03-04-2004, 04:13 AM
Bismillah
As salam alaikum
I'd ventue to say that no one should see this movie if they are going for a religious experience. A brother I love saw this movie and told me about it in great detail. His intension was to see the movie in order to be able to dialogue with Christians about it.
From what I hear, the movie does not include the message that Jesus brought, not the Islamic one or the Christian version. What it does show is the extreme acts that were done to this man in the several hours before getting crucified. It really plays up the emotional aspect of the religion versus the rational and logical. One identifies with the tradgedy and so feels attached to the character. I have heard that some people become "born again" (reinvigored in their faith in christianity after not practicing it for some time or ever) after seeing this movie. My brother pointed out something to a guy who was interviewing him for a paper about his perspective on the movie. The brother said that we will be questioned by God when being judged as to why we believed a certain way. He said, "Can you imagine telling God that you believed in Christianity because of the way that Mel Gibson's movie affected you?"
This makes me sad to see that a Hollywood movie with special effects is the reason people are feeling such religious emotions whereas the religion was there all along. Is this what humanity has become? Reduced to believing only as our emotions dictate us to believe?
I would feel the same way if a movie was made about Islam that did something similar. If the message of Islam was left out but only the hardships of Rasul-Ullah or the campanions were focused on, I would criticize muslims if they claimed that this movie increased their faith in Islam. Or if people claimed that it brought them to Islam. In fact, I would be flat out disgusted with that type of reaction because the deen of Islam has so much to offer and is so very deep. It is above such shallow interpretations and sentiments.
Allah Forgive me if I have spoken anything wrong. Astaghfirullah
As salam alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu