SlumDog Muslim?! by Abdullah al Hindi
Asalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakathuhu,
8 oscars, 14 golden globe nominations, world wide recognition and appreciation, resultant media frenzy. The media frenzy created waves all over the world.
Slumdog millionaire brought the harsh reality of a particular country (India) on to the widescreen with elegance, and shocked the audiences with its larger than life cinematic experience. Slumdog Millionaire earned critical acclaim from the biggest media houses and gained unparalleled publicity for its bold picturisation, powerful screenplay and strong message by addressing issues that still dominate India, although India would like to forget such issues or hide it behind its glittering Capatalist aspirations and dreams.
Child labour, poverty, beggary, slums, high illiteracy rate, police brutality, racial discrimination and more importantly the hindu-muslim tensions ever since India got independence in 1947. Director Danny Boyle used a plot revolving around the protagonist, Jamal Malik, a ‘muslim’ kid born and brought up in the poverty of Mumbai, India and goes through some unforgettably disturbing experiences in life .
It was precisly this reason that some Hindu activists in India; drowned in the fanatical emotion of nationalism, saw the movie as being Pro Muslim and came out in large numbers to protest against it.
Blogs, forums, and some websites were full of hatred and disgust shown by such people and some changed the title of the movie to ‘Slumdog Muslim’ to express their anger.
Ironically but truly ‘Slumdog Muslim’ neither sounds absurd nor abstract.
In fact, ‘Slumdog Muslim’ is also a film that’s still in production. The production of this epic began exactly 85 years ago. The production team however started planning this film, its storyline and its cast and crew years before hand. The planning was intense and involved a number of conferences, meetings and political calculations.
The producers of this films are the western powers. The directors are western and arab politicians and leaders. The story writers are the members of parliament and the biased media.
Hence unlike Slumdog Millionaire, this film titled ‘Slumdog Muslim’ is still in production. Its one of its kind indeed. The story writers and directors of this film are busy writing the continuing story line every day. Everyday a new plot is created, a new scene is shot with a new villian; and a new trailor is filmed and watched by millions of people around the world on the news channels. Special screenings and previews of this film are watched in the political cinemas and the next shot or sequence is discussed and debated; sometimes privately but often publicly to make the audience feel they are part of the plot.
Unlike Slumdog Millionaire which had only one Jamal Malik, in this movie there is more than one Jamal Malik. Probably hundreds and thousands of Jamal Maliks. Unlike Slumdog Millionaire this movie is not just about India but other countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.
There are probably hundreds of Jamal Maliks that represents each one of these countries. There are Jamal Maliks on the streets of Pakistan suffering the consequences of political corruption. There are Jamal Maliks in the slums of Bangladesh. There are Jamal Maliks resisting the occupation in Palestine.
In this film there are Jamal Maliks who beg to survive just another day and protect themselves from the bloody hands of the occupying forces.
‘Slumdog Muslim’ began filming on the day the Muslim Ummah was made a ‘slumdog’ by the dismemberment of the Islamic State. It was this Islamic State - Khilafah State, that gave the ummah its honour and glory. It was the 3rd of March 1924, exactly 85 years ago when the directors of the movie shot the first official scene of this movie. There were no heroes but only villains such as Mustapha Kemal, Sharif Hussain of Makkah, Abdul Aziz ibn Saud and the other agents of the colonialists.
The truth is that every Muslim will be a slumdog without the just Islamic system that would give him his honour back.
On the whole the Muslim Ummah will be treated like a slumdog at the hands of corrupt and selfish western power till the film comes to the climax.
But there is a major problem with this movie. Since the producers and directors of the movie did not fix the climax of the film for their own selfish reasons, as a result they are unable to bring the film to an end. Now they have realised that the climax is out of their hands. The climax looks more and more likely to be shaped by the heroes of this film themselves.
85 years on, the film is being produced and made everyday, Slumdog Muslim is the film that portrays the real situation that the Ummah is in today.
The following are some of the scenes of this film:
1920 British Mandates to Iraq, Transjordan and Palestine. French Mandate to Lebanon and Syria.
1921 'Abdullah recognised as Amir of Transjordan, Faisal made King of Iraq.
1924 Abolition of the Khilafah.
1926 Ibn Sa'ud proclaimed King of Hijaz.
1926 Sheikh Sa'id moved against Mustapha Kamal in 1926 with arms
1927 British recognition of independent Ibn Sa'ud's Kingdom.
1930 Britain terminates Mandate in Iraq and sponsors Iraq's membership of League of Nations.
1932 Ibn Sa'ud's Kingdom named Saudi Arabia.
1933 King Faisal of Iraq dies and is replaced by his son Ghazi.
1934 War between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, ended by British mediation with border changes favouring Saudi Arabia.
1936 Beginning of Arab revolt in Palestine.
1937 Peel Commission proposes partition in Palestine.
1939 Anglo-Turkish Treaty. White Paper on Palestine.
1940 Rashid Ali government formed in Iraq.
1941 British military intervention in Iraq, overthrowing Rashid Ali's government.
1942 British impose Wafd Party government on King Faruk. Jews demand Jewish state.
1945 Arab League pact signed in Cairo.
1947 Creation of Pakistan and India
1948 The creation of the illegal state of Israel
1971 The bloodshed in East Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh
1995 Bosnia war
1990 Gulf war
1992 The destruction of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India by Hindu mobs
1995 Chechnya massacre
2003 Occupation of Afghanistan
2005 Occupation of Iraq
2009 Islamic Lands continue to be divided into more than fifty secular nations.
Just as with Jamal in ‘Slumdog millionaire’ some aspects are in our control and other aspects beyond us. Whether we follow the guidebook of life, the Quran or not is within our control, whether we strive to work for its implementation by the establishment of a true Islamic state is also in our sphere of control. When will we hit the jackpot and become ‘millionaires’ and regain our security, independence, authority, justice and tranquility is beyond our control, this will happen only when Allah (swt) decides. However there is a difference here, for us it is not about ‘if’ its about ‘when’ – as we are promised this victory by the Almighty and His (swt)’s Messenger (saw). What remains is for us all to seriously work for it.
Allah (swt) says:
"Allah has promised those amongst you who believe and work righteous deeds, that he will indeed grant them inheritance of power in the earth, as he granted it to those before them; that he will establish in authority their Deen, which he has chosen for them, and that he will change their state from a state of fear into a state of security and peace. They will worship me alone and not associate partners with me, and those who reject faith after this, they will be the rebellious and the wicked" [TMQ An-Noor :55]
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal extracted that Huthayfah said the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: "The Prophecy will remain amongst you as long as Allah wills, then Allah will lift it when he wishes, then it will be a Khilafah Rashidah (i.e.: The first four Khalifahs) on the method of the Prophecy, it will remain for as long as Allah wills, then he will lift it when he wills, then it will be a hereditary leadership (i.e.: the Abbasid and Ummayid dynasties etc.) for as long as Allah wills then he will lift it when he so wills. Then there will be a tyrannical rule (i.e.: all the current Kufr regimes of the Muslims) for as long as Allah wills, then he will lift it when he so wills, then there will be a Khilafah Rashidah on the method of the Prophecy, then he kept silent." [Musnad Imam Ahmed 4/273]
Abdullah al-Hindi
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