December 18, 2002
WALL?
A Portrait of the Prophet Behind Islam (ALESSANDRA STANLEY, 12/18/02, NY Times)It would be fair to say that the most important invisible figure on American television is Muhammad, the seventh-century prophet who founded Islam. Even many educated PBS viewers know very little of his story, yet his legacy is felt in some form every day in the United States as well as in the rest of the world.Sept. 11, 2001, sharpened the nation's scrutiny of Islam, but it did not spawn a thoughtful, comprehensive television biography of Muhammad himself. It is a significant lapse, as if Muslims were to study Christianity without any notion of how Jesus lived and died.
PBS seeks to fill the gap tonight (12/18/02, 9pm) with a two-hour documentary, "Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet." It evocatively if sparingly lays out the biographical material unfamiliar to most Americans: Muhammad's childhood as an orphan in Mecca, his marriage to a wealthy widow almost twice his age, his visions of the Angel Gabriel, his military battles and his victory over Arab paganism.
Perhaps understandably, given the climate after Sept. 11, the film also seeks over and over to reassure viewers who fear a link between the Koran and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. Steering viewers away from considering terrorism, the filmmakers illustrate Muhammad's teachings by focusing on a cozy, comforting portrait of Muslim communities in America. Heartwarming depictions of a Muslim New York City firefighter, a hijab-wearing nurse in Dearborn, Mich., and a black Muslim Capitol Hill staff member in Washington, packaged around glowing testimonials by clerics and academics, turn the Muhammad story into a lengthy infomercial for Islam.
That is partly because most of the sponsors (they include Arabian Bulk Trade, Sabadia Family Foundation, Irfan Kathwari Foundation, El-Hibri Foundation, and Qureishi Family Trust) are Muslim-American business and community organizations eager to have the story told in the most favorable light possible.
The filmmakers share their goal.
Where are the ACLU and People for the American Way and all the other folks who would be bitching their skirts off if a bunch of Christian organizations took over a couple hours of government broadcasting? Posted by Orrin Judd at December 18, 2002 1:23 PM
I like the "even many educated PBS viewers know little" line. Subtly but effectively pushes the notion that "liberal" and "educated" are one and the same thing.
Posted by: pj at December 18, 2002 12:38 PMI guess they're going to leave out the pedophilia, murders of Jews, assassinations, torture, rape and stuff, huh?
Even educated PBS viewers won't know the difference, so no problem-o?
Daniel Pipes
nails this one. It is little more than pro-Islamic propaganda.
If that program was going to refute every allegation made against the Prophet, they'd have probably needed a four-hour block of programming.
Posted by: M Ali Choudhury at December 18, 2002 4:38 PMOnly four hours? Sounds like there's a paucity of refuting material.
Posted by: pj at December 18, 2002 5:32 PMI did a back of the envelope computation last week on
the hadith. If Mohammad really uttered them all, he'd have had to utter a memorable statement every day of
his public life.
And people say Muslims don't worship Mohammad.
Couldn't he speak more than once a day?
Posted by: oj at December 18, 2002 7:47 PMAnd have it memorable? Not likely.
Posted by: Harry at December 18, 2002 10:44 PMThat's why he's a prophet.
Posted by: oj at December 19, 2002 9:00 PM