Iran Edits Iconic Film on Islam

By Hallat Rebwar

The epic 1976 film “Mohammad, Messenger of God,” has been reedited by Iranian state television to fit the Shiite version of the emergence of Islam, reports Hossein Dehashi, an Iranian movie director and researcher.

“Mohammad, Messenger of God,” also simply called “The Message,” is an Oscar-nominated film and Quranic epic directed by Mustafa Akkat that chronicles the life and times of Mohammad, the prophet of Islam. Released in both Arabic and English, the film serves as an introduction to early Islamic history.

Dehashi said the Farsi cut of the movie includes drastic and intentional changes both of the characters and to the storyline so that it is in line with the Shiite account of Islam.

"Some scenes have completely been deleted and others added to make the story match the Shiite version of Islamic history," he wrote on his Facebook account.

For example, in the Persian cut of the movie, Abu Talib, uncle of the Prophet Muhammad, asks Zeid, a close companion of the Prophet, about those who had learned about the Prophet Muhammad's revelations.

In the Persian version, Zeid responds: "His wife Khadija and your son Ali." In the original version, Zeid responds, "His wife Khadija, your son Ali and Abu Bakr," in reference to a father-in-law of Mohammad, Abdullah Ibn Abi Quhafa, who was the first Muslim Caliph after Mohammad’s death.

As Caliph, Abu Bakr was a successor to Mohammad and earned the title Al-Siddiq (Truthful) by Sunni Muslims.
Ali was the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammad; Shiites believe that he and his descendants are the rightful successors of the Prophet Muhammad.

In 622 AD, the year of Muhammad's migration to Yathrib (now Medina), Ali helped Mohammed escape an assassination plot by impersonating him. In the edited Persian film, Ali is being commended for his heroism, while in the original movie Ali is not praised.

In the original director's cut, a reference to Omar, the second Caliph who is revered by Sunnis, is changed to Ali.

In the edited version, Hamza Abd Al-Mutalib, also an uncle of the Prophet, says: "The mosque lacks only one thing to attract more believers."

In response Ammar Al-Yas says: "The voice of the Muslims becomes a reason for prayer, as when Ali called to azan (prayer) in Kaaba for the first time."

But in the original, Ammar says: "The voice of the Muslims results in praying as mentioned by Omar Ibn Khatab and other notable Muslims."

In the Iranian version another reference to Abu Bakr is omitted.

In the original migrants are told that the Quraishy tribe “sold the shops of the companions of prophet Muhammad, they have sold everything you had.”

The original states: "The shop of Abu Bakr is sold. Even the property of the Prophet could not be saved."