The Message
(also released under the title Mohammad, Messenger of God)
is now used in the military's hearts-and-minds campaign, intended for shoring up public relations
in remote Muslim regions. That's a far cry from the big, late-1970s crowds that The Message was intended for,
made on a budget of $17 million, according to its Syrian-American producer Moustapha Akkad
.
"Being a Muslim myself who lived in the West," Akkad said, "I felt that it was my obligation, my duty, to tell the truth about Islam."
Akkad cast Anthony Quinn as Muhammad's uncle, Hamza, in the English version, and shot a separate version with Arabic-speaking actors. He gained support
from Islamic scholars at Al-Azhar University and filmed exclusively in the Arab world -- efforts to appease detractors who accused him of commercially
exploiting the Prophet's life. And Akkad even placed this slide, about 5 minutes into the movie, to conciliate Islamic audiences:
So the case of misdirected aggression in Kupwara -- aimed at Innocence of Muslims but hitting The Message -- reveals the two films' ironic parallel
history. Though Akkad sympathized and practiced Islam -- making him a foil to Bacile, a.k.a. Nakoula
Basseley Nakoula, one of the many monikers of the filmmaker who was recently jailed on November 7 -- his movie triggered a similar backlash. The Message provoked a bloody civilian protest 35 years ago that seems like Hollywood hyperbole today.
* * *
Washington, D.C., came to a standstill six weeks into the
Carter administration when on March 9, 1977, Hamaas Abdul Khaalis and 11 other Hanafi
Muslims drove a rented U-Haul from Maryland to the District of Columbia loaded with machetes,
shotguns, and swords. By mid-afternoon they had seized control of the District
Building, the Islamic Center, and the B'na B'rith Headquarters, shooting dead a
police officer and local reporter in the process. Among the 149 hostages they seized were a future mayor -- Marion Barry, then a city councilman, who
survived a shotgun wound to the chest -- and then-mayor Walter
Washington, who was barricaded in his office.
Poorly remembered about the plot is what provoked it: the same film that sparked protests in India this year.
"We want the picture
out of the country," Khaalis then declared. "Because it's a fairy tale, it's a joke. ... I'm Muslim and I'll die for my faith. It's a
joke. It's misrepresenting the
Muslim faith.
The 1977 Hanafi Siege dragged on for 39 hours, prompted Associated Press articles headlined "Moslem terrorists hijacking the capital," and would be considered the city's first major domestic-terrorism
crisis. It's been commemorated as an artifact of District-security lore, staged decades
before the 9/11 attacks.
After
the Hanafi episode, President Carter criticized the crisis coverage in its
aftermath for giving voice to extremists; he asked for "sober
consideration" amongst journalists in future scenarios. United Nations ambassador Andrew Young was more blunt: "I wish there could be a law to restrict publication of information regarding violent crimes," he said days after the incident.