Against the backdrop that movies industry is fraught with anti-Islam contents, seasoned journalist and author, Abdur-Rasheed Abubakar has advocated for Muslim movies industry, saying it’s one of the potent tools for dawa’h (Islamic propagation) in the 21st century.
Abubakar, who lamented that when Muslims were supposed to take over the media, they called it evil instrument, but by the time they realized its importance, it has been hijacked by the fifth columnists, who now use the media to smear the image of Islam.
The writer made this submission on Saturday while speaking on his book, “Muslims and the Threats of the Media,” at the formal opening ceremony of 2015 Annual Dawa’h Week organised by Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), University of Lagos branch, with the theme, Smeared Sheen.
During the power-point presentation, Abubakar gave practical illustration of how some Nigerian media, including the movie industry, portrayed Islam as a violent religion and Muslims as extremists, with subjective inclinations.
He called on the Muslims to establish their own media and be ready to support it.
“It has become necessary for us to have our own media and be ready to support it with our money and everything.
”There is nothing wrong with having our own movie industry, so far we followed the guidelines of Shari’ah.
”These are the potent tools for dawa’h in the 21st.
”Your social media is also a good instrument to spread Islam, instead of posting your selfies all the time.
”You can’t be condemning something without providing alternatives for the people,” he stated.
He said, “Today, many Muslim youths, even non- Muslims have continued to learn great lessons from the story of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the life of his companions through “The Message”, the first major film about Islam; “Umar Series, documentary on the exemplary life of Umar bin Khattab among others.
“Documentary films about Islam such as Islam: Empire of Faith, Inside Mecca, The Trouble With Atheism, An Islamic History of Europe, among others have gone a long way in resharpening the orientation of Muslims and some non-Muslims as well,” he added.
He expressed concern that the Western media have been in the front burner in the campaign against Islam saying if there was a “sophisticated” film industry for Muslims, such movies will not only educate the Muslims, but also slam western propaganda machines such as Hollywood, Bollywood, Nollywood.
– The story was first published in 2015
Well done job