Production
Director Akkad faced resistance from Hollywood to making a film about the origins of Islam and had to go outside the United States to raise the production money for the film. Lack of financing nearly shut down the film as the initial backers pulled out; financing was finally provided by then-Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi. The film was shot in Libya and Morocco, with production taking four and a half months to build the cities of Mecca and Medina as they looked in Muhammad's time.
Director Akkad saw the film as a way to bridge the gap between the Western and Islamic world, stating in a 1976 interview:
"I did the film because it is a personal thing for me. Besides its production values as a film, it has its story, its intrigue, its drama. Beside all this I think there was something personal, being Muslim myself who lived in the west I felt that it was my obligation my duty to tell the truth about Islam. It is a religion that has a 700 million following, yet it's so little known about it which surprised me. I thought I should tell the story that will bring this bridge, this gap to the west."
Akkad also filmed an Arabic version of the film (in which Muna Wassef played Hind) simultaneously with an Arab cast, for audiences in the Middle East. He felt that dubbing the English version in Arabic would not be enough, as the Arabic acting style differs significantly from that of Hollywood. The actors took turns doing the English and Arabic versions in each scene. Both the English and Arabic versions are now sold together on some DVDs.
In a film review, The New York Times reported that "when the film was scheduled to premier in the U.S., another Muslim extremist group staged a siege against the Washington D.C. chapter of the B'nai B'rith under the mistaken belief that Anthony Quinn played Mohammed in the film, threatening to blow up the building and its inhabitants unless the film's opening was cancelled. The standoff was resolved" after the deaths of a journalist and policeman, but "the film's American box office prospects never recovered from the unfortunate controversy."
Read more about this topic: Mohammad, Messenger Of God
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