British movie The Lady of Heaven has been banned in Morocco after Islamic authorities condemned it for presenting a version of Islamic history they disagree with and “hurting the feelings of Muslims”.
The film, which has already been cancelled by the Cineworld chain and a number of individual movie theatres in Britain amid fears of violence by Muslim protesters, features the daughter of the Islamic prophet Mohammed (Muhammad) and was produced by Malik Shlibak, a Shiite Muslim.
Shiites, who follow the Shia sect of Islam, and Sunnis, who account for the majority of Muslims in the West and worldwide, split over a thousand years amid a dispute over who should succeed Mohammed as leader of the Islamic community, or Caliph — and this dispute appears to be the root of the hostility towards The Lady of Heaven even now.
Indeed, the Supreme Ulema Council of Morocco, chaired by the country’s autocratic ruler and claimed descendant of the Islamic prophet, King Mohammed VI (pictured above), began its statement of condemnation by accusing The Lady of Heaven of “blatant falsification of established facts in Islamic history”.
It went on to level the following allegations against the film and its creator:
1. The person who wrote the film belongs to a Shiite current. He was stripped of his Kuwaiti nationality for his extremist ideas.
2. The film is a blatant falsification of the facts and contains a heinous act that cannot be accepted by Muslims, namely for the incarnation of the Prophet, peace be upon Him.
3. The film dared, with loathsome partiality, to use the person of Fatima Zahra, may Allah’s blessings be upon Her, the daughter of the Prophet, peace be upon Him, for purposes that are contrary to the spirit of religion and the reality of history.
4- The high rank of Fatima Zahra, may Allah’s blessings be upon Her, in the eyes of all Muslim men and women does not need to resort to false allegations to talk about Her [sic].
5- The slander against Sidna Abi bakr, may Allah’s blessings be upon him, who was the subject of the greatest testimonies from the Prophet, is part of the scandals in this film.
6- Those who are behind this film seek fame and sensationalism, promotion of their production, and the achievement of the largest number of viewers, by hurting the feelings of Muslims and stirring up religious sensitivities.
The BBC reports that the relevant authorities in Morocco have banned The Lady of Heaven outright as a result of this condemnation.
“Morocco reveals which side of the #FreedomOfSpeech debate they stand,” commented Shlibak on his film’s censorship in a social media post.
“Not shocked one bit, with their known heavy persecution of their Shia population,” he accused.
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