.org/muhammad/

Drama & Terrorism

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 00:40:00 GMT

Few years ago, when the issue of terroris in the Arab world began to surface, and there was desperate shouts to seperate between Islam and terrorism, and how the extremists do not represent Islam int heir acts...

The Arabic media, as usual, was there trying to make a contribution to the process of spreading this awareness, and since then we've been having that fad, meaning the Arabic TV series that deal with the issue of terrorism from different angles, but, frankly, I don't know if that was a good idea.

You know those programmes try to represent the terrorist mindset to the public. they show them in the typical way: a beard, the dishdash, the frown, etc. And then they start preeching and justifying the terrorist acts as "Jihad", and you know the rest.

As an Arab and a Muslim, I know that this is wrong and stuff, and that it's inconsistent with the teachin of Islam, and that the way those terrorist onterpret Qur'an as to justify their acts is wrong and misleading. But, the problem is: Not everyone who watches those programmes knows that.

You might argue that it's obvious and everyone should know it by default. The thing is, the picture they give is so negative that it can really bug the crap out of you, and one should have a very solid faith to shake off the images that might permeat your subconscious... Do you know that these series are being translated into English? I've been working on them for a while now, I haven't seen those episoes on TV, but as I translated them I was like: Okay, non-Arabs and non-Muslims are supposed to see this??

The thing is: If you want to do something about terrorism, then do it in the right way. I personally think that our media is not mature enough to tackle such a sensitive subject. When you make a TV series you have to bear in mind that everyone will watch it, from different ages and mentalities. You can't just make up scenes and throw it on them... It has to be extra-detailed and elaborate. When you show the wrong, you have to immediatly expalin why it is wrong and what the right thing is. Those new series are si confusing... Have some compassion for people's brains!

I have to say that not all of those series are equally bad or confusing, I think that Al-hour al3een for example was way better than the latest series, this can really get on your nerves...

I just hope that this will fade away shortly and we focus on more fruitful ways to spread awareness agaisnt terrorism

Ramadan Mubarak :)

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 13:02:00 GMT

I don't know whether it's on Sat or Sun, but I'd like to wish you all a very happy and blessed Ramadan. Hope you all will make the best of it

Translating the Holy Qur'an

Sat, 08 Jul 2006 14:52:00 GMT

Fo r all I know, it's not permissible nor it is possible to translate Qur'anic verses literally. While it is possible to interpret the Holy Qur'an and give translation for it's meanings. Inother words, you can't translate Qur'an, you can only translate Its meanings. Obviously, this is because translating the Qor'an itself could alter its meaning, and could never render Its language properly.

Now, if you wnat to interpret he Holy Qur'an and give a translation for its meanings, I know that this can't be done with one transaltor alone. As far as I know, you need, at least, 3 persons: A transaltor whose mother tongue is Arabic and has an excellent command of the target language, another translator whose mother language is the target language and is has an excellent command of Arabic and a Muslim scholar especialized in the interpretation of Qur'anic meanigns and in the Islamic tradition....

To make sure of this before posting, I searched the subject on the web and found this:

On this Web site, there are three translations of the Qur'an. Note that any translation of the Qur'an immediately ceases to be the literal word of Allah, and hence cannot be equated with the Qur'an in its original Arabic form. In fact, each of the translations on this site is actually an interpretation which has been translated

My point is, we should be very careful with the translations we find on the net, or those we try to contrive by ourselves... I would appreciate it if anyone canprovide a website that is reliable and trustworthy for this purpose. Thanks in advance.

Muslim World Cup Players Promote Image

Sat, 01 Jul 2006 13:39:00 GMT

By Ahmad Atta, IOL Correspondent

CAIRO — Superstar Muslim footballers leading several high-profile European teams in Germany 2006 FIFA World Cup are contributing to a paradigm shift, showing a face of Islam some have not seen and many others have claimed never existed.

"Muslim players in European soccer teams are a proof that their faith and cultures are not stumbling blocks hindering contribution to the development of their societies in all domains," Anas al-Tikriti, former chairman of the Muslim Association of Britain, told IslamOnline.net.

"They can help clear misconceptions about Islam and prove that the Muslim faith is a way of life," he added.

Many Muslim players have captured the limelight during their participation in the world football gala.

Among them is French playmaker legend and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane.

His expected successor, midfielder Franck Ribery, has also made headlines during his country's opener against Switzerland.

Ribery, a native French revert, raised his hands and supplicated to God like a typical Muslim before the kickoff.

Among the other prominent Muslim names in the mondial are Dutch Boulahrouz Khalid and Van Persie Robin as well as Swede Ibrahimovic Zlatan.

Read the full article here:

http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2006-06/24/04.shtml

And the Arabic version:

http://www.islamonline.net/Arabic/news/2006-06/24/08.shtml