Mumbai : The Mumbai-based Sunni Muslim group Raza Academy on Saturday issued a Fatwa against music director AR Rahman and Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi for their film ‘Muhammad: Messenger of God’, first of the trilogy on the life of Prophet Mohammad. Following this, chief of Raza Academy Saeed Noori stated that they will be meeting Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in the coming week to demand a ban on the film.
Noori stated that making such a film is not acceptable as it would be an insult of Prophet Mohammad as there are deep feelings and great respect involved.
The fatwa has asked Mr Majidi and Mr Rahman to read Kalma again and solemnise their marriages once more. “One of the major issues is that after watching the movie, people will comment and give their views about their dislike about the character’s role and performance which would mean an insult of Prophet Mohammad. Also, how can someone portray an image of Prophet Mohammad when no one knows how he looks and therefore we consider him as a saaya (shadow),” he said.
When asked, Aamir Edresy, President Association of Muslim Professionals, said: “No one can create a replica or image of Prophet Mohammad as it is not allowed because it would be an insult and hurt feelings of people. We can write books but one cannot create a film or even a cartoon image and by making this film, the people involved have hurt our feelings.”
Reiterating Edresy’s view, Molana Syed Moinuddin Ashraf, President of Madrassa Jamia Qadria Ashrafia said: “There is no need of making such a movie as we all remember Prophet Mohammad in every second of our day. He is in our prayers, thoughts and heart and we do not need a movie to express our love and respect for him.”
