The Life of Muhammad

hivizman

If you have access to it, please note that BBC2 will be broadcasting a three-part series on Monday 11, 18 and 25 July 2011 at 9PM, The Life of Muhammad. The programmes are introduced by Rageh Omaar, and are claimed to be the first extensive treatment of Muhammad's life by the BBC.

More information is available here.

I hope to post my reactions to the programmes each week.

Frank Grimes

Thanks for the reminder, I had forgotten about this.

hivizman

The first episode of The Life of Muhammad, "The Seeker", has just been broadcast by BBC2. The production has clearly had a generous budget, as the programme involved around 20 interviewees and filming in Makkah, Madinah, Damascus, Istanbul, Jordan and some other locations.

The programme was actually written by Ziauddin Sardar, who appeared a couple of times, and was nicely presented by Rageh Omaar, beginning with a sequence where he put on the pilgrim's two pieces of cloth (ihram) and visited al-Masjid al-Haram in Makkah. The programme was mainly a straightforward biographical account, covering Muhammad's early life, his marriage to Khadija, his searching for answers to fundamental questions of life through meditation on Mount Hira and then the first revelation. The programme concluded with the growth of early Islam in Makkah, the opposition of the Quraish, and the departure of some of the early Muslims to Africa. The episode concluded with the deaths of Khadija and Muhammad's uncle Abu Talib, the "year of sorrows".

Woven into the programme were some more critical themes. The minority historical position that claims that Muhammad, if he existed at all, borrowed most of the Qur'an from existing Jewish and Christian sources, and that argues that Makkah was not, as Muslim historiography suggests, an important trading centre, was represented by the popular historian Tom Holland, while more mainstream views were supported by a wealth of academics and writers, including Karen Armstrong and Barnaby Rogerson (both authors of biographies of Muhammad). The programme referred to the Muslim practice of not portraying prophets through visual imagery (linked in the programme to the core concept of tawhid - oneness of God - by Tariq Ramadan), and then mentioned the controversy over the Danish cartoons of Muhammad. Similarly, the so-called "Satanic verses" episode, where some early sources suggest that Muhammad originally announced a revelation that supported polytheism, only to later deny it as coming from Satan, was used as a prop to mention Salman Rushdie and Khomeini's fatwa, although the programme emphasised that mainstream Muslim scholars deny the episode altogether as a later fabrication. The status of the Qur'an as God's Word, communicated to Muhammad, was explained as underpinning Muslim offence at desecration of the Qur'an. In passing, Rageh Omaar noted that sites such as Muhammad's birthplace had been destroyed, and an almost subliminal sequence showed a photograph of Khadija's tomb in 1925, followed by a recent shot of the anonymous site where the now demolished tomb had been located.

Overall, a fairly conventional narrative, but, as Omaar noted at the end, next week's episode will deal with Muhammad's interaction with the Jewish tribes of Madinah, including the massacre (or execution?) of the Banu Qurayzah. Hence it promises to be more controversial.

wes

Watched it, and it wasn't too bad. Be interesting to see what they other parts are like.

x0l0x

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryGxwxv3M1Q

[BBC] The Life Of Muhammad (SAW) - The Seeker ( Episode 1 )

Benny_Cake

As a non-Muslim,I quite enjoyed the first episode,I certainly learned a lot from it - particularly regarding the Qu'ran, I can see now how burning it would be so offensive. It seemed fair-minded,would be interested to hear some Muslim views on it.

x0l0x

Benny_Cake wrote: »

As a non-Muslim,I quite enjoyed the first episode,I certainly learned a lot from it - particularly regarding the Qu'ran, I can see now how burning it would be so offensive. It seemed fair-minded,would be interested to hear some Muslim views on it.

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Thanks

hivizman

Part Two of The Life of Muhammad, with the title "Holy Wars", was broadcast by BBC2 last night (Monday 18 July 2011). This episode began with the Night Journey to Jerusalem and Muhammad's Ascension through the heavens. The programme had some interesting shots inside the Dome of the Rock, and discussed the importance of Jerusalem as third only to Makkah and Madinah as Muslim holy cities.

The programme then turned to the background behind Muhammad's Hijra to Yathrib, soon to be known as Madinat an-Nabi. Rageh Omaar discussed the Constitution of Madinah with the Jordanian Prince Hassan bin Talal, but some scepticism about the authenticity of the Consititution was expressed by one of the "talking heads", Professor Geoffrey Alderman. However, another of the interviewed experts, Professor Hugh Kennedy, was less sceptical, even though sources for the Constitution are traditions that were formally recorded some time after Muhammad's death.

Much of the programme, however, covered the battles and conflicts between Muhammad and his followers and the Quraysh of Makkah, with a discussion of the battles of Badr, Uhud and The Trench. Different views were expressed about the "warlike" nature of Islam - Tariq Ramadan argued that the various Qur'anic verses about fighting the polytheists were fundamentally defensive, while Robert Spencer suggested that they were more offensive in intention. Finally, the programme analysed the growing conflict within Madinah with the Jewish tribes, ending up with the killing of the male members of the Banu Qurayza. A range of views was expressed here, from a description of the episode as "The first holocaust against the Jews" by Nonie Darwish, a writer who had converted to Christianity from Islam, to a claim that the attack on the Banu Qurayza was a punishment for betrayal by a tribe that just happened to be Jewish, expressed by Islamic spokesman Abdur-Raheem Green. Geoffrey Alderman noted the absence of contemporary Jewish sources, but conceded that the Banu Qurayza probably did side with the Quraysh, and suggested that the form of collective punishment had to be seen in the context of the period.

Next week, we are promised a discussion of Muhammad's last sermon, after the taking of Makkah. Although there was no mention in the trailer, I would expect some comment on Muhammad the private man, including a discussion of his wives during the Madinah period, particularly Aisha. Also, a brief coverage of the succession to Muhammad is likely.

x0l0x

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKltf_8BCk0

hivizman

The final part of the BBC's "The Life of Muhammad", under the title "Holy Peace", was broadcast earlier this evening. This episode continued the rather bland approach of the previous two parts. About the only potentially controversial section was the discussion of sharia, where Tariq Ramadan of Oxford University and Ziauddin Sardar (the writer of the series) presented the "progressive" view that sees sharia as more than simply a system of law - to Ramadan, the priority for sharia is to advance principles of social justice, human dignity, rights and equality, with the more penal aspects being less important, while to Sardar the sharia is frozen in the eighth and ninth centuries and needs to be reformulated from period to period, while remaining true to the Qur'anic revelations and Prophetic traditions. The BBC did not offer any "talking head" to defend a more "radical" view of sharia.

Among other themes covered were marriage, with very little criticism of Muhammad's polygamy and in particular his marriage to A'isha - Tariq Ramadan was again brought out to argue that A'isha was in her teens when her marriage to Muhammad was consummated, although a view contesting this position and challenging the morality of the marriage with A'isha was put forward by another commentator. There was a discussion of covering and veiling, and also the "true" meaning of jihad, but most of the programme was a straightforward chronological narrative. The programme emphasised the character of Muhammad, with adjectives such as "gentle", "fair", "simple-living" being used, and one overall judgement was expressed by John Adair, an authority on leadership with personal experience of Arab life, who described Muhammad as "A good leader, and a leader for good."

My overall assessment is that the series (which with a bit of editing could be compressed down to around 100 minutes from three hours) provides a fair, but rather bland, summary of the life of Muhammad, with no surprises for students of Islam. The series characterised Muhammad as someone who tried to see the good in people, and perhaps that's what the series tried to do for Muhammad.

Jaafa

hivizman wrote: »

The final part of the BBC's "The Life of Muhammad", under the title "Holy Peace", was broadcast earlier this evening. This episode continued the rather bland approach of the previous two parts. About the only potentially controversial section was the discussion of sharia, where Tariq Ramadan of Oxford University and Ziauddin Sardar (the writer of the series) presented the "progressive" view that sees sharia as more than simply a system of law - to Ramadan, the priority for sharia is to advance principles of social justice, human dignity, rights and equality, with the more penal aspects being less important, while to Sardar the sharia is frozen in the eighth and ninth centuries and needs to be reformulated from period to period, while remaining true to the Qur'anic revelations and Prophetic traditions. The BBC did not offer any "talking head" to defend a more "radical" view of sharia.

Among other themes covered were marriage, with very little criticism of Muhammad's polygamy and in particular his marriage to A'isha - Tariq Ramadan was again brought out to argue that A'isha was in her teens when her marriage to Muhammad was consummated, although a view contesting this position and challenging the morality of the marriage with A'isha was put forward by another commentator. There was a discussion of covering and veiling, and also the "true" meaning of jihad, but most of the programme was a straightforward chronological narrative. The programme emphasised the character of Muhammad, with adjectives such as "gentle", "fair", "simple-living" being used, and one overall judgement was expressed by John Adair, an authority on leadership with personal experience of Arab life, who described Muhammad as "A good leader, and a leader for good."

My overall assessment is that the series (which with a bit of editing could be compressed down to around 100 minutes from three hours) provides a fair, but rather bland, summary of the life of Muhammad, with no surprises for students of Islam. The series characterised Muhammad as someone who tried to see the good in people, and perhaps that's what the series tried to do for Muhammad.

While it may seem bland to you or me I think the program was intended to inform those with little knowledge of Islam and The Prophet (PBUH). Therefore as some already said above, its more interesting for them.