Islamic Community In The Film The Message By Moustapha Akkad

The Message and the Islamic Community

One of the biggest questions currently being asked about Islam is the question of how Islam should be understood in modern times. Moustapha Akkad’s film The Message attempts to answer that question by showing the resilience and devotion in the community that formed itself around Muhammad and the revelation of the Qur’an. Despite all of the obstacles they ran into, nothing could sway them from their belief in the Qur’an and Muhammad. This belief allowed them to form a community that is admirable it its virtues, and formidable in its strengths. In the film, the audience is shown the unrelenting commitment the first Islamic community had to their religion, and the vehemence they had when protecting their …show more content…
Therefore, the foundation of the Islamic community is both the faith held in God, and the faith held in Muhammad. As the prophet himself is never shown in the movie, any glimpse the audience receives of him is through the eyes of another. When a scene with Muhammad is shown, all the audience sees is other people talking straight at the camera, towards Mohammad. By using this depiction of Muhammad, Akkad is able to clearly show how much the community turned to Muhammad as a leader. The reverence seen in the eyes of the people as they look towards Muhammad displays their feelings of unequivocal trust in regards to Muhammad. As Muhammad first enters Medina, the entire city gathers to celebrate his arrival. Walking through the crowd on a camel, the audience is given a glimpse of the countless faces all looking towards Muhammad as a beacon of hope, a promise for a better life. Muhammad is the physical embodiment of their faith in God. Muhammad today continues to play a very large role in Islam. Akkad’s portrait of Muhammad in the community explains why Muhammad is still so integral to Islam in the modern era. He, along with the Qur’an, was the foundational aspect of the Islamic community. Muhammad was the unifying force in the Islamic community. He was not only the one to relay the words of God, but also the man who …show more content…
The people in the Islamic community do not simply coexist; they work together side by side in goodwill and tranquility. An equal amount of emphasis is placed on the importance of harmony within the community as there is on faithfulness to God. These are values still present and important in modern day Islam as well. Islam is as much a community as it is a religion. Akkad conveys this multiple ways. While the community consists of individuals, in many ways it acts as a whole. One significant example of this is the building of Muhammad’s house, and the first mosque of Islam. All of the men, including Muhammad himself, take part in the construction of these building. Working in unison, the shared labor builds solidarity between the men, allowing all of them to take part in creating Medina as an Islamic community. Akkad also displays the cohesion of the community through the clothing they wear. Most of the Muslims seen in the film are wearing white robes, and as they move into Medina the audience sees a whole town populated by people wearing the same robes. Akkad uses these robes to visually unify the Islamic community within Medina. In addition, it also serves to show just how much the community has grown. Earlier in the film there were only a handful of people seen wearing white robes. Now it is as if the screen will be overrun with the innumerable white robes seen. Islam