Saudi Arabia distort the history of Islam with Mu'awiyah?

According to the Mehr News Agency, the Mu'awiyah television series focused on the life of Mu'awiyah, which is referred to as the most expensive series made in the Arab world, has made noise in Iraq, Egypt and beyond.

The first part of the series “Mu'awiyah”, aired in the form of a two -part series about the founder and the first caliph of the Umayyad dynasty, made by the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan. The series, produced by Saudi Arabia's MBC, was filmed in Tunisia at a cost of $ 5 million. The author of the series is Egyptian journalist Khaled Salah and directed by Palestinian-American filmmaker Tariq al-Asrian.

Recently, Mu'awiyah's broadcast in Iraq was banned for the possibility of religious tensions, and Egyptian religious figures in Al -Azhar also condemned and banned it for portraying religious figures.

In a look at the hero of the story, Middel Estei mentions Mu'awiyah as a character in the early days of Islam, which is controversial among the Shiites. Mu'awiyah was born five years before the Prophet (peace be upon him), and the son of Abu Sufyan and India Bint Ataba, who were the most important opponents of Islam, first opposed the Prophet of Islam; But after the conquest of Mecca by the Muslims, Mu'awiyah and his parents converted to Islam.

According to the Sunni view of Mu'awiyah, one of the scribes of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was appointed by Abu Bakr by the first caliph, as the commander of the commander in the conquest of the Levant and promoted in the caliphate of Omar bin Khattab and became the Third Caliphate in the caliphate of Uthman.

Finally, after the death of Uthman, he refused to devote to Imam Ali (AS) and, in the name of Osman's bloodshed, rose to a fight with the Imam. The people of the evening made allegiance to Uthman's bloodshed and war with Imam Ali (AS).

This sparked the Jamal war of the first civil war in Islam and then the Saffin war, which became known as the first sedition, during which Mu'awiyah and Prophet Ali (PBUH) fought in the battle of Saffin in the 5th year.

After the martyrdom of Prophet Ali (PBUH) in the 5th year, Mu'awiyah also took control of Egypt and declared himself a caliph and Damascus. After the martyrdom of Imam Ali (AS), the Muslims vowed to Imam Hassan (AS). In a war between Imam Hassan (AS) and the army of Mu'awiyah, a peace between Imam and Mu'awiyah was signed between Imam and Mu'awiyah, according to which Mu'awiyah reached the caliphate. Many of the primary sources of Mu'awiyah consider the Imam to poison the Imam.

Under the rule of Mu'awiyah, the territories of Islam in North Africa, Anatolia, Central Asia and modern -day Iran spread. He identified his son Yazid as his successor with the peace treaty with Imam Hassan (AS), while it was not inherited until then, and eventually the reign of his son Yazid caused the Ashura incident in which Imam Hussein and his companions were martyred.

The Shiites refer to Mu'awiyah as one who even turned the caliphate into a hereditary monarchy, and they consider him to be a person who fought with Prophet Ali and poisoned Imam Hassan (AS).

Banned in Iraq

As a result of the Shiites' beliefs about Mu'awiyah, the new series was quickly banned in Iraq, and the Iraqi Media and Communications Commission said on Saturday that broadcasting of controversial historical content may create sectarian discussions that could threaten social coordination and disrupt society's peace, especially during Ramadan. The commission subsequently ordered the Iraqi MBC not to broadcast the program.

It is also said that the series is likely to be a diplomatic dispute between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. While the series was scheduled to be aired five years ago, the influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al -Sadr and Iraqi political figure had called on the MBC network to completely abolish the program.

He referred to Mu'awiyah as the head of sectarianism and pioneering in persecution of the Prophet's companions and the first person to disobey the Imam in his time and violate Islamic unity and the first person to kill the Prophet's Companions.

He said just five years ago in February: “The broadcast of such a series is contrary to new and temperate policies that Saudi Arabia has adopted and we do not need to hurt your Muslim brothers around the world.” At the same time, the Iraqi television channel threatened to produce a series about the Iranian fighter who killed Omar bin Khattab and respected the Shiites in response to the Mu'awiyah series.

Sadr rejected all three programs and said: “Every two serials are invalid and seductive, because Mu'awiyah is not a Sunni representative and Abullah is not a Shiite representative. He also called on those who “broadcast false historical serials”, “sectarian masters”. Although MBC did not respond, that may be the reason for the two -year delay in the series.

Prohibition

Apart from the possibility of fueling sectarian tensions, the play has been criticized for portraying the important figures of the early days of Islam and the life of Prophet Muhammad.
Reda Abduljid, head of the Faculty of Media at Al -Azhar University of Egypt, told local media: “Al -Azhar refuses to portray the Prophet's companions.”

However, Ali bin Abi Talib and Imam Hassan (AS) are depicted in the series “Mu'awiyah”. This led the Maghreb's lawyer to file a lawsuit to prevent the series from being broadcast in Egypt because of the image of Prophet Ali (PBUH).

The influence of Saudi media

The series was written by Egyptian journalist Khaled Salah and directed by Palestinian-American filmmaker Tariq al-Asrian. After the Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman's resignation, Syrian actor Legend Ismail played the role of Mu'awiyah. Asmaa Jalal, Aisha ibn Ahmad, Jamila Chi, and Ayad Nasser, the actress of Ali bin Abi Talib (AS), are other actors in the film.

In response to criticism of the play “Mu'awiyah”, Khaled Salah said that his purpose was not to present a particular narrative and not write history black and white and not only looked at Mu'awiyah as a ruler, but also depicted a person who was wrong and like all those who came before him.

The series was filmed in Tunisia in Tunisia at the Carthage Studios, and other scenes from Mahdieh, Monastery and Ensa were added to filming. Reports indicate that although the initial estimates of the budget were nearly $ 5 million, production costs exceeded $ 5 million.

The program was produced by the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC), Saudi Arabia's largest television network. Founded in London in London by Saudi Arabia, MBC has dominated the Saudi media space and has about 5 million spectators a day. He was one of the prominent figures who was arrested in the arrest of Saudi princes in Ritz Carleton in Riyadh in year 6, but was released after a special agreement with Saudi officials.

Despite the ban on Iraq and the senior administration of Al -Azhar University of Egypt who have banned the series by issuing a fatwa, Mu'awiyah has begun broadcasting since the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.

The decision to broadcast Mu'awiyah has launched a wave of discussions in cyberspace, especially because of the showing of several key historical characters, including four of the four companions that have been given to Paradise in the Islamic tradition, and five of the Prophet's families and daughters. Al -Azhar has repeatedly opposed the shows of these characters in cinema and television.
On Tuesday last week, the Saudi MBC group, a propaganda teaser entitled “The Historical Epic of” Mu'awiyah “: The Empire The Empire Writing the Ideal History from East to West”, also shared on the martyr's streaming platform.

Demonstrational abuse of Mark Ramadan

The holy month of Ramadan is when most Arabic television series aired for the first time and is the most popular time for networks throughout the region.
This is not the first time that the Saudi MBC network has been protesting to produce a TV series about the events of Islamic history that has been heavily disputed by Shiite and Sunni Muslims. The Saudi media group produced the series “Al-Hajj” and the Year 2 series “Fars Bani Marwan” about the Umayyads of Hajjaj bin Yusuf (1-4) and Marwan I (1-4), which was met with opposition from Shiite Muslims.

Year 2 was also produced on the life of the Caliph of Omar ibn al-Khattab (1-4), which significantly disturbed the Egyptian Sunni in Al-Azhar to show the face of Prophet Muhammad's companions.

Other Ramadan programs that have sparked controversy include the Syrian television series “Al -Hassan and Al -Hussein” in 2008, which aroused the anger of Iraq and Iran due to the claim of “overthrowing Shiite beliefs” and in a rare comment, the Supreme Religious Authority of the Iraqi Shiite.