Trailer
Plot summary
The angel Gabriel comes to Muhammad with the first revelation, and Muhammad begins to preach the worship of one God to the people around him. Only a few of them accept the message, and the rulers of Mecca, among them Abu Sufyan and Hind, treat the small group as a threat. Muhammad's companions are hunted, and their possessions are taken. Some of the followers cross to Abyssinia, where the king grants them protection. The rest travel north and are welcomed in Medina, where they build the first mosque. Word reaches them that their property is being sold in the markets of Mecca.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Message (1976)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- A group calling itself the Hanafi Movement besieged the Washington, D.C. chapter of the B'nai B'rith, threatening to blow up the building and its inhabitants unless the film's opening was canceled, under the mistaken belief that Anthony Quinn played Muhammad. The standoff was resolved after the deaths of a journalist and a policeman.
- In July 1976, five days before the film opened in London's West End, threatening phone calls to a cinema prompted Akkad to change the title from Mohammed, Messenger of God to The Message, at a cost of £50,000. The film was banned in Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the last of those until 2018.
- Filming in Morocco started in April 1974, but Moroccan police forced the production to stop on 5 August, as Hassan II of Morocco had been pressured by Faisal of Saudi Arabia. Akkad was granted permission to film in Libya after showing unedited film to Muammar Gaddafi, and filmed there until May 1975.
- A light bulb on the camera was used during the scenes of characters with Muhammad to represent his immanence. Islamic scholar Khaled Abou El Fadl, a friend of Akkad, praised the device: "To figure out a way to have the prophet become a person without showing him - it was brilliant".
- Muhammad Ali wanted to play Bilal, but the role was given to Sekka instead, who said that "Akkad wanted a Moslem with acting experience to play the role" and asked "how could anyone believe that Ali could be tortured and abused as Bilal was?".
