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[REVIEW] The 13th Warrior
jannah
07/05/01 at 23:30:42
---------- Forwarded message ---------- "Touch Stone," a Disney subsidiary, produced a movie about an Muslim who fought with the Vikings against a terror that the latters referred to as "can not be named."  The movie is called "The 13th Warrior."  It starts with a young man, named Ahmed-ibn-Fahlan, being appointed, by the Muslim Caliph, as an ambassador to the "northern people."   Ahmed then gets to meet a group of Vikings who get called to come back to their homeland to fight an enemy that did werck havak their country.  They resorted to an old Viking woman, who is a fortune-teller, and she told them that in order for their mission to succeed they’ve to dispatch 12 warriors and a 13th one who should not be a Viking. Ambassador Ahmed then ends up going to fight with the Vikings (peoples whose language he didn’t even speak). The thrilling adventure then begins and here are few highlights of it: 1.  One of the Vikings makes an uncalled for remark about Ahmed’s mother, assuming that he won’t understand, and Ahmed responds by defending his mother angrily.  The Vikings then get stunned and ask him "how did you learn our language" and he replies, "I listened." 2.  The Vikings make fun of Ahmed’s tiny Arabian horse saying, "only an Arab brings a dog to war."  Ahmed responds by having the horse does some agile things and the amazed Vikings say, "[Waw] the dog can fly." 3.  Ahmed refuses to drink with the Vikings because of their disregards for the alphabet of hygiene. 4.  Ahmed gets to face up with the enemy in bloody sword battles and let the Vikings know that the enemy, whom they could not name, were just human beings who were wearing beast-like masks. The part I liked the most was the Vikings being amazed at how Ahmed "speaks what he draws."  BTW, it is well known that the Vikings didn’t know how to write and read.  Ahmed just keeps praying and writing, "there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet" and the Vikings get exited to see someone "reads what he draws!" BTW, the Vikings were fierce warriors who conquered vast parts of Europe, lived in Iceland & Greenland; and came to what is known, at the present time, as the northern parts of Canada.  However, a thing that is a little discussed is the role the Vikings played in shaping the racial make up of the former Soviet Union. The U. S. PBS well known program Nova has produced an episode entitled "The Vikings" Vikings ships take modern-day explorers to the far reaches of Scandinavia (TVG) (CC) 59153.  The program touch bases on the Vikings’ subjugation of states such as Russia and Ukraine to gain access to the riches of the Muslim world and trade with Baghdad.  It talks about how the Vikings did some awesome stuff to drag their ships through Russia’s dry lands to reach rivers that connected them to Baghdad.  Of course they ultimately mixed with the peoples in the route to Baghdad and became natives of the ex-Soviet Union.  The program talks about the true story of the interaction of the Arab diplomat Ahmed-ibn-Fahlan with the Vikings upon which Disney’s movie is based. Nova program, also, mentions that Russia owes its name to the Vikings and cites funny things such as the Vikings quest for a religion after the got a little bit tamed and civilized.  They didn’t like Jusdism because they though that if God liked the Jews He’d not have scattered them all over the world and opted for not choosing Islam because they just couldn’t do without drinking! I think the movie is a remarkable reminder of 'the middle ages" and how Muslims had the upper hands in them. Indeed, a lot of people don’t know how Islam contributed to the first flowering of the European renaissance and movies like the this one might help Muslims understand the awesome effect the Islamic religion had on the whole world.  For sure the whole world is at cross roads and that Islamic guidance is sorely needed to lead the very confused humanity of nowadays. I bought the film from the "Wall Mart" for $9.96! Candidly yours, ~~Abu Omar {July 5, 2001}

Re: [REVIEW] The 13th Warrior
jannah
07/07/01 at 01:58:58
[slm] I didn't write the review. If you notice at the top it says Forwarded Message and at the bottom it says from the person who wrote it. :) Agreed with some of your comments though however.

Re: [REVIEW] The 13th Warrior
Kathy
07/11/01 at 19:52:58
[quote] Also, when the Muslim prays near the end, he addresses Allah T'allah as father, which I did not appreciate as well. [/quote] slm I understand this comment. I know why you may find this offensive. As a revert I understand this to be a very noble term to describe Allah swt. Perhaps because this film is for the mainstream they use this term. I know for me, growing up, Father is used as the most high, most reverent term for God. Just a FYI between the cultures.

Re: [REVIEW] The 13th Warrior
Kathy
07/12/01 at 08:55:51
wlm I understand. When you are giving first time dawah- do you use "Allah" when talking about G/god? When discussing oposite religions there are a few  "hotspots" that can make a person turn a deaf ear or become uncomfortable. In my experience I have found this example to be one of them. Allah swt has many names- maybe this is one of the many known and unknown reasons.
NS
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