The chair of the Bolton Council of Mosques had urged the cancellation of the screening, saying the film was “underpinned with a sectarian ideology and is blasphemous in nature to the Muslim community”. The film-makers are Shia, a branch of Islam that has sometimes been observed as more lenient on the issue, and the film is written by Sheikh al-Habib, the spiritual leader of The Mahdi Servants Union.”Ī screening in Bolton was cancelled after 100 protesters turned up at the local Cineworld branch.
Presumably, this is enough to placate Islam’s prohibition on visual representation of the prophet. And, as a nervous initial disclaimer points out, their faces, often shown in dazzling sunbursts, are computer-generated. Lady of Heaven, released last Friday in the UK, claims to be the first film to put the “face” of the prophet Muhammad on screen.īut as the Guardian’s two-star review pointed out: “No single actor is credited with playing him, or any of the other holy figures in his entourage. The film’s producer defended the rights of the protesters to express their displeasure but said it was “silly” and against British values for the film to be pulled completely.Ī video circulating online showed the manager of Sheffield Cineworld telling protesters that Sunday night’s screening had been cancelled, to cries of “Allahu Akbar” (God is great).ĥPillars, a Muslim news site, tweeted a photo of what it said was “200 Muslims protesting against sectarian hate film Lady of Heaven outside Cineworld in Broad Street, Birmingham” on Sunday.
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