Introduction
The historical film The Message is dedicated to the era of the formation of Islam and tells about the events that took place in the period from 610 to 632. The film was released in 1976. Anthony Quinn played the main role in it. The scriptwriters and the director faced a truly difficult task – to fit into a picture of a little more than 3 hours of events that took place over 23 years. The film raises important issues in the religion of Islam, is engaged in educational activities that help people treat Muslims with an open mind. It describes the history of the origin of Islam, Mohammed’s life, Islam’s influence on other world religions and raises questions about women’s rights in Islam.
The Film Description
The film is unusual because it describes the last prophet of God, Muhammad, without showing the messenger himself. The message with which he came to people and the Torah/Bible forbids the depiction of living beings, worship, and deification of them. The film tells about the message to all people that God is one, that He is one and there is no one else worthy of worship except Him and that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. An illiterate Arab, for more than twenty years, received revelations from God (the Koran), memorizing them by heart and teaching his companions in the future. His life has become a role model for hundreds and hundreds of millions of Muslims (Akkad). The Quran, which was collected only after his death, was memorized and taught by heart by millions of people in different parts of the world, and in every mosque, there is at least one person who knows it perfectly.
How a Society from the Past was Similar to Our Society?
Charity
On land where they believed in 300 gods and paganism for many years, the emergence of a new religion was met with fierce resistance. In due time, K. Marx and F. Engels, describing early Christianity, wrote that it was essentially a revolutionary democratic movement of the broad masses of the people (Garegnani 620). The same characteristic may well be applied to the early Islamic movement. The social basis on which the Prophet Muhammad relied was the poor, freedmen, slaves, etc. In other words, various representatives of the social bottom of Arab society. Even such a few wealthy people as Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, after hearing the sermons of the Prophet Muhammad, began to spend their money to help those in need and to free slaves. Consequently, the first similarity between the society of the 600th century and modern civilization is that assistance to the poor is always encouraged. In all religions and regardless of religion, people are engaged in charity because they know that good deeds and intentions are always encouraged.
Relation to the Unknown
The historical question raised in the film relates to how society accepts the new. Throughout the history of humanity, there have been many revolutions, enemy seizures of territories. The film shows how paganism is overthrown, pagan monuments are destroyed, and the idea of Islam is spread. The introduction of any big changes always entails revolution and skirmishes, regardless of the century. Somewhere by dedication, somewhere and sometimes by martial art, these people won the respect of new and new adherents, and quite successfully, considering that Islam is now one of the most widespread religions in the world (Weyland 8). Consequently, there are obvious similarities between modern society and the society observed in the film. Moreover, the similarity is observed that the more people followed Islam, the faster it spread. At first, it was very difficult to prove the truth of the prophet’s words, but by the end of the film, after several wars and skirmishes, we see that the most ardent opponents of Islam accept it.
Historical Data
The Prophetic Mission
The film is based on historical data; within three hours, it tells everything that happened from the beginning of the prophetic mission until the death of the picture’s main character. And it is thanks to the work of these actors that we see what the first Muslims went through: their troubles, bitterness, the first victories and defeats, the attitude towards Jesus and his mother, the attitude towards Christians and Jews, and their attitude towards them, the attitude towards their pagan relatives and how they acted with each other, the formation of the first government under the guidance of the Koran and of course the first Hajj to Mecca.
Battles
Among the historical events described in the film are the Battle of Badr and the Battle of Uhud. The Battle of Badr took place on March 13, 624 (Khakrand 82). The film is described quite colorfully and presents a detailed picture of the victory of Muslims over the Quraysh. For Muslims, this was a turning point in the formation of Islam. The Battle of Uhud on March 23, 625 is to some extent revenge on the part of the Quraysh – many Muslims were killed and they had to retreat. Despite the dramatic component of the film, first of all it relies on historical events and conveys to the viewer the history of the emergence of Islam.
Islam in White Light
This film was not for me the first excursion into the history of Islam and the biography of Muhammad, so often while watching, I was visited by an ironic smile. Nevertheless, the screenwriters have done a serious job of presenting the events in such a white light. The untold episodes of history were cleverly omitted, but the troubles of Muslims were covered perfectly (Khakrand 79). The film shows the battles of Badr and Uhud, but the looting of caravans by Muslims that led to this is not.
New Information
The film The Message is a good excursion and material for the study of Islam. After watching this film, I learned about the religion of Islam from a new angle. Also, a lot of attention is paid to the women’s issue in the film. It should be noted here that in pre-Islamic times, a woman in Arab society was perceived at the level of livestock. And it was not even considered something bad if the head of the family decided to kill a female baby. The Quran also ascribes new norms of relations and assigned women their rights, such as property, endowment, education, etc.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the film The message is an excellent tool for the study of Islam. He covers in detail such topics as the path of the formation of Islam throughout the world and the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. The film raises important questions about Islam’s values, reminding us that we need to follow moral principles. Despite the fact that some moments in the movie are embellished, this does not prevent us from making basic conclusions. The director brings to us the principal values of Islam: women’s rights, respect for elders, the importance of hospitality, and recognition of only one God.
Works Cited
Khakrand, Shokrollah, Seyyedahia Seyyedi, and Masoumeh Dehghan. “The Study of Companions’ Reactions Concerning the Distribution of Plunders of Battles.” History of Islam 21.83 (2020): 77-110.
Garegnani, Pierangelo. “On the labour theory of value in Marx and in the Marxist tradition.” Review of Political Economy 30.4 (2018): 618-642.
The Message. Directed by Mustapha Akkad, performance by Anthony Queen. Filmco International Productions Incorporated, 1976.
Weyland, Kurt. Revolution and reaction. Cambridge University Press, 2019.