A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| jannah | ||||
| 12/18/02 at 23:41:35 | ||||
| [slm] Here's my mini-review of first impressions.. I have to watch it again b/c there were too many ppl in my house and I went to make popcorn and stuff :) Overall I thought it was very nice..and a very positive portrayal of Islam.. it's no wonder bigots like Danial Pipes almost burst a vein when they watched it. I liked the back and forth from the prophets times to modern day practicing ppl. I thought the people the Muslims they picked were *amazing* mashallah. The scenery and shots were beautiful and appropriate. I didn't like all the oriental art stuff but I guess there's not much else you can do there. I thought Karen Armstrong was really great too. It was surprising to hear all the orientalists talk so positive about Islam but I guess they might have edited that very well :) I'm not sure why they concentrated so much on the Bani Qaynuqa Jew stuff, but I figure it must be a big thing to orientalists. And they kept going on about how the prophet learned about judaism and christianity etc before the message which is not in our history. But the biggest drawback to me was that they just never once talked about the beliefs of Islam..? I mean not even someone mentioning the 5 pillars. I guess that's not what the film is supposed to be about... but it was like in a vacuum -- all this stuff about history and events and nothing about the belief, the sprituality, the message that propelled all of these events. | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| umair | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 00:01:18 | ||||
| On thursday the 19th at 9p.m on frontline there having a show on islamic belief. oh yeah, about the program "Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet" there was a women i think daisy khan giving azan. I've been always told that women can't give azan. | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| panjul | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 00:14:24 | ||||
| [slm] great documentary. daisy khan is a sufi, which might explain her adhan. she's married to a sufi imam. http://asmasociety.org/about-us-khan.html | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| umair | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 00:24:33 | ||||
| [wlm] Thnak's for the info. Guess I should've done my little research. | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| Traveler | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 00:38:48 | ||||
All in all, nicely done. Ahmed and muhammad give two thumbs up. :D [quote]And they kept going on about how the prophet learned about judaism and christianity etc before the message which is not in our history[/quote] They didn't really say learn as in a student but as some one who was familiar with them and their beliefs since the jews and christians were a part of the arabian society. | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| AyeshaZ | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 02:09:53 | ||||
| as salamu alykum, 8br> Muhammad Zakariya is amazing, May Allah(swt) bless him.. I think the documentary gave an awesome overview of the life Prophet [saw], however I kept on forcing myself to watch is as a person who has never heard of Islam before but it never works ??? The American Muslims were awesome, haha i thought the Prof from Depaul was funny :).. It reminded me of "Islam the Empire of Faith" in some ways but May Allah(swt) bless the producers and directors.. | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 02:23:04 | ||||
| AyeshaZ |
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| jannah | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 05:24:38 | ||||
| [wlm] [quote] oh yeah, about the program "Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet" there was a women i think daisy khan giving azan. I've been always told that women can't give azan.[/quote] hmm women can give athan among women? it seemed like she was with only women there.. [quote]They didn't really say learn as in a student but as some one who was familiar with them and their beliefs since the jews and christians were a part of the arabian society. [/quote] that's the point though.. the Arabs were very cut off from the biggest civilizations of their time--the Persians and the Romans. Muhammad was unlettered . His people were polytheists they knew very little about the ancient traditions. This is why they went to Waraqah b/c he was one of the very few who knew about it. The only reason I'm bringing it up is because missionaries use it as an argument to say that Muhammad took all this so called knowledge of christianity and judaism and just rearranged it when he 'wrote the quran'!! Sh Ramadan AlBouty writes a really good analysis with powerful arguments about it in his book Fiqh us Seerah and shows how the Arabs were like 'jewels in the rough' --the absolute perfect people for the prophethood because of those reasons --little knowledge of the scriptures. But nevertheless, Muhammad WAS unlettered for a reason, the Arabs were chosen at that TIME and PLACE for that reason.. so no one could say they made up the ideas themselves.. they were not a literate cosmopolitan philosophical society--there was no way they could have collectively or individually come up with the Quran. . about mohammad zakariyya someone said he was a REVERT!!! ? wow... mashallah | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| Sabr | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 07:42:18 | ||||
| [slm] Mashallah the show was great and inshallah I hope it will serve well for dawa purposes and lift the many mis-conceptions about islam. ( esp the belief that muslims worship Muhammad [saw] ) -u guys/gals would be amazed at how many ppl believe that !!!! I was really impressed with the Porf from DePAul as well :) There were a few points that I thought were lacking however.....as sis jannah said .....the five pillars of islam esp the first - the oneness of allah ( it should have been stressed and not just made mention of ) I was a bit disappointed @ some of the bidah practices that were shown as well ,,,,, (eg kissing the quran after reciting, the beads and women calling the azan). [wlm] | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| Maliha | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 07:55:21 | ||||
| [slm] Mashaallah!!! I loved it!!! It was really good, and the contrast was great. I liked the people they picked.... Did anyone notice the whole hijab issue? I thought it was weird the way that was handled. There was a halaqa (study circle) and none of the girls wore hijab except one!!! I thought that was interesting. And then the little girl that had the discussion with her parents about hijaab. I guess I could see why they showed the scene with the generational struggle, and emphasis that it was her decision which was good, but they still never explained hijaab and the importance of it....Still left the whole issue kinda lingering. I thought the father's apprehensions were sadly portrayed. It is sad, that we are scared to encourage our young ones to follow Allah's commandments because we want to "give them a broader perspective on life". That part just made me really sad. And then the whole emphasis was still like almost its really a choice, and up to the individual.. I really enjoyed the show Mashaallah. The firefighter was *awesome*. He really stressed the importance of serving others and the soup kitchen scene was cool too. Alhamdullillah, overall they did an amazing job, and I really pray that everyone takes a minute to write an encouraging letter to PBS. We really need to get our voices heard. Jannah, I was too a bit disturbed with the whole deal about Prophet Muhammad [saw] learning about Judaism and Christianity before his Prophethood. I know that was a major point of argument my friends would bring up..."Yeah, he was travelled, a merchant, and of course that would expose him to all these other religions...coming up with Islam was pretty easy then" or something along those lines. Anywayz, Alhamdullilah we have still come a long way to this point. I think Karen Armstrong was really *good*, I even began to wonder whether she had become Muslim afterall. May Allah grant us all hidaya, and reward the producers, directors, contributors, etc mad Thawabs, Maghfirah, Mercy, and Strength to do more for our Ummah (Amin). Sis, Maliha :-) [wlm] | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| jannah | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 10:01:45 | ||||
| slm, [quote]some of the bidah practices that were shown as well ,,,,, (eg kissing the quran after reciting, the beads and women calling the azan[/quote] whoaa sis.. most of these things are accepted by mainstream scholars with some conditions maliha true.. i mean it's not a big deal, all one has to do is read the quran to know that there's nothing like it in the world. there's a great article yahya emerick wrote about his conversion. he said he read the old testament and the bible and then he read the quran and there was just no comparison! "mad thawabs" haha i like that.. AMEEN | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| sofia | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 10:46:23 | ||||
| As-salaamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullah, PLEASE go to http://www.pbs.org/aboutsite/emailform.html and send them your thoughts (good and bad, but check on "positive comment"). Like, now, insha'Allah. Last I heard, they've been receiving a lot of negative comments, but Allahu'Alim. Our thoughts here are all well and good, but may be more beneficial if sent to PBS. Did I mention, like, now? :-) JazaakAllahu khair! | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| ijtihad | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 10:57:30 | ||||
| Asalaamalaikum wr wb, The documentary was an excellent effort, alhumdulillah. Some may think it was not critical enough. I think based on it's theme which was the life of the prophet and his teachings and his impact on American Muslims, it was excellent. The seerah of the prophet is too immense to squeeze into a two hour documentary. Keeping this challenge in mind, I believe the producers did a fantastic job. My feelings during and after the show: [i]Satellites fill the air with joy, Particles in ecstasy, between the tube and me Peace upon the seal who vanquished darkness through light Love him, the beloved, to attain his company on the day that can't be denied.....[/i] | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| Sabr | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 11:14:20 | ||||
| [quote author=jannah link=board=kabob;num=1040272895;start=0#9 date=12/19/02 at 10:01:45]slm, whoaa sis.. most of these things are accepted by mainstream scholars with some conditions [/quote] Bidah means to create something without precedence. There are 2 types 1. innovation in matters of the world as in technology , comp etc (this is allowed ) 2 Innovation in matters of religon ( this is unacceptable) To proceed: The best speech is the Book of Allah and the best guidance and example is that of Muhammad, and the worse of all things are the newly invented things (in the religion), for every innovation is a error and a misguidance." (Muslim) "…Every innovation is a going astray and every going astray is in the fire." (Tirmidhi) THerefore there are no acceptable innovations in Islam "This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion" (Al-Maidah 5: 3) Islam is already perfect so doing some deed that is not in quran and sunnah is BIDAH [wlm] | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| Emerald | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 11:14:50 | ||||
| I give it 1 1/2 thumbs up! :D One thing though that crossed my mind was whether this program was about the life of Muhammad (saw) only or about Muslims and their beliefs ??? I think they tried to get in a bit of everything in there but they really should have stayed on one track -- Muhammad (saw) life. They didn't mention how he was one of the most influential men in history and they didn't emphasize enough just how much suffering Quraish put him through....OR what ahadith he gave regarding hygiene, marraige, equality between the sexes, etc. My point - not enough focus on him I think. | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| jannah | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 11:42:32 | ||||
| Sister I dont believe the issue of bidah is that simple, black/white. What i gave is what I know from scholars, if you have a different opinion that's your right. I think we are not qualified to discuss the issue here, so let's let it go. Anyway back to the topic... I joined the pbs board (which is not really straightforward), keep clicking on next to get some threads... and posted the following: I hope they approve it?! hi everyone, I really wonder why some people keep going on about how "positive" this film was as if that's a negative point! Is it so wrong to watch a portrait of a figure from the point of view of people that know him very well? ie Muslims & Orientalists? Let the educated speak about him, learn something and then if you don't agree with the message or the religion then that's your right. No one is trying to convert anyone. The producers were just trying to educate people about who Muhammad was, his life, his role in history and the love and reverence Muslims have for him. No need to get upset over that. What if they had a documentary on the buddha or jesus or anyone else. Would you get upset if some experts in the history of jesus including some Christians and comparative religion professors spoke about jesus in a positive light? Would you rather have people who hate jesus with an agenda to twist things about his life speak about him? If you have issues about Islam that's really your personal viewpoint. But let other people have the chance to learn about Islam from the sources. I think this documentary is a breakthrough for understanding Islam in our times. We see all around us the effects of ignorance and hatred. And there are some that unfortunately have a vested interest in letting people remain ignorant in order to pursue their own agendas. PBS and other independent media outlets know that education is the only way for people to understand each other. It is the only way we can begin to build bridges, live in cultural and religious harmony and attain peace in our world. I hope and pray we can have more of these kinds of programs from ALL the different faiths. With peace, | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| Ruqayyah | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 11:59:44 | ||||
| [quote]And then the little girl that had the discussion with her parents about hijaab. I guess I could see why they showed the scene with the generational struggle, and emphasis that it was her decision which was good, but they still never explained hijaab and the importance of it....Still left the whole issue kinda lingering. I thought the father's apprehensions were sadly portrayed. It is sad, that we are scared to encourage our young ones to follow Allah's commandments because we want to "give them a broader perspective on life". That part just made me really sad. And then the whole emphasis was still like almost its really a choice, and up to the individual.. [/quote] I thought that was so cool that they showed that whole dialogue b/n the young girl and her parents. I felt like *so* many muslim girls have had that exact conversation w/ their parents. I know i did w/ mine. It also showed that it was her choice to follow her religion or not, no one was forcing her to do it. I mean in the end, everything is a choice right? whether or not we pray or fast or wear hijab, it's up to us to make that decision for ourselves. My two roomies who are not muslim watched the show w/ me, and they loved seeing that part. When the mother was saying to the dad, let your daughter have a chance to speak, my one roomie was like, that's exactly how it is at our house too! I think it really showed how muslim families interact in just the same ways as everyone else. [wlm] | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| humble_muslim | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 12:14:58 | ||||
| [slm] Just want to share my thoughts. I guess my initial reaction, after wtaching the program, was WOW! I mean the way they described the Prophet (SAW) was breathtaking! With all the nonsense being spread around these days by Falwell et al, this program was first and foremost a slap in the face of all of those people who have been slandering our Prophet (SAW). I thought it was a great dawah tool for both muslims and non-muslims, and it showed how TV can be effectively used to put a message across. I especially liked the way it continually emphasised the august personality of the Prophet (SAW), especially his great humility. It defintely left me with a greater love for the Prophet (SAW). The interviewees were great, especially the fireman when he was explaining his feelings about 9/11 : I felt exactly the same way. And I'm glad they had Hamza Yusuf for a scholarly angle. BTW is Karen Armstrong a muslim ? She sure talks like one! May Allah guide her, and all of us. I take my hat off to Alex and Michael for bringing this off. May Allah reward them, and continue to guide them, and all of us, on the straight path. One or two minor glitches : - The background music. Without looking at the Shariah legality, we know that the Prophet (SAW) personally disapproved of and did not like listening to music. Out of respect too him, I felt it should have been dropped. - The VERY FALSE hadith about the "minor jihad/major jihad". This is not a hadith at all, but I believe a saying of Hasan Al Basri (And Allah knows best). But overall, mashaallah, vey impressive. | ||||
| NS | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| panjul | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 12:25:01 | ||||
| hmm women can give athan among women? it seemed like she was with only women there.. Women can't give adhan even among women, they can only lead women in prayer. I liked it that they included sufis and shias in the documentary too. (people i know have a problem with that). I don't at all. I liked the fact that they showed women who were not covering their head, cuz wether they do so or not, all muslims still love the Prophet (S) and the documentary was about him. not about hijab. (or sunnis, or sufis,etc.) i liked the father/daughter dialouge, it reflected reality, and at the end everything turned out ok. hey, when theat imam kissed the Quran, i thought that was cute. it sure can't be a bad 'bida'? | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 12:26:32 | ||||
| panjul |
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| Red | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 14:14:22 | ||||
| [slm], ijtihad and Sis. Sofia I just wanted to let you know while i was watching the program I wrote to PBS :) ! I wrote to them lettting them know that i was writing to them while i watching the program and was very impressed and also wrote basically what jannah said here: [quote author=jannah link=board=kabob;num=1040272895;start=0#14 date=12/19/02 at 11:42:32] I hope and pray we can have more of these kinds of programs from ALL the different faiths. [/quote] I enjoyed the program most of all b/c it showed a real diversity of muslims which suprisingly many non muslims don't know about. I did not watch all of the program, but some how i missed the part where prophet muhammad was said to learn about judiasim and christiantiy before his prophethood (maybe i left to get some [] ). But anyways, I wonder if they were to try to emphasis that Prophet Muhammad [saw] knew about the religions of christianity and judiasim? Surely, Prophet Muhammad [saw] knew about Chris. and Judia. b/c there were tribes around in Makkah? But i also wonder if they were trying to say that before his prophethood he would go to the Cave of Hira and contemplate about the universe around him (from Ar-Raheeq Al Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar))?But I realize those are two different things. Also Prophet Muhammad [saw] and Khadija( Radia Allahu Anha) both went to visit her cousin Waraqa bin Nawfal who had embraced Chrisitianity? I wonder if they got all that confused? Anyway's I am going to have to go back and watch it over again to see what they exactly said. I think inshallah i will go to the PBS discussion board, but I am always sometimes scared to go to message boards like Yahoo or something b/c people use such profanity and have no respect for anything. red :) | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| Red | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 14:23:37 | ||||
| [slm] again, Never mind what i said before, I understand now what you are trying to say Sis. jannah about Prophet Muhammad [saw] and his studying about Christianity and Judiasim (i didn't read the first few post carefully). I never realized missionaries used that to say he made the quran. Which brings up the point, did the program say Prophet Muhammad [saw] did not know how to read? I think that is important. red | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| AyeshaZ | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 14:24:38 | ||||
| [quote author=jannah link=board=kabob;num=1040272895;start=0#6 date=12/19/02 at 05:24:38][wlm] . about mohammad zakariyya someone said he was a REVERT!!! ? wow... mashallah[/quote] Yeah he is a revert :) , He is the brother behind the Eid Stamp and ofcourse Aminah Assilmi... Subhan'Allah his work is amazing!!! http://www.mideasti.org/library/islam/zakaria.htm | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| deenb4dunya | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 15:52:32 | ||||
| Salam, Is there anyway to watch the documentary on the net? Deen :-) | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| muslimah853 | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 18:34:45 | ||||
| [slm] Deen, I'm not sure if there's anywhere on the net you can see the film, but it is available for sale in VHS and DVD format. Islamicbookstore.com has it already and I'm sure other Islamic booksellers will have it soon as well...that is, if you don't know any friends or relatives who taped it from last night's broadcast. And just to chime in, I think overall, the program was very well done, al hamdulillah. May Allah bless the producers. I think they have done a good service. | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| AbdulBasir | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 20:51:19 | ||||
| [slm] I don’t want to be redundant here, and don’t have the time to do an in depth review of the whole program, which would be too long! But permit me to share a few thoughts… Like most of you I have been anxiously awaiting this documentary for over two years since first hearing of the project. After watching the preview at ISNA this year I was a bit concerned because it looked like their inclusion of modern day Muslims in the documentary would water down the biography of Rasulallah[saw]. You can only tell so much in two hours, especially about a man [saw] who we know more about in every single detail than any man who has ever lived. But the producers understood that in the post 9/11 context, they needed to make a connection between this biography and American Muslims, and this is both a strength of this documentary and a weakness. Its strength derives from its very nicely done transitions between the events of the Prophet’s life and the modern day Muslims, such as juxtaposing the immigration of Muslims to America and their fears and concerns with the Hijrah and events and issues surrounding it. Some of this is done truly masterfully, such as when the Prophet [saw] enters Madinah with the greeting of Talaal Badru Alayna and we are then taken to an image of present-day children in Jordan singing the same song and then to children in America also singing that same song. Most of the vignettes of the modern day Muslims do work in showing how these Muslims are translating the example of the Prophet[saw] into how they live their own lives, which really is the aim of the documentary, for this is the legacy of the Prophet [saw]. Its weakness is that it cannot touch on the Prophet [saw] in enough details. Events are touched on, and some very well, but many times it seemed as if they came so close to really getting to the heart of the event but couldn’t get to that level due to time constraints. For example, the portrayal of the Treaty of Hudaybiyah is done well, but in watching it one had this feeling that it could have been even better. Others, like the segment on Banu Qurayza (which failed to really get a grasp of Sa’d ibn Muadh, his standing with Banu Qurayza and the derivation of the judgement from Mosaic Law itself as outlined in Deuteronomy) seemed as if that segment needed only one more insightful comment from Karen Armstrong or Hamza Yusuf to get it right. Many times I sat their watching each segment and thinking “They came so close, it was good, but it was just touch from being great.” This is not meant to be a comment of criticism, but rather one of frustration because there is so much that needs to be said because it is the greatest of stories, about the greatest of men. The major difficulty we as Muslims have today is that there is so much that the general public needs to learn about Islam. They need to learn about the core beliefs, they need to learn about who Muhammad [saw] is, they need to learn about what Islamic law and the spirit of the law really say about certain issues which are viewed today as problematic, and soon. Sometimes the documentary sort of loses its focus on the Prophet and feels a need to address certain issues about Islam (incompletely) or the issues facing these modern Muslims (i.e the segment focusing specifically on 9/11 which I think was the weakest part of the film) which is understandable but detracts from the biographical aspect of the film. There are so many things that we need to talk about, and no documentary is going to do that. But it can be a stepping stone towards these goals. And this is why this weakness of the documentary can inshallah become a strength, for it may serve as a building block for daw’ah efforts and more in detail documentaries and other efforts on the Prophet’s life, or the pillars of Islam, or the pillars of Imaan and so forth. There are several things in the documentary regarding the modern day Muslims that were a bit bristling, especially as I sat at home on my salafist director’s chair playing Monday morning quarterback, but these are minor in the whole scheme of things. The important thing about this documentary is what is said regarding Muhammad [saw], not what was seen in the vignettes of the modern day Muslims. In fact, one of the strengths of the documentary was that it was inclusionary of many different shades of Muslims. And this is important because when we reflect that by statistics only 1-5% of American Muslims are actually in the masaajid and active in their community, this is not the time to focus on the minor issues but a time to focus on the major issues, namely the basics and pillars of this deen. These are the major issues which are a common thread not only amongst the people featured in the documentary but amongst most of the Muslims in this country (and worldwide) who may not fall in that 5% of active practicing Muslims. And this is what one of our goals needs to be, to start off inclusionary to bring people into the fold under the banner of the pillars of Imaan. We can focus on the other issues once the basics are taken care of. I was squeamish a few times watching the documentary seeing a few minor things that really bugged me, but we can’t miss the forest for the trees. That being said, the initial criticism and analysis of this documentary should focus on how it deals with the major issues, how it deals with the basics of the faith and the life of the Prophet [saw]. This has already been touched on by many of you, and for the most part they did get it right, though as stated before, it could have been great, not just simply good. The most problematic biographical point in the documentary for me, like many of you, were the implications that could be derived from the segment which somewhat exaggerates the Prophet’s exposure to Judaism and Christianity prior to and surrounding the first revelation. Other than that however, I can’t recall many other segments which I found disagreeable or innacurate. But the initial frustration remains; it was good but they just missed making it great. But what can one expect? After all, they could have a two hour television program series each night and have it on every night for 23 years and still not be able to touch on everything in the Seerah! All in all though (I realize I’ve already rambled on too much so I’ll stop now :) )this documentary has to be rated as one of the best things shown on television regarding Islam. It’s absolutely great relatively speaking if we compare it to everything else we’ve seen. I won’t say it’s the best ever, for being the sentimentalist that I am, Michael Wolfe’s Hajj Nightline episode still holds the top spot. :) I hope all of us write PBS and show our support for this documentary. And may we all remember to make lots and lots of du’a for Br. Michael Wolfe, Alex Kronemer and all the brothers and sisters who have played a role in making this contribution to daw’ah which will inshallah be a crucial and important building block to bigger and better things. A few very very random thoughts before I sign off :) -Kevin James (the firefighter) was perhaps the best person they could have chosen and was absolutely great. I thought that despite all the scholars talking Jameel Johnson (the chief of staff) made the best comment about the Treaty of Hudaybiyah as well as on some other things. Both of them were real embodiments of how they were translating the Prophet’s message and life into their own lives, externalizing faith into action. -Not sure what to make of the psychadelic approach to showing the first revelation, with words in Arabic sort of flying around the screen and all. Interesting is all I can say. I wished they would have al least played a good recitation of the beginning of al-Alaq; never really get to hear the beauty of the Qur’an in Arabic in this or any other previous documentary. -Anyone notice Shaykh Anwar al-Awlaki doing the khutbah on Capitol Hill? He’s had a bunch of uncredited appearances in these documentaries lately; he was in the recent Islam in America documentary aired on MSNBC giving the Hajjis a briefing and pep talk. :) -Lastly, the best comment I think of the whole program was the last comment of the film by the nurse Najah Bazzy: “Our reverence is to God. And our reference is to him. [the Prophet [saw] ] That about sums it all up doesn’t it? Subhanallah. [slm] :) | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 21:40:11 | ||||
| AbdulBasir |
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| jannah | ||||
| 12/19/02 at 21:46:03 | ||||
| also just to clear up [quote]Women can't give adhan even among women, they can only lead women in prayer.[/quote] i asked one of the imams here and he says it's allowed among women for shafii's but not by ahnaaf of course who don't believe in jama of women. | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| Mohja | ||||
| 12/23/02 at 14:22:00 | ||||
| [quote] never really get to hear the beauty of the Qur’an in Arabic in this or any other previous documentary. [/quote] there was an *awesome* recitation of suratul Qadr in "Islam: Empire of Faith"..i'm still trying to figure out who was the reciter. anybody know??? coming back to this documetary, there was an eye opener for me when i listened to the catholic guy in the muslim soup kitchen. what he said about not even knowing if caring for the needy was part of our faith really underlines how much work needs to be done to let people *see* islam in action! | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| AyeshaZ | ||||
| 12/23/02 at 14:51:23 | ||||
| [quote author=Mohja link=board=kabob;num=1040272895;start=15#25 date=12/23/02 at 14:22:00] there was an *awesome* recitation of suratul Qadr in "Islam: Empire of Faith"..i'm still trying to figure out who was the reciter. anybody know??? [/quote] Its the one where the sister recited the surah, subhan'Allah it was amazing, if you find out!! lemme know ;D | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet | ||||
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| Mohja | ||||
| 12/23/02 at 16:06:12 | ||||
| it was a sister? :o no wonder! 8) j/k :) but seriously i thought it was a bro, granted he had a small voice but it was breathtakingly beautiful mash'Allah! | ||||
| Kashif | ||||
| 12/27/02 at 06:46:01 | ||||
| assalaamu alaikum I haven't watched the show, but this was a review forwarded on to me. ------------------------------------------------- Before asking the PBS to air the documentary again, please read these points. I know that many of us were happy with the documentary, and I am not trying here to undermine or deny that it can have a good effect on those who watched it. There were many good points. However, there were major and serious problems with the documentary, even with the whole approach of it. If we understand what these problems were then we can, in sha’ Allah, maximize the benefits of the documentary. I believe, and Allah knows the best, that the Muslims who participated in the documentary had strong desire to portray Islam in the best way. The non-Muslim participants appeared to be doing the same thing, but there were wrong ideas given by them. Whether this was intentional or not doesn’t matter to us…all what matters is that we need to be aware of the mistakes. I will be focusing on the most important points, which relate to the Prophethood of Rasoolullah Muhammad salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam. The reality of this Prophethood was put in question by some of the non-Muslim participants in a very subtle way. The approach, especially by Armstrong, was to put a sugar coat of praising Rasoolullah around denying his Prophethood: 1) The documentary starts with a background that Rasoolullah “encountered Christians and Jews [before his Prophethood], and learned from them what their faith, what their religions, what there cultures are”…then comes Karen Armstrong in the program to say: “ Muhammad would become aware that for the Jews and the Christians, the holly scripture was very important. Both got scriptures in which God have sent a sacred message to Prophets, and this was a way in which people could relate to the Devine”. Armstrong wants from that to say that Rasoolullah salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam got ideas from the Jews and Christians that helped him making up the Qur’an (A’utho billah!). I know that you may think I am putting words which she didn’t say in her mouth, but this is exactly what she said several times in her Book ‘Muhammad’: “I am not claiming that Islam is entirely faultless. All religions are human institutions and frequently make serious mistakes” (‘Muhammad’ by Karen Armstrong-page13). And this is what she says in her book (Islam: a Short History, pages9-10): “The Quran mentions only those Prophets who were known to Arabs, but today Muslim scholars argue that had Muhammad known about the Buddhists or Hindus, the Australian Aborigines or the Native Americans, the Quran would have endorsed their sages too”…As if Rasoolullah is the one who made up the Quran and he failed to mention other Prophets in the Quran because he didn’t know of them. We need to know that Rasoolullah salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam didn’t know about Prophets and their messages before Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala sent Revelation to him. Allah said: (( ăÇ ßäĘ ĘĎŃí ăÇ ÇáßĘÇČ ćáÇ ÇáĹíăÇä ćáßä ĚÚáäÇĺ äćŃÇ äĺĎí Čĺ ăä äÔÇÁ)) (And thus did We reveal to you an inspired book by Our command. You did not know what the Book was, nor (what) the faith (was), but We made it a light, guiding thereby whom We please of Our servants) [Ash-Shura 42:52]. In fact this was one of the greatest miracles of Rasoolullah salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam; that he told about other Prophets and religions although he knew nothing about that before his Prophethood. 2) The documentary focuses on the social injustice and wars among Arabs that preceded the Prophethood of Rasoolullah salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam. The background given in the beginning gives the impression that Muhammad [salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam] claimed to be a Prophet to unite Arabs…that it wasn’t first and foremost a message of Tawheed (Oneness of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala) for all of the inhabitants of earth, but a religion made by Muhammad to unite Arabs. The documentary goes: “but as Muhammad approached his own fortieth birthday, he was becoming increasingly restless and troubled by the problems of the Meccan society .” Then comes Karen Armstrong to elaborate on the social decline in the Meccan society, with no mention at this point of polytheism and the lack of a well-formed religion, which really troubled Rasoolullah the most. Armstrong keeps focusing on this aspect throughout the documentary and in her books. In the documentary she later says “ and as soon as Waraqah [Khadija’s cousin] heard about this, he immediately said, ‘Muhammad is the Prophet, who will bring the Revelation of the One God to the Arabs’…” To the Arabs only!! In fact the story of Waraqah is in Bukhari and doesn’t include the mentioning of Arabs at all, but Armstrong had to add it to serve her purpose. Armstrong hides that the whole Message of Rasoolullah was about Tawheed first and foremost. She wrote in (Islam: a Short History-page 6): “Social justice was, therefore, the crucial virtue of Islam”.… Social justice! Not the Oneness of Allah! Then she tries to show that for Muslims, the unity of the Ummah is the most sacred value, compared God for the Christians: “Consequently, they [Muslims] would be affected as profoundly by any misfortuneor humiliation suffered by the Ummah as Christians by the spectacle of somebody blasphemously trampling on the Bible or ripping the Eucharistic host apart.” (Islam: a Short History-page 6)…to show that, while the most sacred for the Christians is God and His Book, the most sacred for the Muslims is unity of their ummah…just to serve the idea that Rasoolullah made up this religion to unite the ummah, not for any other reason. For us Muslims, when we hear them in the documentary talking about how Rasoolullah salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam united Arabs, we simply take it as admiration of his achievements…the fact that he was Rasoolullah and that his main virtue is the message of Tawheed is for granted in our souls…it doesn’t matter to us if they don’t mention it…but for a non-Muslim watching the film, he has in his soul that the main job of a true Prophet is to convey the reality about God…if this is not mentioned as the main achievement of a Prophet…this will not fulfill the expectation of non-Muslim about a true Prophet…even worse when you give the impression that the main achievement was a worldly thing (uniting Arabs) confined to a limited geographical area (Arabia). Before going on, you may wonder why I am focusing on Karen Armstrong, and why should I mention her books and not only what she said in the documentary…Well! >From a fast look at the discussion board put by PBS to discuss the documentary I found the following: A contribution from a Muslim sister (as appears from the name): “Thank you dear karen Armstrong for this program, may God bless you and your heart. Good work” A contribution form a Muslim brother: “Karen Armstrong is impressive; she is very knowledgeable, accurate and unbiased. Please, invite her again and again and ask her to give more details about Islam. PBS, how can I help you producing such documentaries? I would like to contribute.” O ye! Invite her again and again to put more sugar-coated poisons, and to give more details about Islam which she denies and refuses to embrace after studying it for years…Alas! How naďve we Muslims are! Moreover, some Muslim institutes sell her book ‘Muhammad’ paying no attention to the poisons in the book which can deceive not only non-Muslims, but also Muslims who have limited knowledge about their religion. To strengthen the idea that Muhammad [salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam] made up this religion for Arabs only, she says: “Now at least God had sent the Quraysh a prophet and a scripture. The Quran points out that Muhammad had not come to cancel older religions, to contradict their Prophets or to start a new faith…..Hence Muhammad never asked Jews or Christians to accept Islam, unless they particularly wished to do so, because they had received perfectly valid revelations of their own.” (Islam: a Short History-page 9-10)….Notice how she mingles and mixes false statement with right ones to make the whole thing easy to swallow! Yes, Islam didn’t contradict their Prophets but it did cancel and supercede older religions, and Rasoolullah did call Jews and Christians to accept Islam and told them that they will be ruined in Hellfire if they don’t do so …but again, she wants to implant the idea that Rasoolullah made up this religion for Arabs of Arabia and didn’t mind about others…so it is not a religion from the God of all to he whole humanity! And yes, Jews and Christians received perfect Revelations but Rasoolullah salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam explained that these Revelations were changed and adulterated and that the salvation is in the Qur’an only…Naďve people would think that she is just praising Rasoolullah and admiring how tolerant he was!! 3) In the documentary, Armstrong portrays a picture which indicates that the Qur’an was an inspiration from the inner soul of Muhammad [salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam]: Strangely enough, they chose this person (Armstrong) who doesn’t even believe in God (see below) to talk about how Rasoolullah received the first Revelation!!!...in a film which was supposedly produced and funded in part by Muslim! She said: “The voice again said: ‘recite’…..and then squeezed, as he [Rasoolullah] said almost beyond his endurance. Muhammad felt the first inspired words of a new scripture in Arabic pouring from his lips…everywhere he looked there was Gabriel, and not just a single angelic image, but a presence, a being, a power”…To indicate that it was a psychological experience that Muhammad [salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam] had, not a real Revelation, she describes Gabriel as a ‘voice’, and when she comes to the physical elements like squeezing, she uses expressions like ‘as he said’ to indicate that it was something he imagined or claimed, and finally says ‘not a single angelic image, but a presence, a power, a being’ which fit most with someone having a hallucination and wide imagination! A’uothobillah! To give the picture of a person having inner psychological personal experience without any contribution from outer beings, she says “Muhammad felt the first inspired words of a new scripture in Arabic pouring from his lips”, although the story is in Bukhari, and says that it was Gabriel who recited the words…but this would not serve her purpose of letting the listener feel that it was a psychological experience which Muhammad [salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam] developed into his inner soul. Again, this is exactly what she says in her books: “In purely secular terms, we could say that Muhammad had perceived the great problems confronting his people at a deeper level than most of his contemporaries, and that as he “listened” to events, he had to delve deeply and painfully into his inner being to find a solution that was not only politically viable but spiritually illuminating. He was creating a new literary form and a masterpiece of Arab prose and poetry.” (Islam: a Short History-page 5)…and of course by the last sentence she means that he made up the Qur’an! These tricks can be overlooked by us Muslims because we already believe in the Prophethood of Rasoolullah salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam…but think about the non-Muslims or the shaky Muslims...how can this affect them? So, for Karen Armstrong, Rasoolullah either lied or was possessed when he said that he was the Messenger of Allah…and again, this is a woman who doesn’t even believe in God. She believes that it is a man-made myth. In the first paragraph of her book (A History of God, page 12), she wrote: “In the beginning, human beings created a God who was the First Cause of all things and Ruler of heaven and earth… That, at least, is one theory…” Again and again, the focus of the film was that Rasoolullah came with this message for Arabs, to achieve social justice in Arabia. It goes: “The Divine Message that Muhammad brought to his fellow Meccans carried with it a sharp warning for their increasingly materialistic society”…then comes Armstrong to say: “He was coming to warn the people of Mecca and the surrounding countryside and the tribe of Quraysh that unless they pull themselves together and started creating a more just and decent society, restoring the old tribal values of looking after the poor, the orphan, the widow, the oppressed, then there was going to be a terrible catastrophe”…Yes, part of the message of Islam was to achieve social justice, but this wasn’t the core of its message…and Islam restored the concept of Oneness of God and that Allah alone can put rules to human beings…Islam didn’t come to restore old tribal values as Armstrong claims! For a non-Muslim watching the documentary, why should he care about the ‘old tribal values’ of Arabia!? 4) Appearing as if she was just admiring the eloquence of the Qur’an, Armstrong said in the documentary: “When the first Muslims heard the Qur’an, many of them were converted to the Prophet’s Message, not necessarily because of its content, but because of its beauty”…same as what she said in (Islam” a Short History-page 5): “Many of the first believers were converted by the sheer beauty of the Quran”…This is not far from what the Kuffar of Quraysh said about Rasoolullah salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam, that he was a magician, and that the people who followed him were simply bewitched by the Qur’an! The Companions of Rasoolullah, who were tortured and exiled…was all of that because of the sheer beauty…!? Did they sacrifice their lives for Islam without being convinced to their cores by the content of the Qur’an!? 5) Armstrong mentions in the documentary that “Abu Talib was in a difficult position. He was not a Muslim, but it went against the grain of him to simply hand over his beloved nephew to these people who would kill him…”…Here she makes no mention of the fact that Abu Talib expressed his belief in the message of Rasoolullah salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam more than once but refused to embrace Islam fearing the shame that he would be going off the way of his forefathers. She states that the reason was simply that “it went against the grain of him to simply hand over his beloved nephew”. It doesn’t serve her purposes to mention that many Kuffar, including Abu Talib, were convinced in their hearts that Muhammad salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam was Rasoolullah but refused to follow him, and yet expressed their conviction…this would strengthen the reality that he was indeed Rasoolullah…and Armstrong doesn’t want to give any indication of the reality of the Prophethood of Muhammad salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam. In her book ‘Muhammad-page 72’: “Muhammad, on the other hand, did not work miracles: he always claimed that the revelation of the Quran was a miracle in itself and a sufficient sign of its divine origin. He insisted that he was simply ‘ a man like other men’.” As we know, Rasoolullah had tens, if not hundreds, of miracles other than the Qur’an…these miracles are mentioned in authentic Ahadeeth…like telling about opening of Constantine while digging the trench, increasing the food that is sufficient for a couple of people to become sufficient for a thousand, crying of the trunk of tree when he stopped making khutbah on it, telling about what was happening in the battle of Mu’tah while it was taking place thousands of miles away from him, and many many more. However, Armstrong says that Muhammad [salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam] claimed the Qur’an as his only miracle and that he claimed it is Divine…then Armstrong refutes that the Qur’an is Divine, to leave the reader with the conclusion that Muhammad [salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam] was a liar, A’uthobillah! She says in her book ‘Muhammad-page 52’ which is sold by Muslim institutes!!!!!: “If we could view Muhammad as we do any other important historical figure we would surely consider him to be one of the greatest geniuses the world has known. To create a literary masterpiece, to found a major religion and a new world power are not ordinary achievements”…and, of course, the masterpiece she’s talking about is the Qur’an….See how she sugar coats this clear statement which claims that Rasoolullah made the Qur’an up with the sugar coat of describing him as a great man. Therefore, when we hear Armstrong saying in the documentary that Muhammad [salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam] warned his followers not to do with him like what the Christians did with Jesus [aleihis-salam] and take him as a god, and that he stressed that he wasn’t a god, he was an ordinary man, we need to know what she meant by ‘an ordinary man’. 6) Even when they talked about emigration of Rasoolullah salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam to Madinah, the statements of the non-Muslims reassure the misconception that the whole message of Muhammad [salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam] was to unite Arabs and stop war…no mentioning of the universal message of monotheism against polytheism…in the documentary, the background about Yathrib (Madinah) is given by Armstrong: “the settlement was engulfed in tribal warfare of the worst kind…it was an example of where the whole system in Arabia was beginning to break down…one killing let to another, and nobody seemed to find a solution” Then the narrator of the documentary goes: “nobody, until the clans of Yathrib heard about the trustworthy Muhammad, hoping he could unify its warring factions…” We know that the major problem of Madinah was polytheism, and that the tribal heads of Madinah went to Rasoolullah after they believed in him as Rasoolullah…they sacrificed everything and knew that all the Arabs were going to fight them if they host Rasoolullah in Madinah…as As’ad Bin Zorarah said when they came to make the pledge with Rasoolullah in makkah (in authentic narrations in Musnad Ahmad): “Wait O people of Yathrib…we did not hit the livers of camels to him (we didn’t come to him) except knowing that he is indeed Rasoolullah…and if you take ask him to move (from Mekkah to Madinah) then this will cause all the Arabs to become your enemies, the best of you will be killed, and you will be swords…so if you will be patient with this then take him and your reward is with Allah”…this was their hope; reward from Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala…and this was the only thing that Rasoolullah promised them in this pledge; the Jannah. Yet, the documentary twists this fact very strangely when the narrator says: “nobody, until the clans of Yathrib heard about the trustworthy Muhammad, hoping he could unify its warring factions…”…the trustworthy…not the Prophet!!!, unify the warring faction…not because they believed in the monotheism that he was calling for!!! And then comes the professor of Judaism and Islam in Hebrew Union College to say: “the deal is he would serve as their binding arbitrator, that is both sides of the conflict have agreed already that they would accept the arbitration of Muhammad whatever it would be.”…Binding arbitrator!!! Not Rasoolullah!! In fact, the people of Madinah knew that the advent of Rasoolullah will cause wars with the rest of Arabs (as mentioned above) and will even split the people of Madinah…As Abul-Haitham Ibn At-Taihan said: “O Rasoolullah, there are ties between us and the men (meaning the Jews of Madinah), and we are going to cut these ties (for the sake of Rasoolullah)…so if do so and Allah makes you victorious then will you go back to your people and leave us?”…he was worried that Rasoolullah will leave them. So, the deal was that they will support Rasoolullah whatever it would cost them…and the only reward for that is Jannah…yes, unifying of some tribes came as a consequence of the emigration of Rasoolullah, but it wa by no mean the reason why they cam to him and asked him to move to Madinah. This twisting of facts comes after mentioning in the documentary that Rasoolullah stayed in Makkah for 13 years and “the results were not impressive”...so they have to give a worldly reason as to why a whole city accepts Islam…nothing about the truth of the message but just to serve as a binding arbitrator!!! And what’s the reason, according to the documentary, that made the Ansar (people of Madinah) accept the arbitration of Muhammad [salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam] whatever it would be? To stop the conflict!!! Not because they believed that he is Rasoolullah and whatever arbitration he gives is according to the will of Allah!!! What a dishonest twisting of facts!!! To nail down this misconception, the documentary goes: “In Yathrib, Muhammad’s followers anxiously awaited the Prophet’s arrival. Had the man they hoped would save them been able to save himself?”…Yes, they hoped he would save them, but save them from Hellfire first and most, not from tribal conflict. We need to know that some of the disbelievers, like Armstrong, do not have a problem with calling Muhammad [salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam] a Prophet, although they deny his relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Like in her book ‘Muhammad: a biography of a Prophet’, where Armstrong denies that Rasoolullah was receiving Revelation from Allah…where she uses Prophet to refer to a hero who achieves something for his society. She say in this book (page 72): “Both [Jesus and Muhammad] penetrated to new realms of experience, confronted situations of great peril and brought to their people a gift which transformed their lives, a Prometheus had stolen fire from the gods and brought it down to earth to illuminate the lives of men”!!!!!!. 7) Throughout the documentary, there was alternation of persons, a Muslims then a Armstrong...Muslim…Armstrong in the same story line. Muslim would start the story then Armstrong would come to complete an element of the story…This alternation, seemingly, gave credibility to whatever Armstrong said. Although, I am sure, the Muslims who participated would not agree with all of what Armstrong said, this cut and paste approach made it as if whatever the she said was agreed upon even by Muslims. 8) Saying that Rasoolullah married his wives for ‘political reasons’!! as in the documentary just serves this whole misconception that he made up this religion to unify Arabs. Disbelievers already started making fun of that!! It is sad that we Muslims try to give convince the disbelievers in this way which just to add to their disbelief. The way to approach is to prove that he was indeed Rasoolullah. If you prove that then any serious truth-seeker will not have any problem with knowing that he married that many wives…because he would know that Rasoolullah salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam did so with the permission of the Creator of the universe. In conclusion, the documentary included many good points. However, the approach, especially of Armstrong, was to praise Rasoolullah so much as a man, a hero, defend his history, but at the same time, misconceptions were added to obscure that he wad a Prophet of Allah, whose main message was Tawheed….for disbelievers, if the one who watches the film ‘swallows’ this whole package and goes to read the books of Armstrong, then it is more than enough as a disservice to Islam...If you convince people that Muhammad [salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam] was a hero, an eloquent person, a successful leader…but after all he was a man who ‘claimed’ Prophethood’ to unify Arabs…then why should any non-Muslim westerner be interested in him? Do we trust a person who studied Islam for time (like Armstrong) and yet Insisted on disbelief to come and talk about our beloved Prophet? After all she is a one who denies the Prophethood of Rasoolullah, no matter what nice things she says about him. Did our belief and trust in our religion reach to a level that we get excited the most when a disbeliever comes and says that our religion is nice? Did we become so frustrated from the attack against Islam that we get happy with any program that praises Islam even if this program is highly contaminated? At least let’s now make use of the fact that some people got interested in Islam after this documentary and give them authentic material, not the books of Armstrong! | ||||
| NS | ||||
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet |
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| Kathy |
| 12/27/02 at 11:59:20 |
| [wlm] thanks for the post. I thought I was the only one to think these things, hence i did not contribute to this topic. I agree on the following... [quote author=Kashif link=board=kabob;num=1040272895;start=15#28 date=12/27/02 at 06:46:01] need to be aware of the mistakes. Armstrong wants from that to say that Rasoolullah salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam got ideas from the Jews and Christians.... I am not claiming that Islam is entirely faultless. The background given in the beginning gives the impression that Muhammad [salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam] claimed to be a Prophet to unite Arabs that it wasn't first and foremost a message of Tawheed (Oneness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala) for all of the inhabitants of earth, but a religion made by Muhammad to unite Arabs. ...no mention at this point of polytheism and the lack of a well-formed religion, which really troubled Rasoolullah the most. Armstrong ...and as soon as Waraqah [Khadija's cousin] heard about this, he immediately said, "Muhammad is the Prophet, who will bring the Revelation of the One God to the Arabs"  To the Arabs only!! Then she tries to show that for Muslims, the unity of the Ummah is the most sacred value, compared God for the Christians: ...everywhere he looked there was Gabriel, and not just a single angelic image, but a presence, ....and finally says 'not a single angelic image, but a presence, a power, a being' which fit most with someone having a hallucination and wide imagination! A’uothobillah! These tricks can be overlooked by us Muslims because we already believe in the Prophethood of Rasoolullah salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam…but think about the non-Muslims or the shaky Muslims...how can this affect them? “He was coming to warn the people of Mecca and the surrounding countryside and the tribe of Quraysh that unless they pull themselves together and started creating a more just and decent society, restoring the old tribal values.... For a non-Muslim watching the documentary, why should he care about the 'old tribal values' of Arabia!?  ...Abu Talib was in a difficult position. He was not a Muslim, but it went against the grain of him to simply hand over his beloved nephew to these people who would kill him... she makes no mention of the fact that Abu Talib expressed his belief in the message of Rasoolullah salla Allahu aleihi wa sallam So, the deal was that they will support Rasoolullah whatever it would cost them…and the only reward for that is Jannah…yes, unifying of some tribes came as a consequence of the emigration of Rasoolullah, but it wa by no mean the reason why they cam to him and asked him to move to Madinah. This twisting of facts comes after mentioning in the documentary that Rasoolullah stayed in Makkah for 13 years and “the results were not impressive”...so they have to give a worldly reason as to why a whole city accepts Islam…nothing about the truth of the message but just to serve as a binding arbitrator!!! Throughout the documentary, there was alternation of persons, a Muslims then a Armstrong...Muslim…Armstrong in the same story line. Muslim would start the story then Armstrong would come to complete an element of the story…This alternation, seemingly, gave credibility to whatever Armstrong said. Do we trust a person who studied Islam for time (like Armstrong) and yet Insisted on disbelief to come and talk about our beloved Prophet? [/quote] I had sent an e-mail to alot of my non Muslim friends to watch this show. Too many of them said they had fallen asleep or were bored. This program cemented a theroy of mine about dawah work. As Muslims we have to know our audience. Generally Muslims thought the show was great. When we speak to groups we should address their interests and questions and not ours. An example is the Hajj presentation of non Muslims that I am working on. Muslims helping me are lost in the details of Hajj instead of presenting the universal message of Hajj & Islam. This is exactly what happened in this documentary. |
| NS |
| 12/27/02 at 12:05:01 |
| Kathy |
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet |
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| Muhammed |
| 12/29/02 at 03:56:17 |
[slm] I didn't see the Legacy of a Prophet... :( :'( ....... can anyone tell me what channel it is on....... if there is any reruns ??? I hope :o I'll give you [] since I am such a kind guy ::) [wlm] |
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet |
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| ascetic |
| 12/29/02 at 05:27:11 |
| I can lend you the DVD if you're in the continental US (but that's only when it arrives.. PBS is backlogged w/ orders up to 3 weeks!) [wlm] |
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet |
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| Maliha |
| 12/31/02 at 08:37:26 |
| [slm] Here's a review from an An average American. Alhamdullillah I was happy to hear of the positive impact it had on some people. [quote] Salaams All, I thought I would share this with you, a feedback that came from a Cisco Employee after watching "Muhammad Legacy of a Prophet", a PBS production. With such a feedback, every muslim household in the US should have at least one copy of this documentary to share it with their American friends...buy it from PBS directly (http://www.pbs.org/muhammad, click on SHOP) to support them airing this show. ---------------------------------------------------- Well, I settled into my comfy chair with remote in hand at 8pm. Ironically, a Jewish documentary was just concluding on my local PBS station. I had many questions in my mind: Why do the Muslims hate Jews? Why are Muslims so violent? How come Muhammad killed so many people? Two hours later, and nearly in tears, I had a completely different perception of the prophet and Islam. I had new questions: Where were all the angry people? Where is all the violence we hear about? Why hasn't anyone talked about this before? Many things in this historical (and yes no matter how I look at it, it was only historical and not proselytizing) documentary surprised and even shocked me. I was struck at first by how completely and accurately Muslims from around the world were able to relate the stories of the Quran and the prophet's life from memory, completely and precisely. I was shocked that Muhammad received his revelations from God through the Archangel Gabriel (Hey! That's my Archangel. What is he doing in Arabia?) I was amazed that Muhammad didn't hate Jews and Christians, in fact he taught his people to love and respect them and that their beliefs were valid. In essence, my beliefs about Islam were turned upside down within two hours. I did not see one machine gun or burning American flag. I saw an Islamic NY firefighter quietly and humbly tell about the lessons of Islam, such as to save one life is to save the whole of mankind, and how better to serve God than to serve your fellow man. I watched as an Islamic nurse (my wife is a nurse) gently caressed the face of a dying man, speaking softly and playing tapes of the Quran to soothe him. Anyway, in the beginning of the documentary it stated that part of the funding came from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting which is tax supported. I am proud as a citizen to support this work. It was not pushing religion, it was explaining it. I am all for that. I also understand now that the people I am angry at do not represent Islam and the teachings of the prophet. I even cringed this morning getting out of the shower when I heard a news reporter refer to an "Islamic Militant group" because I believe that is an oxymoron. I would consider a "Christian militant group" to not be Christian at all and now I understand at least a small part of your frustration with the media. Anyway, it was a great program and even though it left me hungry for more information, it certainly changed my attitude. Mike [/quote] [wlm] |
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet |
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| UmmZaid |
| 12/31/02 at 22:37:10 |
| [slm] Since nothing but the Qur'an is perfect, we should expect imperfections. The one thing that *really* bothered me...several of the people behind this were Muslims. I don't know if the editor was, but I can imagine that Kroenemer and Wolfe were present in the editing sessions and must have seen various cuts before the final one was decided on. So why, oh why, did they allow a scene to pass through that took place at Daisy Khan's house? It's just a minor thing, not even a focus of the documentary... but the women are talking about "Why does Islam allow men to marry non Muslims, but not the women?" One of them says that the Qur'an orders us to marry "believing men and women," but then another jumps in and says something to the effect of, "Yes, that's right! So it's just their interpretation (that "allows" them to marry non Muslim women)!" This really bothered me b/c it is a specific allowance given to Muslim men in the Qur'an by God Himself, and broadcasting that slip up ... well I felt shocked or sad that they hadn't read this part or perhaps forgot the part of the Qur'an that says this. And it illustrated (IMO IMO IMO IMO) our dependence on our "Do It Myself" scholarship, on relying on our limited knowledge and speaking from that rather than consulting "the people of rememberence" (ie scholars). And putting it in the documentary instead of leaving it on the cutting room floor ... well, Allahu 'Alim if some non Muslim out there (or even a Muslim) saw that and said, "A-ha, so it's a sexist interpretation (that prevents Muslim ladies from marrying non Muslim men)! I knew it!" Maybe some people will be interested enough to do the research and learn the truth, but maybe others won't. Kevin James and Jameel Johnson were cool. But overall, I did not like it very much. I liked it better than 'Empire of Faith' though. |
| 12/31/02 at 22:39:12 |
| UmmZaid |
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet |
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| amatullah |
| 01/05/03 at 12:08:21 |
| I asked a non-Muslim friend to watch it since I can't but she couldn't even finish it. I watched it taped at a friends recently and I didn't think it was all they said it was at first. I was also upset they didn't do anything with monotheism and the prophet's message at all. What's the point of putting him in a goodlight but never talking about what made him that way or what he was trying to reach to the people?! I didn't go to this last Friday prayer but my girlfriend said the khatib said something like why are we all so happy about a recent documentary. it is made and funded by Kuffar. He said something like Dawah is an obligation on us all and that if you come to work and find your job done for you then it is a reason to worry about your job not to be happy and feel glad someone doned it. Because they most probably have a different reason to do it. But wasn't it made and funded by Muslims? |
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet |
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| zomorrud |
| 01/05/03 at 12:41:01 |
| [color=blue]bismillah... assalamu alaikum, i don't understand the absurdity of some of the remarks on the program. let's be objective and fair here. ovarall, the program did a great job in presenting to the viewers the identity and character of muhammed [saw] (and negated recent slanderous prortrails as warrior, terrorist etc). furthermore, they were smart enough to mix this historical account with current day muslims in the us, who have been vilified and deomonized beyond limits post 9/11. if you were expecting a dawa program, you were a little naive. and about the remarks on k. armstrong. to be honest, there might be some merit in that discussion regarding her recent book. but as a viewer, i never got the hint that she had a hidden agenda. i sensed a fascination on her side by the character of the prophet [saw]. most probably other viewers felt the same. so let's not nit pick. i especially found the khateeb's remarks (amatullah's post) most troubling in the sense that it rejects any effort done by americans to portray islam and muslims as a peaceful religion/people. equally disturbing is his comment that the program was "made and funded by kuffar". first of all, some of the people who were responsible for this production are muslim (wolfe). i think there were others also involved - read the credits at the end. secondly, this comment does nothing but to incite hatred and distrust between muslims and the so-called kuffar, who by the way are the target audience for any dawa effort from our side. how is dawa is ever going to succeed when we have such hostility to a program that attempted to dispel misconceptions about the prophet [saw] and muslims? i stand by my initial positive assessment of this program. as someone said, nothing is perfect. so let's learn from the oversights and move on. take care wassalam [/color] |
| 01/05/03 at 12:45:53 |
| zomorrud |
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet |
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| bhaloo |
| 01/05/03 at 23:39:10 |
| [slm] [quote] i don't understand the absurdity of some of the remarks on the program. let's be objective and fair here[/quote] Any issues that I personally had with the show were mentioned in this thread, alhumdullilah (even subtly. ;) ). I think the post that Kashif brought up about Karen Armstrong had some very valid points but I disagreed with some of them as well (i felt some points were exaggerated). She's not Muslim and we shouldn't be consulting her about Islam. We should be correcting her and educating her about Islam, not the other way around. After listening to this news piece that came out some time back , I wouldn't take her seriously or buy any of her books. http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/fa/20011017.fa.01.ram I was happy that they didn't really discuss Islam (for the most part), because some of the people on there weren't Muslims, and some had views contrary to what the majority of Muslims believe. I didn't like the Daisy Khan part at all when they talked about Muslim men marrying non-Muslims. The thing I was most impressed with in the show were the 3 Muslims they had in there: The nurse, fireman, and congressman's assistant. They were excellent examples of how Muslims should act and behave. But overall the show didn't transition very well and I felt it a little long and dragging on. I almost fell asleep. I'm not going to buy it, I was expecting more. I did however by Islam: Empire of Faith, though I did have issues with some of the things in there, I thought that was overall done nicely. There is nothing absurd about mentioning problems in the show, of course it should be done with good manners and with the intent of correcting any things that are contrarty to the teaching of Islam. May Allah (SWT) reward those that spoke up and corrected some of the wrong things mentioned . Overall I give the show a 6 out of 10. p.s. Yes I did notice brother Anwar Awlaki. :) |
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet |
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| AyeshaZ |
| 01/06/03 at 02:07:15 |
| [quote author=bhaloo link=board=kabob;num=1040272895;start=30#36 date=01/05/03 at 23:39:10][slm] p.s. Yes I did notice brother Anwar Awlaki. :)[/quote] Sh. Awlaki was the one giving the Khutbah in the Whitehouse? I was recently listening to his tapes about the Hereafter... subhan'Allah |
| Re: [REVIEW] Muhammad: A Legacy of a Prophet |
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| amatullah |
| 01/06/03 at 18:13:06 |
| I didn't read the credits that is why i am asking it. ??? also I understand what you are saying. My husband also feels take the good whereever it comes, I may not agree with certain things in the video and it is not ridiculous. because I think it is important to convey the prophet [saw] message, more important than talking about i don't know how many killed after being captive becuase it was someone's shura. I can't think of any biography of even like an civil rights activist (and there is no tashbeeh here insha'Allah) where it just talks about background and his life without what made him that way and what the particular issue he cared about was. Can you imagine a show about Martin Luther King which does not mention racism and equality of black and white people? Anyway, i feel it important to make it clear for non-muslim the khatib is just who happened to be leading the sala and saying the khutba. It doesn't mean this is the imam the leader of a Muslim community we don't have one. This was an opinion. We are too small to have a paid imam sadly. ayshaZ is the series online? i am listening to lives of the prophets series by him which is nice. |
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