Mumba based Raza Academy, has issued a letter demanding a ban on the distribution of the film Muhammad: The Messenger of God. This film is based on the life of the Holy Prophet of Islam.
Raza Academy Demand To Stop The Distribution Of The Flim Muhammad The Messenger Of God Based On The Holy Prophet Of Islam#BoycottFilmOnProphet pic.twitter.com/YBqGH1PE3k
— Raza Academy (@razaacademyho) July 12, 2020
In a letter addressed to Don Cinema, the distributor of this film, Raza Acadamy has asked them not to release the film on July 21 as it could create unrest and lead to law and order problems.
Raza Academy is a Sunni Barelvi organisation of Indian Sufi Muslims and the organisation is into publications and Islamic research.
It should be noted that the movie was released in Iran in 2015 and was selected as the Iranian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 88th Academy Awards.
Raza Academy said, “Ever since the news of its release has been published there has been an uproar in the community and we have been receiving hundreds of calls to get the film banned as it is completely blasphemous.”
In the letter, they have mentioned, “why time and again the Muslim community is targeted by different ways to instigate it and create problems within the country.”
For Muslims it is an absolute prohibition – Muhammad, or any of the other prophets of Islam, should not be pictured in any way and this film portrays the Holy Prophet as a child and even The Mother and Father of the Holy Prophet have been shown in person.
In the letter, Raza Acadamy made it very clear that, “The Holy Prophet of Islam can never be picturised and those who have done it have committed blasphemy which is intolerable at any cost.”
In 2015, Raza Acadamy had issued a fatwa, a religious dictat against music composer AR Rehaman for composing music for this film.