Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet

Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet
Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet promotional poster
Directed by	Michael Schwarz Omar al-Qattan
Starring	Karen Armstrong Hossein Nasr Daisy Khan M. Cherif Bassiouni Mohammed Zakariya
Narrated by	André Braugher
Theme music composer	Kabir Helminski Martin Bresnick
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Michael Schwarz Alex Kronemer Michael Wolfe
Editor(s)	Glen Ebesu Gail Huddleson
Running time	116 minutes
Production company(s)	Kikim Media Unity Productions Foundation
Distributor	KQED
Release
Original network	PBS
Original release	December 18, 2002

Muhammad: Legacy of the Prophet is a PBS documentary film about the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad based on historical records and on the stories of living American Muslims who call Muhammad the Messenger of God. It was produced in 2002 by Alex Kronemer and Michael Wolfe of Unity Productions Foundation and Kikim Media.

Content

Three years in the making, the documentary tells the story of the seventh century prophet who changed world history in 23 years, and continues to shape the lives of more than 1.2 billion people. The film takes viewers not only to the Arabian desert and ancient Middle Eastern sites where Muhammad's story unfolded, but also into the homes, mosques and workplaces of some of America's estimated 7 million Muslims to discover the many ways in which they follow Muhammad's example. Scholars on Islam provide historical context and critical perspective.

Producer and director Michael Schwarz stated;

"There are six to seven million Muslims here in America, where Islam is the country’s fastest growing religion, but many Americans are completely unfamiliar with the life story of the remarkable man who founded this religion 1400 years ago."

Appearances

Among the people in the film, the following are included:

• Karen Armstrong - Former nun, author on Abrahamic religions and 2008 TEDPrize winner
• John Voll - Professor of Islamic history, Georgetown University
• Seyyed Hossein Nasr - Professor of Islamic Literature, George Washington University, and a well-known Shi'a Twelver Islamic scholar, honored at the United Nations
• Reuven Firestone - Scholar of Islam and Judaism, Hebrew Union College
• Daisy Khan - Executive director of ASMA Society and wife of Feisal Abdul Rauf
• M. Cherif Bassiouni - Professor of Law, DePaul University, 1999 Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
• Mohammed Zakariya - Muslim convert and master Arabic calligrapher
• Hamza Yusuf - Muslim convert and co-founder of Zaytuna College
• Michael Wolfe - Muslim convert and author of The Hadj
• Jameel Johnson - Muslim and Chief of Staff for Congressman Gregory Meeks
• Kevin James - Muslim convert, Supervising Fire Marshall from New York City Fire Department (arson investigator and 9/11 first responder)
• Najah Bazzy - Muslim Critical Care Nurse, Dearborn MI (Appears with her husband, Ali, and daughter Nadia)
• Abdullah El-Amin - Local Imam
• Anwar al-Awlaki - Scholar, former Chaplain at George Washington University, former Imam in California and Washington D.C.^[1]
• Sayed Hassan Al-Qazwini, the Imam of The Islamic Center of America and very respected Shai scholar

Funding

Funding for Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Arabian Bulk Trade, Sabadia Family Foundation, Irfan Kathwari Foundation, El-Hibri Foundation, Qureishi Family Trust, and many individual contributors.

Broadcast

Muhammad was originally broadcast nationwide on December 18, 2002 on PBS and has since been rebroadcast on well over 600 individual PBS stations. The United States of America (U.S.) viewership is estimated to be over 10 million. The documentary received worldwide broadcast in many languages on National Geographic International in December 2003 and many other countries.

Community

The film is used in thousands of communities, schools, universities, religious congregations, and civic organizations throughout the United States to increase Americans' understanding of Muslims and Islam. Guides to facilitate discussions of the film's themes are available through the 20,000 Dialogues project^[2] and the Islam Project.^[3] The DVD of the film was re-issued in 2011 and includes the dialogue guide and lesson plans for teachers to use the film in the classroom.

See also

• Depictions of Muhammad
• List of films about Muhammad
• Muhammad in Islam
• Islamophobia
• Alex Kronemer
• Michael Wolfe

References

1. "Anwar Al-Awlaki in The Legacy of a Prophet". Youtube. 15 October 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
2. 20,000Dialogues.org
3. IslamProject.org

External links

• Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet at PBS
• Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet at the Internet Movie Database
• Unity Productions Foundation