Review of the film "The Messenger", 1977.
Moustapha Akkad's film, "the messenger of God", is the account of the history of birth and rise of Islam. It shows the story of the spread of Islam, starting from the revelation of Quran to Muhammad, the prophet of God, in Mecca, continuing with his fight with the rulers of the Mecca for Kabaah and finally the establishment of Islam in all of the Arabia.
At the time when Muhammad got a revelation of the words of Quran, which first of all states that there is only one God and Muhammad is the messenger of God, from Gabriel in the cave of Mecca, polytheism was flourishing in Mecca. Mecca was the town of trade, ruled by rich merchants. The religion of the town dwellers was polytheism, they believed in many Gods, each God being the protection to different kinds of social aspects of life of the people. Moreover, Mecca's rulers held religious feasts every year in which all the tribes of Arabia came to Mecca with their figures of Gods to be placed in Kaaba. This control of Kaaba by city rulers of Mecca who were also the merchants, made them rich and maintained their power and wealth, because those tribes who come to Mecca once in a year to embrace their Gods, also buy things from the local merchants making them richer and richer. Thus, Muhammad's teachings that were against the polytheism, against believing in statues of gods, and his callings to abolish those gods threatened not only the religion of city dwellers, but also threatened the wealth of city rulers. Moreover, Muhammad preached that the loyalty to Islam was above the loyalty to tribal families. So that his teachings caused the tensions between the conservative polytheists fathers and the young sons of Mecca who are now following the teachings of Muhammad. Furthermore, Muhammad preached that all people are equal in the face of God, so that slaves were now equal to their owners and women were equal to men. However, Mecca was the city of inequality and oppression where the slaves were slaves and women had no right. Therefore, Muhammad and his followers met fury resistance from the rulers of Mecca and by the indigenous city. The followers of Muhammad were tortured, killed, and were kicked out of the town, to the desert. Disposed of their houses, the followers of the prophet suffered the hunger, thirst, cruelty in the desert, for 3years. However, when Muhammad thought that his mission failed, the rulers of Medina, came to him with and offer to allow him to preach in Medina, if Muhammad's teachings will unite people and end the civil war in the city. Taking the word of rulers of Medina that they believe in one God, Muhammad and his followers start to move to Medina. This mass flight of Muslims from Mecca to Medina, Hijra, was later called the event that put the beginning of Islam. Upon arrival, Muhammad sets the first Islamic prayer house in the city of Medina, declares all human equal and give rights to women. Now, the rulers of Medina are worried that Muhammad changes the city and its rules, so they with the help of rulers of Mecca start to think about the ways of how to get rid off the prophet.
After the selling by Mecca's rulers of all the left properties by the followers of Muhammad, the prophet announces that Muslims will fight in the name of God against the rulers of Mecca in order to kick out of the town those who did this to them and to abolish all the gods from the Kaaba. Mecca was the important city for Muslims, because it is the place where the revelation of God was sent to a man, and the abolition of gods in Kaaba was the main goal of Muslims, in order to announce there the existence of one God and no more. Thus, the army of Muslims and Mecca fought in the battle of Badr, in which the Muslims won. And after the series of battles, Muslims seized Mecca and announce Mecca to be the sacred place of Islam and all the Muslims, so that no man can be killed in Mecca, and everyone are equal in Mecca. Moreover, the figures of gods in Kaaba were destroyed and the reign of one God was announced. Thus the rulers of Mecca were not killed and were allowed to live there as long as they don't question the existence of one God. With its emphasis on peace, equality, and love and forgiveness to all creatures, Islam found place in the hearts of many Arabians, and soon it became the religion of all the Arabia. Thus the film "the Messenger" shows the history of birth of Islam in the town of West Arabia, called Mecca. It was filmed by the Muslim who tried to respect all the Islamic traditions and doesn't even showed the prophet as an actor and did not even tried to show his voice. The film was approved by the major scholars of Islam. Thus, it can said that the film shows the rise and birth of Islam from the perspective of Muslims themselves, which can or cannot be close to the real formation of Islam. However, the film still remains a good and popular representation of Islam's formation.
Moustapha Akkad's film, "the messenger of God", is the account of the history of birth and rise of Islam. It shows the story of the spread of Islam, starting from the revelation of Quran to Muhammad, the prophet of God, in Mecca, continuing with his fight with the rulers of the Mecca for Kabaah and finally the establishment of Islam in all of the Arabia.
At the time when Muhammad got a revelation of the words of Quran, which first of all states that there is only one God and Muhammad is the messenger of God, from Gabriel in the cave of Mecca, polytheism was flourishing in Mecca. Mecca was the town of trade, ruled by rich merchants. The religion of the town dwellers was polytheism, they believed in many Gods, each God being the protection to different kinds of social aspects of life of the people. Moreover, Mecca's rulers held religious feasts every year in which all the tribes of Arabia came to Mecca with their figures of Gods to be placed in Kaaba. This control of Kaaba by city rulers of Mecca who were also the merchants, made them rich and maintained their power and wealth, because those tribes who come to Mecca once in a year to embrace their Gods, also buy things from the local merchants making them richer and richer. Thus, Muhammad's teachings that were against the polytheism, against believing in statues of gods, and his callings to abolish those gods threatened not only the religion of city dwellers, but also threatened the wealth of city rulers. Moreover, Muhammad preached that the loyalty to Islam was above the loyalty to tribal families. So that his teachings caused the tensions between the conservative polytheists fathers and the young sons of Mecca who are now following the teachings of Muhammad. Furthermore, Muhammad preached that all people are equal in the face of God, so that slaves were now equal to their owners and women were equal to men. However, Mecca was the city of inequality and oppression where the slaves were slaves and women had no right. Therefore, Muhammad and his followers met fury resistance from the rulers of Mecca and by the indigenous city. The followers of Muhammad were tortured, killed, and were kicked out of the town, to the desert. Disposed of their houses, the followers of the prophet suffered the hunger, thirst, cruelty in the desert, for 3years. However, when Muhammad thought that his mission failed, the rulers of Medina, came to him with and offer to allow him to preach in Medina, if Muhammad's teachings will unite people and end the civil war in the city. Taking the word of rulers of Medina that they believe in one God, Muhammad and his followers start to move to Medina. This mass flight of Muslims from Mecca to Medina, Hijra, was later called the event that put the beginning of Islam. Upon arrival, Muhammad sets the first Islamic prayer house in the city of Medina, declares all human equal and give rights to women. Now, the rulers of Medina are worried that Muhammad changes the city and its rules, so they with the help of rulers of Mecca start to think about the ways of how to get rid off the prophet.
After the selling by Mecca's rulers of all the left properties by the followers of Muhammad, the prophet announces that Muslims will fight in the name of God against the rulers of Mecca in order to kick out of the town those who did this to them and to abolish all the gods from the Kaaba. Mecca was the important city for Muslims, because it is the place where the revelation of God was sent to a man, and the abolition of gods in Kaaba was the main goal of Muslims, in order to announce there the existence of one God and no more. Thus, the army of Muslims and Mecca fought in the battle of Badr, in which the Muslims won. And after the series of battles, Muslims seized Mecca and announce Mecca to be the sacred place of Islam and all the Muslims, so that no man can be killed in Mecca, and everyone are equal in Mecca. Moreover, the figures of gods in Kaaba were destroyed and the reign of one God was announced. Thus the rulers of Mecca were not killed and were allowed to live there as long as they don't question the existence of one God. With its emphasis on peace, equality, and love and forgiveness to all creatures, Islam found place in the hearts of many Arabians, and soon it became the religion of all the Arabia. Thus the film "the Messenger" shows the history of birth of Islam in the town of West Arabia, called Mecca. It was filmed by the Muslim who tried to respect all the Islamic traditions and doesn't even showed the prophet as an actor and did not even tried to show his voice. The film was approved by the major scholars of Islam. Thus, it can said that the film shows the rise and birth of Islam from the perspective of Muslims themselves, which can or cannot be close to the real formation of Islam. However, the film still remains a good and popular representation of Islam's formation.