The brouhaha surrounding the latest cinematic depiction of 6th Century Islamic Arabia by provocateur, Yasir Habib, is by no means misplaced or exaggerated. While Muslims living in the West have strategized responses in the fight against decades of now institutionalised Islamophobia, it really is beyond the pale that a so-called Muslim production would now kowtow with such servility to a liberalised agenda and wilfully blaspheme the prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) and those who carried his legacy. The sectarian agenda – no doubt hoping to pit Sunni against Shia at a time when Muslim unity is paramount – is palpably abhorrent, as is the gross caricaturing of the prophet’s wife Aisha and his most intimate companions (may God be pleased with them all). Ergo, an accompaniment of overtly racist overtones and overtures alien to the Prophet naturally ensues a film that inhabits – in Yasir Habib’s mind’s eye – a disparate world far flung from the reality of the noble Companions of the Prophet.
The Lady of Heaven is nothing buy a tawdry and vulgar sectarian rabble-rouser and should be boycotted and protested by all Muslims whose reverence of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is unquestionable and who sincerely uphold his legacy.