Southie
September 22, 2012, 9:04pm
31
Re: Qatar plans $450 million dollar movie on Prophet Muhammed
Firstly, my post was in response to the poster asking why we need anything else when we have the Quran. My point was, we do need other sources of education to further clarify our deen for us be they books or electronic media.
Secondly, weren’t we all going on about eradicating ignorance through education? Education can be provided one on one, through books, through seminars and conferences or through electronic media. It would’ve been a tit for tat response had they produced an equally disgusting movie against the other religions but that’s not what it is. I heard some local Islamic centre in Oklahoma already distributed thousands of DVDs in the area about the life of Prophet saw after this outrage as a way of clearing the misconceptions people might have about the Prophet. One could argue why they didn’t spend those resources on the poor instead but they were simply trying to educate the local community.
Similarly, this movie is meant to be educational and not some cheap entertainment that Hollywood and Bollywood pump billions into yet no one questions them as to why they won’t spend the money on a better cause instead. Forget the film industries, how many of us think about the poor before buying an iphone for ourselves? Yeah we do give charity but how many of us deprive ourselves of our wants to help the poor? The reality is that you do not have to deprive yourself of the comforts of life if you can afford to live a luxurious lifestyle and help the poor too. All those celebs involved in charity work certainly don’t rid themselves of their designer outfits, do they? And like khoji said, 450 million isn’t all that the Qataris have, they can afford to make this movie and help the poor.
Something you don’t get to hear on the news is how generous Qataris have been when it comes to helping the flood-stricken Pakistan, donating money, food and clothing to the Syrian refugees, carrying out charity campaigns for Myanmar victims, doing humanitarian work in Palestine etc. They’ve pumped millions into a Temporary Shelter Project in Pakistan for the flood victims and they certainly didn’t expect anything in return, neither publicity nor profit, so going by your definition it makes them truly spiritual.
Point: Yes the money could be better spent in a million ways, but that money we spent on that iphone, or that big sofa set, or the humongous LCD, or the designer jora could also have been better spent. If we’re allowed the luxuries of life as long as we give our share of zakaat, then they’re also allowed to make this movie as long as they’re doing plenty of humanitarian work. This is my opinion, mightn’t be yours, we can agree to disagree.
Maybe, just maybe, it will occur to the producers that quality is not proportional to money spent. Maybe they can focus on educating practising the faith that faith is personal. That whoevere spends more money does not get special treatment from God. Maybe folks will be guided not to think within the narrow realms of their faith - celebrating conversions, being cheerleaders. Maybe the rah-rah culture currently associated with religion will no longer be in vogue.
Yes, we can agree to disagree.