Islamic “Passion of the Christ”

Nader Talebzadeh, an Iranian director, made an Islamic version of the life of Jesus Christ or as we Muslims called him, Prophet Isa. The movie entitled “Jesus, The Spirit of God” is aimed to “make a bridge between Christianity and Islam, to open the door for dialogue since there is much common ground between Islam and Christianity,” the director told AFP. I haven’t seen this movie but I know several things that probably be in this movie:

• He was a prophet, not the ’son of God’
  He is among the many prophets that has been sent by Allah with Muhammad being the final one.
• Jesus/Isa prophecised the coming of Prophet Muhammad.
  According to the Quran, he called him ‘Ahmad‘. Some Muslim scholars also believe that the word ‘paraclete‘ from the Gospel of John refers to Muhammad. Lastly, Jesus’ prophecy about Muhammad is recounted in the Gospel of Barnabas, an apocryphal Gospel.
• Crucifixion of Jesus/Isa never happened
  He was raised to heaven where he waits till the end of days in which he returns to defeat Dajjal/Antichrist. According to Islamic beliefs, they crucified the wrong person. Some say it was a body double and some say it was Judas whose likeness was divinely changed to Jesus.

What do I think about this whole movie thing? Nah, I’m not into it. Sure I’m a Muslim and I do believe in the Islamic version of Jesus but I don’t think a movie should necessarily be made to make that point. I’m not disgusted by it, no no, so don’t expect me to go crazy rioting on the street burning stuff. I’m civilized, only dumbasses do that and it’s a shame that only dumbasses get on TV LOL

Hmm..there’s also another thing that kinda bugs me. Here’s a quote from AFP:

“The director is also keen to emphasise the links between Jesus and one of the most important figures in Shiite Islam, the Imam Mahdi, said to have disappeared 12 centuries ago but whose “return” to earth has been a key tenet of the Ahmadinejad presidency.”

“Iran has tens of thousands of its own Christians who are guaranteed religious freedoms under the constitution — mainly Armenians, though their numbers have fallen sharply since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Every Christmas, Ahmadinejad and other officials lose no time in sending greetings to Christian leaders including the pope on what they describe as the “auspicious birthday of Jesus Christ, Peace Be Upon Him (PBUH).”

In this year’s message, Ahmadinejad said that “peace, friendship and justice will be attained wherever the guidelines of Jesus Christ (PBUH) are realised in the world.”

Shiite Muslims, the majority in Iran, believe Jesus will accompany the Imam Mahdi when he reappears in a future apocalypse to save the world.

And Talebzadeh said the TV version of his film will further explore the links between Jesus and the Mahdi — whose return Ahmadinejad has said his government, which came to power in 2005, is working to hasten.

Shiites believe the Mahdi’s reappearance will usher in a new era of peace and harmony.

“We Muslims pray for the ‘Return’ (of Imam Mahdi) and Jesus is part of the return and the end of time,” Talebzadeh said.

“Should we, as artists, stand idle until that time? Don’t we have to make an effort?”

[emphasis added]

Let me get this straight, this movie is aimed to helped bridge the gap between Christians and Muslims so that we can get along by the time Jesus comes back during the end of times? The end of times in which Ahmadinejad’s government is ‘working to hasten‘?

You know, I knew someone who’s an atheist and he told me that world politics is getting more secular or realist everyday. MY ASS! Religious extremism is on the rise and it’s political influence continues to grow. And before you guys go, “yeah Islamic fundamentalism is a problem” Right Wing Christian ideology is getting stronger in the US and will probably (most say it has) influence foreign policies. What’s even worse is that there are elements of apocalyptic thinking from both sides. In other words, foreign policies aimed to trigger prophecised chain of events; ‘Political Metanarrative’

Damn, two things I didn’t really want to talk about in my blog were religion and politics. And here I am putting those two things together in a single post. WTF I’ll try not to do these types of post again Hehe. Go read my Dragon Ball movie post instead, it’s been getting many hits. LOL

THE YEAR 1429, 2008, 2551, 5768?

Today marks the new year of the Islamic calendar or Hijrah. The calendar begins with the migration of the Prophet Muhammad from his birthplace Mecca, where he was shunned and ridiculed by the majority of the citizens, to Medina which is about 300 plus kilometres north. According to the calender, that happened 1429 years ago.

But nowadays the Islamic calendar is mostly used for religious and traditional purposes (except for Saudi Arabia where it is the official government business calendar).  I know some of my Muslims fellows are fussy about using the Gregorian calendar because it counts from the birth of Jesus Christ therefore it’s Christian and only they are suppose to use it. Dude, it was invented by the Romans not written in the Bible. Just like how the Quran didn’t mention about start counting the years from the Prophet’s migration. That decision was made by his companions after the Prophet’s death. By the end of the day, a calendar is just a way to keep track of time. Whether it is an Islamic calendar or a Gregorian calendar, it makes our lives easier to organize.

So according to the different calendar, we are in the year:

1429 – Islamic Calendar
Counting from the migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina

2008 – Gregorian Calendar
Birth date of Jesus Christ

2551 – Buddhist Calendar
From the passing of the Buddha

5768 – Hebrew Calendar
Starts from the traditional creation date

Note: Correct me if I made an error on these dates.