A film that was released on 3 June in the UK, that was set to showcase at Cineworld, Vue and Showcase cinemas has sparked controversy and stirred emotions amongst Muslims and has already been banned in the UK in Sheffield and in Pakistan for being ‘sacreligious’.
The film’s website synopsis reads, “A heart-wrenching journey of Lady Fatima, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad. Separated by 1400 years, an Iraqi child, in a war-torn country, learns the importance and power of patience, as his grandmother shares with him the historical story of The Lady and how her suffering as the first victim of terrorism spun out of control into the 21st century.”
A viewer disclaimer adds: “In accordance with Islamic tradition, during the making of this film no individual represented a Holy Personality. The performances of the Holy Personalities were achieved through a unique synthesis of actors, in-camera effects, lighting, and visual effects.”
However, many Muslim movie-goers have described the anti-Sunni sectarian hate, as residents of Bradford, Bolton, Birmingham, and London have been protesting outside their local cinemas.
The Lady of Heaven is the first film to put the “face” of the prophet Muhammad on screen, which is one of the reasons why the film has sparked national outrage.
The Guardian’s review of the film gave it two stars and says, “For a film that aims to promote religious diversity and freedom of thought, its metronomic alternation between time frames, narrative slavishness and laughable coda have a suffocating sense of orthodoxy”.
A Cineworld spokesperson told Asian Sunday that Cineworld will be announcing the immediate removal of all showings across the UK, despite showings being listed online in Bolton and London.
However other cinemas in the UK such as the Vue in Leeds are still showcasing the film.
Sheffield Cineworld officially announced it has cancelled the showing of the sectarian film, ‘Lady of Heaven’.
A spokesperson for Sheffield Cineworld says “We have cancelled this film and will not be showing it again. We value you as our customers who are in the heart of this community, at a local level it was not our decision to show this film, it came from above and we totally agree with what you are saying, and we are not prepared at this cinema to show this film”.
In the letter to Cineworld signed by thousands of Muslims outraged by the screenings, the letter wrote “This movie is blasphemous to Islam and racist. It is not based on historical facts and its contents are against our Noble Prophet Muhammad and his companions who are held in high esteem by the Muslim nation all over the world. The family of the prophet and his companions have been depicted by actors which once again is against the teachings of Islam.
“This film should not be shown in the UK as it hurts the feelings of the Muslim Community. I have contacted Cineworld, Showcase Cinema and Vue Cinema who have agreed to show this film and write to you to express the displeasure in the Muslim community for airing this film”.
The film has been described as having an extreme Shia sectarian narrative, as the writer Yasser Al-Habib is known as a ‘radical’ Shia cleric, in Iran for criticising Sunni Muslim dignitaries.
The film is said to be an advancement of his radical beliefs, for which he has fled Kuwait and sought asylum in Britain, as he currently seeks refuge in Buckinghamshire.
Imam Abdul Hakeem said at the Friday protest outside Cineworld Bradford “Imran Hussain and all the members of Parliament with our votes where are you?”, as protestors gathered with megaphones shouting, “ban the film Lady of Heaven”.
Islamic scholars that protested in Bradford called out one of the “key players behind this film”, Kuwaiti writer Yasser Al-Habib, “our preaching is the Qur’an and Sunnah, Yasser is this how low you have stooped, your Dawah is on a cinema screen, your religion, your Iman is on a cinema screen”.
They challenged the writers and producers of the film to “come on national TV and academically debate us if you have the spine”.
An organisation that is seeking signatures for an online petition and has so far reached 106,839 out of 150,000 to ban the film in all cinemas, has said “We demand the cinemas to remove this film from their screens and understand that airing it will cause protests throughout the country and will not be accepted by Muslims”.
Many non-Muslims have taken to Twitter to counteract the controversy the film has caused.
One Twitter user writes “This was Bradford last night, which has been named England’s “capital of culture” and this Muslim mob is outside Cineworld over a “blasphemous” film”.
Another writes “THEN LEAVE AND GO TO A COUNTRY WITH SHARIA LAW AND THE DEATH SENTENCE FOR BLASPHEMY!!! Please Bradford Cineworld DON’T censor freedom of expression”.
The film was produced by Matthew Kuipers and Richard Rionda Del Castro, Directed by Eli King. The film stars Ray Fearon, Denise Black, Lucas Bond, Christopher Sciueref, Sami Karim, Albane Courtois and was released on 3 June in the UK.
