AGENCIES-
Three Arab countries have banned the Hollywood film “Noah” on religious grounds before its worldwide premiere and several others are expected to follow suit, a representative of Paramount Pictures told a foreign news agency on Saturday.
“Censors for Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE (United Arab Emirates) officially confirmed this week that the film will not release in their countries,” a representative of Paramount Pictures, which produced the $125 million film starring Oscar-winners Russell Crowe and Anthony Hopkins, told a foreign news agency.
“The official statement they offered in confirming this news is because ‘it contradicts the teachings of Islam’,” the representative said, adding the studio expected a similar ban in Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait.
The film will premiere in the United States on March 28.
Cairo’s Al-Azhar, the highest authority of Sunni Islam and a main center of Islamic teaching for over a millennium, issued a fatwa, or religious injunction, against the film on Thursday.
“Al-Azhar … renews its objection to any act depicting the messengers and prophets of God and the companions of the Prophet (Mohammad), peace be upon him,” it announced in a statement.
They “provoke the feelings of believers … and are forbidden in Islam and a clear violation of Islamic law,” the fatwa added.
For a religion that speaks of peace, Islam is clearly the most intolerant religion in the world. Muslim countries countenance absolutely NO freedom of speech or thought when it comes to religion or religious ideas, and should one deign to disagree or challenge Islamic myths, that person is subject to threats, insults, and even violence.
It an insult to human dignity and intellect to deny anyone the right to have, express, state, advertise, or present opposing or alternative beliefs, arguments, and ideas – religious, political, or otherwise – without retribution or the fear thereof.
I look forward to seeing this movie and its true .God Bless
@ Gabriel, as Muslims we do not like the pictorial representation of our Prophets, and would certainly condemn any activity that involved any such portrayal. You speak of intolerance, isn't it tolerance enough to let the Non-Muslim release and screen the movie as per their wish and schedule? The Muslim world has its own set of ethical and moral code of conduct, and with all due respect, I feel that it should not bother you whether we allow the screening of any such movie in our country or not. Most Muslims are on board with this decision.
Thank you, and hope you have a wonderful time watching the movie.
God bless.
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