Making A Nice Prophet – Postive review of PBS’s "Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet"

NY Post | December 18, 2002 | Linda Stasi

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Tonight at 9 on Ch. 13

IF you've read any of the angry comments surrounding tonight's PBS documentary "Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet," you'd think that the film was a call to war against all other religions, not to mention the US of A.

What the heck were these people watching? One writer is even angered that the producers present the Prophet Muhammad's "night journey" to Jerusalem (the Prophet claimed in a revelation that he had traveled from his home to Jerusalem and back overnight) as "truth."

What about the bazillion documentaries about Judaism and Christianity? Can you imagine if the parting of the Red Sea or the raising of dead Lazurus, for example, were presented as made-up, folk stories?

Anyway, speaking for myself, since I had basically as much knowledge about the founder of Islam as I do about, say, the home life of Joseph Smith, I found the documentary both compelling and telling.

For example, despite the fact that Muhammad was orphaned by the age of six and could neither read nor write, he was a good businessman who caught the eye of a wealthy, older widow. He did such a bang-up job of managing her business (a caravan full of goods) that she proposed marriage to him. Yes, even though he was in his 20s and she in her 40s, she popped the question. He accepted and they went on to have four daughters and two sons (who died). Not to mention a bunch more caravans.

That means she must still have been having kids into her 50s. That alone sounds miraculous to me.

Even more miraculous is the fact that the man who founded what has become the Muslim religion, worked for a woman! In fact, according to the documentary, the laws He laid down for Muslims included the end to female infanticide, protection of women's inheritances, legal rights in marriage and the right of women to divorce.

How these laws ended up a license to put women in burqas, commit female genital mutilation and the public stoning of women who are caught walking with men to whom they aren't married, I can't imagine.

The documentary intersperses a biography of Muhammad with the lives of modern American Muslims. (Did you know the largest Mosque in North America is being built in - yes - Dearborn, Michigan?)

While not addressing the horror that fundamentalist Islam has become (that's for another show - can you imagine if every documentary on the life of Christ included the excess of the Crusades or the priest scandals?), I would have appreciated more of the true grit of those early religious wars.

What I didn't realize is that the Jewish/Muslim conflicts started over 1,400 years ago, while Muhammad was still alive, and that several Jewish tribes joined the Meccans in their fight against Muhammad and his followers. That's a very long time to hate.

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See also:

PBS, RECRUITING FOR ISLAM

[Revolting cat!]

Next Week on PBS: Historical Jesus as a homophobic hate criminal!

[Revolting cat!]

Here's something printed in very small print at the bottom of an unusual ad for a PBS program, which appeared this morning in the front section of my local daily paper:

"Funding for Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet has been provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The David and Lucille packard Foundation, Arabian Bulk Trade, Sabadia Family Foundation, Irfan Kathwari Foundation, El-hibri Foundation, Qureishi Family Trust and many individual contributors."

[ladysusan]

I posted about this yesterday and was soundly flamed by some for it. This piece of war propaganda will be aired in North Texas tonight at 8 pm on KERA, Channel 13. I suggest anyone who is outraged by this write to the president of KERA,
Gary L. Ferrell. His email address is gferrell@kera.org

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Interesting. PBS doesn't generally buy print ads for their shows.

I would imagine funding for the ad came from one of those "exotic sounding" names they printed.

I guess they're hoping this puts an end to the millions upon millions of hate crimes we Americans are visiting upon our peace loving Muslim friends every day.

[wjcsux]

Interesting funding situation. The Packard Foundation, who has no issue with funding anything far left, and a bunch of ragheads.

[FITZ]

Maybe we can redefine Islam for it's millions of followers and make them become more peaceful. New editions of the Koran should be written for it's followers ----there's more than one way to skin a cat.

[Revolting cat!]

Anothor interesting tidbit was in the puff pieces and interviews with the director of the documentary (an Anglo) which focused on the fact that no images of Muhammad or his disciples are available or are allowed by the Muslim faith. The emphasis on this is calculated, I suspect, to appeal to the Protestant audience. ("Look Henrietta, they're just like us!")

[sheik yerbouty]

Enemy jihadist propoganda.

[MEGoody]

"Can you imagine if the parting of the Red Sea or the raising of dead Lazurus, for example, were presented as made-up, folk stories?"

Where has this guy been? Does he think PBS would every present anything from the bible as anything but myth?

[VOA]

Making A Nice Prophet – Postive review of
PBS’s "Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet"

I'll be watching to see how much revisionism and moral equivalency is loaded into this show.

I got to hear the fellow who wrote the script for the show this morning on
the morning-drive show on KABC 790AM in Los Angeles.

The writer didn't take any calls...and was into the moral equivalency excuses
for the mess that Islam creates most places it goes.

He said that oppression of women happens everywhere...and it's
done under the banner of the Catholic church in South America.

I chuckled over that one because one of the hosts of that show (Dan Avey)
is a faithful Catholic (at least from what I discern from some of his asides...).

Oh well, those Islamicists are past masters at making friends and influencing
people...NOT!

[VOA]

bump...and a heads-up to folks to watch the re-airing of the Frontline special "Muslims"
on PBS tonight (Thursday).

It is a good antidote to last nights infomercial about Muhammad.

[VOA]

bump...

and just telling folks that the balanced documentary "Muslims" from
the Frontline division of PBS will be airing tonight at 9PM (Pacific Time) in the Los
Angeles area (on KCET).

I think it will air on other PBS affiliates. Interested parties can go to
www.pbs.org, enter their zip code in the "What's on tonight" search box,
select their local PBS station to see when (and if) their station is carrying this
good documentary about the state of the larger Islamic world.

Trust me, it's not the kinder, gentler world of Muhammad shown last night on PBS...

[dead]

Bump! Thanks for the tip. I meant to tape it last time, but I screwed up.

[Morrigan]

Okay, I know this is going to sound a little crazy, but listen up--Muslims want to kill you. I thought the same way you did at one point--"Gee, it is only the radicals doing it, not all Muslims are bad," yada yada yada. Until I started looking into what Muslims think and say when no one else is around.

Let me tell you--all Muslims are like that. They may not show it on the outside. They all sympathize with the terrorists. They may say, "Well, yeah, terrorists are bad, but American forgien policy is worse." This is what the moderates think. Moderates don't think people should be killed, but they don't care when we are--because they think we deserve it.

They desire Islam and Sharia to take over the world. Moderates that I have talked to say, "I'm not violent, but I will not allow anyone to insult the prophet or Islam." These people don't ordinarily act violent--but they are telling you that they will unless you shut your mouth and lay down for Islam.

I hate Muslims. I hate Islam. I am not afraid to say it. You need to wake up, because thinking that Muslims are okay is going to get us all killed. Seriously.

What I read in their forums made me do two things--I am going to start taking martial arts classes and I am looking into purchasing a gun, knife, and pepper spray--whatever weapons I can legally have on my person. As a female, I will be a nice, tasty victim for the Muslims that have recently descended on my formerly peaceful community. They have already tried to kill a few men, and there was an attempted rape also committed by a Muslim.

Protect yourself. Don't trust these people. They want to hurt you, no matter how nice they are to your face.

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Okay, I know this is going to sound a little crazy, but listen up--Muslims want to kill you. I thought the same way you did at one point…you need to wake up, because thinking that Muslims are okay is going to get us all killed. Seriously.

You need to learn to distinguish between the person who posted an article and the person who wrote it. Seriously.

[bimbo]

... no images of Muhammad or his disciples are available or are allowed by the Muslim faith.

There was a movie about 30 years ago which depicted the face of Muhammed ... the Hanafi Muslims rioted in Washington D.C. for more than a week ... took over some government buildings, etc.

[Morrigan]

Actually, I wasn't referring to the posted article, but to your comments in post 5. I kind of skimmed it and didn't really capture the sarcasm until after--sorry.

[dead]

No problem. My post #5 very sarcastic!

[VOA]

There was a movie about 30 years ago which depicted the face of Muhammed ...
the Hanafi Muslims rioted in Washington D.C. for more than a week ...
took over some government buildings, etc.

I think this is the film that Michael Medved discussed on his show a year or so ago...
(when most of America finally realized that quite a few Muslims want us DEAD,
and many of their co-congregants are reticent to restrain their belligerant
co-congregants).

IIRC, the face of Muhammad (sp?) is never shown in the film, in accordance with the
medieval tradition of most Muslims (and I mean "medieval" in the negative sense).

And I think that some of these nutburger Muslims took over some movie theater that dared
to show the film in either New York City or maybe it was Washington, D.C....I can't remember which.

But, being a couple of decades ago, it was "a simpler time". I think the
Muslim fanatics that took hostages were satisfied to just let everyone go free
after their protestations got some publicity...instead of blowing up a building, etc.