‘The Lady of Heaven’ creates discord among Muslims: Reviews

Eli King’s latest film ‘The Lady of Heaven’ about Hazrat Fatimah al-Zahra (SA), the daughter of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), is believed to cause discord among Muslims, particularly between Shia and Sunni Muslims. 

Following the ban of the movie’s online screening in Iranian VoD services, the intention behind making ‘The Lady of Heaven’ has been questioned as whether it is even true in its claim.

Produced by Enlightened Kingdom Company, ‘The Lady of Heaven’, which will be released in London today, is about an Iraqi child who loses his mother in the war. Living with his grandmother, he is exposed to the life story of Lady Fatima (SA) and her suffering as the first victim of terrorism extending into the 21st century.

Featuring Sarah Trevis, Ray Fearon, Mark Anthony Brighton, Denise Black and Oscar Garland, ‘The Lady of Heaven’ zeroes in on the crimes of Daesh in Iraq and Syria.

The controversies over the film have been aroused mostly because Sheikh Yasser al-Habib, as the screenplay writer of the movie who is a Kuwaiti Shia Muslim cleric and also the head of the London-based Khoddam Al-Mahdi Organization, is believed to have expressed his personal religious views and conclusions concerning Islamic history based upon Shia and Sunni sources.

Despite public opinion about al-Habib who is known for causing division and discord, al-Habib has claimed that ‘The Lady of Heaven’ conveys a message of love and peace.

However, Iranian clerics Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, Ayatollah Hossein Nouri Hamedani and Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpayegani have banned watching the film, believing that it will cause discord among Muslims, particularly between Shia and Sunni Muslims. 

Unlike so many other religious films produced in the Islamic countries like Iran, Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq that helped promote unity among different Islamic schools of theology, ‘The Lady of Heaven’ is said to deviate Muslims from unity.

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