Think of Moses parting the Red Sea, and there is a good possibility that an image of Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments comes to mind. Likewise, picture Jesus’ crucifixion and there is probably an even larger cast of actors who have played “God” in film or theater. While on occasion, an unorthodox portrayal, such as that in The Last Temptation of Christ, might meet with opprobrium- on the whole, there isn’t a feeling in Western Christian culture that the act of depiction itself is a great wrong.

Islam, on the other hand, takes a strongly iconoclastic view when it comes to depicting prophets and patriarchs- both in the mediums of painting and drama, and the newer mediums of film and photography. One minor exception to this is the Shi’a, some of whom commemorate the martyrdom of Hussayn at Kerbala by performing passion plays (although they don’t ever go so far to as to depict Muhammad *). Otherwise, it is strictly verboten.

Little wonder that for Westerners, accustomed to the dramatization of influential religious personalities and/or mythological figures, the story of the birth of Islam and the life of the Prophet Muhammad remains shrouded by unfamiliarity with its most basic plot synopsis. For all the technological and political progress since the Crusades, ill-informed notions that Muslims worship Muhammad, or that Islam is a religion of an entirely different species than the other two Abrahamic religions- Judaism and Christianity- persist to this day.

Not that there haven’t been attempts to utilize the media of film to spread an understanding of Islam- there have been. But the limitations that Islam puts on artistic expression have precluded making anything comparable to The Ten Commandments, thus limiting the potential of using mass media to make hejira and hajj (in the context of the primary protagonist the Prophet Muhammad) as well known as the Christian Easter or the Jewish exodus.

In The Satanic Verses, a novel notable for telling a seemingly “blasphemous” “history” of the Prophet Muhammad, Salman Rushdie makes a reference to one such film, which attempted to bring to the screen a dramatization of the early history of Islam as told by Muslims (rather than a critical orientalist perspective). “‘Fiction is fiction; facts are facts. Our purpose is not to make some farrago like that movie The Message in which, whenever Prophet Muhammad (on whose name be peace!) was heard to speak, you saw only the head of his camel, moving its mouth....’” (272)

Islam as a Revolution:

The Message, produced in 1976 by Moustapha Akkad, makes a noble effort to recount early Muslim salvation history- in spite of the awkwardness of the main protagonist being entirely off-camera and off-mike. The film opens with three messengers giving word to the patriarch of Alexandria, the Emperor of Byzantium, and the Emperor of Persia that they are invited to convert to Islam. In the film’s closing credits, it highlights the ramifications of this belief in a global mission, showing mosques from China to Egypt, masses of Muslims at prayer from Indonesia to Sub-Saharan Africa.

While Islam has spread far beyond Arabia, such that the vast majority of Muslims are not even Arabs, the story of the birth of Islam remains deeply connected to its Arabian roots. At present, Islam is the majority religion of the Arab world, with Christians forming a large minority. But as The Message shows, in much of Arabia at the time called Jahiliyah by Muslims- ignorance- pantheons of gods and goddesses from Hubal to Al-Lat were worshipped. There were said to be 360 idols alone in the Ka’ba, the shrine in Mecca (Makkah), which was the primary locus for pilgrimage in Arabia.

The Message details the struggles of the early Muslims to rid Arabia of what it considered idolatry, and to “restore” the Ka’ba as the focal point of worship for the God of Abraham and Ishmael, and all the prophets Muslims share with Christians and Jews (as well as two which are not found in the Bible, but are referenced in the Qur’an). In doing so, it provides a summary of the reforms that Muslims think that the introduction of Islam brought, including an end to female infanticide, ethnocentrism, maltreatment of slaves, forced marriages, cruelty to animals, class stratification, and tribal divisions. For anyone who might wonder what inspiration people might find in Islam, The Message encapsulates its revolutionary ideals, as well as addresses one of the most misunderstood and/or willfully maligned aspects of Islamic thought- Jihad.

Jihad, while often translated as “holy war,” signifies “struggle,” whether it be the struggle against what Muslims might consider the lowlier nature of man, or the struggle against those who oppress. Badr, where Muslims gained a surprising victory, and ‘Uhud, where Muslims were routed, are two of the major battles presented in the film-. Before one of the battles, Bilal, the first muezzin, gives some of the stipulations Muslims have for just warfare- women and children are not to be harmed, trees are not to be destroyed, and fighting should only take place against those who started the aggression. While it is another question entirely whether Muslims have lived up to this ideal of warfare throughout their history (along with the other ideals Islam presents), it would not be accurate to say that Muslim warfare was about indiscriminate slaughter- along the lines of say, the Mongols.

This is not to say that jihad is beyond criticism. Events like the conquest of Khaybar, a Jewish settlement, and the subsequent slaughter of its captured male inhabitants would certainly undercut the idealized version of Islam that The Message promulgates. Other practices, such as the enslavement and/or rape of female prisoners would also walk too far on the tight rope between offending modern Western sensibilities and the Muslim desire to see the time of the Prophet Muhammad’s dominion presented as the apex of all civilization. The sensitivity of making a film, which despite its best intentions and precautions did evoke outrage among some Muslims, prevented a balanced portrayal- although it did accurately portray the typical Muslim view of Islamic history- which is valuable in itself.

The Message is a must-see, not because it is necessarily the most entertaining spectacle- not that it can compete with Star Wars or other typical Hollywood fare. It is because of the educational value of presenting a story which is integral to the lives of over a billion people. So while those expecting flash and fireworks might be disappointed to learn that the dancing girls in The Message wear more clothes than most people take to the South Pole, someone looking forward to understanding one of the largest religions in the world will be amply rewarded.

* Paintings of Muhammad have a halo of fire obscuring his face when he is portrayed. Those who go so far as to show his face are usually not considered Muslims by the larger sects of Islam.

Hejira- the migration of Muslims from Mecca to Medina. The Islamic calendar begins with this event.

Hajj- one of the five pillars of Islam, the pilgrimage incumbent upon every able-bodied Muslim with the means at least once in a lifetime.

Muezzin- a man who calls Muslims to prayer at the scheduled times.