‘The Message’ to be remade

(AFP) DUBAI – Producer Oscar Zoghbi has joined a team working on a new picture on the birth of Islam, according to details unveiled in Dubai last month. Titled "The Messenger of Peace," the movie will be set during the time of the Prophet Mohammed, a media statement by the production company said. Zoghbi also contributed to making the original 1977 film "The Message," regarded as the only epic to portray early Islam. The new film "is not about division and conflict but will focus wholly on the rich values common to all Muslims, like compassion and tolerance," Zoghbi said. Having worked with Moustapha Akkad, director of "The Message," Zoghbi said he appreciates the sensitivities and challenges linked with the subject of Islam. As with "The Message," there will be no depiction of the Prophet Mohammed on screen, as images of the prophet are strictly forbidden in Islam. "Since 9/11, Islam’s image has suffered tremendously," said Hajja Subhia Abu Elheja, an international film financier and executive producer of the new movie. "Now more than ever it has become important to bridge the gap of understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims." "It is telling that only one great historical film has ever been made about Islam, a religion with 1.5 billion followers, whereas Christianity has been the subject of over 30," he said. Hollywood director Ramsey Thomas will write the script for the new film, which will be shot in English but dubbed into other languages, in particular Arabic.

Videogame delayed over possible offense to Muslims

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia – American Muslims are now quite familiar with Humanitarian Day, the annual event founded by the Los Angeles-based ILM Foundation, where the members of the Coalition to Preserve Human Dignity come together to help the homeless.