Audience Member
Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet
His father dying before he was born, and his mother when he was six, he was taken in by his uncle. He became a trader and married well, despite his background as an orphan. At the age of forty, unable to read or write, Muhammad received his first revelation from God. This movie tells the story of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, and his significance to his 1.6 billion followers. Director Omar Al-Qattan used wonderfully ancient paintings and historical sites to walk us through the Prophets life.
What Muhammad was able to do just over two decades is extraordinary. With the perfect soundtrack choice, the glorious moment when Muhammad returns to Mecca made the movie that much more remarkable.
Throughout the movie, we are shown how many Americans lives have changed because of the message Muhammad was sending. Najan Bezzy, a Muslim nurse from Michigan, explains how his word of charity and helping others, influenced her occupation. Kevin James, a Fire Marshal from New York, became a firefighter to help others. This was the idea he got from Islam.
The documentary features several brilliant scholars, such as Karen Armstrong, who together told the amazing story of Muhammad and his life. They were able to tell it with such a passion for it, and confidence that makes the documentary much more fascinating.
Al-Qattan did a wonderful job of illustrating the qualities of the man who influenced so many people today. He did so by constantly reminding us that he was human, just like everyone else. He did make some mistakes, but that's what made everything he did more impressive.
I give the movie a 8/10 for its beautiful scenery and music, and its incredible portrayal of the Prophets life. Several times throughout the movie we were taken to the sites where a lot of these events took place. I think the music tied the whole thing together, by adding a gripping effect to the dialogue. I thought it could have looked at the religions affect on a more global scale, as it was primarily focusing on America. I thought that would have made the movie more powerful. The majority of the followers are located in Asia, and it would have been intriguing to find out what role Muhammad played in their lives.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/11/23
Full Review
Audience Member
This is a really inspiring, moving, and powerful documentary. Interwoven with the story of Mohammad and the creation of Islam are the stories of modern-day Muslims living in America, a very effective if somewhat nonlinear narrative. It's not just a history of Mohammad and Islam, nor is it a story about modern-day Muslims (both by birth and by choice), but a beautiful interweaving of the two. The subtitle 'Legacy of a Prophet' really says it all, as these people live their lives in accordance with the teachings and examples of Mohammad, still looking to him as a role model and looking at his life for guidance over a thousand years after he walked the earth. I wish more people with open minds would see things like this and come to realize that the majority of Muslims are kind sweet generous peace-loving people like the people in this video, such as Kevin the fireman, Ingrid the professor (she appears in the deleted scenes), and Najah the nurse. As is pointed out in the scene at the Dearborn soup kitchen, the Catholic priest who came there to learn more about Muslims soon found out the truth about the religion and its practitioners, and that the extremists in the news are a small minority, the same way that if an outsider to his own faith had asked him about extreme and newsworthy examples of so-called Catholics behaving badly, he'd rightly explain to the person that that's the exception and not the rule. It was also surprising to learn that Dearborn, Michigan has a huge Muslim population; you don't usually think of a city in Middle America as having a large immigrant or Muslim population! After seeing this documentary, now I have even more respect and love for Islam, and for the prophet Mohammad. The extras are also great. There are a number of deleted scenes, interviews, and a virtual Hajj. Also very moving and inspirational is that the people who made this documentary are Muslims, Jews, and Christians, all working together with mutual respect and tolerance for one another's faiths. The Islamic artwork used for illustrations during the historical narratives was also very beautiful and inspiring, and as the non-Muslim film-makers soon found out, the story or the visuals didn't lose any of their zing or power just because the subject of the documentary is not allowed to be given a face or even drawn at all. That convention of Islamic artwork just makes the viewer really pay attention to the story of Mohammad's life and the profound impact he still has on his millions of followers the world over today, instead of looking at a physical depiction of him and getting one set idea about who he was based on that.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/14/23
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Audience Member
This was an excellent documentary. I did not realize how out of touch I was from the Muslim community and the teachings of Muhammad, until I started taking a World Religion Course, I was very ignorant to other religions and that is the reason I wanted to take the course. After 9/11 I saw how Muslims were being treated and that is what really got me interested. After reading and studying Muhammad's beliefs and teachings I too am wondering was he the final Prophet. I try to treat others the way I want to be treated and I try to live a live free from lies and stress. I do what I call the 3 Rules with money. I give some to Charity, I spend some and I save some. I put family first and help my siblings when asked and I do want to do more in the community. If we all give a little no one would be hungry in this county or any other county. Muhammad teachings are similar to my Christian beliefs. Muhammad spent 23 years receiving revelations and making them known to his followers.
The Scholars provided very detailed information for the documentary, and they did an excellent job, however I was looking more for a movie than a documentary film. I did gain a lot of knowledge, but if there were characters I think I would have grasped it even better. Based on what I have learned about the Muslim faith I am interested in learning more.
I too fear for the Muslim believers because when they leave home in their attire their family members don't know if they will return, being a black woman who was raised during the 1960's my family had the same fear for me here in America when I was in the first grade.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/26/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Abuelgasim, Ali
Movie Review#1
Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet
In summary, the movie talks about the Prophet Muhammad and how he brought his massage of Islam around the Arabian dessert and Mecca. The movie also talked about how Islam spread around all over the world. Muhammad father died when he was born and his mother died when he was six years old. His uncle raised him and took care of him. In addition the movie talked about Islam in America. America has a lot of Muslim families and other people who converted to Islam. Kevin James who his father is a Native American and his mother is Jewish was one of the people who converted to Islam. He became a fire fighter because he knows that "The Qur'an teaches us that saving of one life is as if we have saved all of humanity."
This movie relates to my World Religion course in many different ways. I have noticed that the movie talked about how the Islam started and how it begin. In many of the religions that I have studied like Buddha, they always have a main character or messenger who have a massage that he have to spread. In addition the movie mentioned the difficulties that the prophet Muhammad had faced during spreading his massage. I have learned from my World Religion that I'm taking that most religions have a similar massage. Most of the religions encourage people into peace. Also, after watching this move I have realized that religions have the power to bring people together and it us as people to find unity.
Although the movie was good, I think that they should have explained Islam little bit more than how they did it. In addition, the movie has escaped some of the main important characters who have helped Prophet Muhammad to spread his massage. In overall, The movie is worth watching, but it could have been better.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
01/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The movie is a two-hour PBS documentary of Muhammad's life and how people relate to his teaching today. It tells the story of how, at the time of his birth, the land he grew up in was wicked. Muhammad's father died before he was born and his mother dies when he was six years old. Orphaned, he sought comfort with his uncle. He was not able to read or write. Muhammad was born in Mecca under a powerful tribe called Quraysh. Produced in 2002 by Michael Wolfe, Michael Schwarz, and Alexander Kronemer and directed by Michael Schwarz and Omar al-Qattan, the movie continued to tell the story of Muhammad's life. Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet also takes viewers on the road with people who follow Muhammad's teaching today. One person is Kevin James who is a fire marshal. James explained why he chose his profession and says to love God is to love others. So, he serves people in a way he feels is right; as a first responder he helps all races of people, not just his own. There are others in the documentary that told their story and how Muhammad's teaching helped them. It is a must-see documentary for those interested in Islam.
The documentary goes right along with what we are learning about Islam in class. The life of Muhammad is told the same married at age 25, had five children with his first wife; two of his sons died. At the age of 40, he encounters the angel Gabriel and from that moment on for the next 23 years he received the message and revealed it to his people. The documentary also relates to the Qur'an, which is God's message to Muhammad and Muhammad shared that message with his people. The fact that Muhammad is the last prophet; he was just a man, not divine. It also told about the five pillars, the way one prays, lives and eats each day as well as the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/22/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet is an educational documentary that sheds light on the prophet Muhammad and the fastest growing world religion of Islam. Islam is a religion with 1.2 billion followers with 7 million of them in America. The movie walks us through the life and death of the prophet while including interviews of Muslims in America today.
The events of 9/11 cast a shadow on this already misunderstood religion. Through interviews with educators and Muslim Americans we learn the events that took place in New York should not be what people associate with the average Muslim. The actions that took place were caused by religious extremists and goes against all Islamic teachings. Islam is a religion based on love of God and service to the community. The people interviewed in the film all agree that Muslims can be understood with open dialogue and education.
Islam is based on the teachings of the prophet Muhammad. Muslims consider him as God's final prophet. Muhammad was born around 570 CE in the city of Mecca. Muhammad's father died when he was born and mother died when he was only six years old. His uncle Abu cared for him until he was of age.
People that met Muhammad said he was generous and mild tempered. Muslims consider him the best idea of what a good person should be. As an adult Muhammad became a respected merchant. At the age of 25 he married his first wife Khadijah. Khadijah gave birth to four daughters. She also had two sons that died at birth.
Muhammad often went to the mountains outside of Mecca to meditate. One day in the year 610 CE Muhammad went to The Mountain of Light to meditate as usual when he encountered the angel Gabriel. Gabriel asked Muhammad to recite. Muhammad could not read or write but was asked to recite the words of the one true God. Islam began on that day.
Muhammad believed in serving the poor and downtrodden. He rallied for the rights of women. He taught his followers they would be accountable to God for their good and bad deeds.
Muhammad did not want pictures around of him, other prophets, or idols. He did not want to be placed on a pedestal or treated like Jesus. Muhammad was a man that wanted his followers to understand the word of God.
This movie explained the beginnings of Islam and showed how Muslims in America are no different than other American. With movies like this and open dialogue we can better understand the religion of Islam.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/01/23
Full Review
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