The Indonesian Islamic Love Story

Last updated on: December 8, 2011 at 11:35 pm by Muslimah Media Watch

The Indonesian Islamic Love Story 2011-12-08T23:35:06-04:00 Muslimah Media Watch

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Associated Press recently released a news piece titled by my local paper “Love story bolsters Islam’s image.” From the title alone, you’d think that Islam has never had a love story. The story implies that the film it covers is the first to portray Islam positively. We here at MMW tend to cover negative portrayals of Muslim women more often than positive ones, but we don’t go as far as to think that positive portrayals don’t exist. But from reading this article it’d be easy to think that there has only been one film featuring positive Muslim characters.

AP reporter Zakki Hakim looks at Ayat-Ayat Cinta (Verses of Love), a recent box-office hit in Indonesia (poster pictured right). The film tells the story of Fahri Adbullah Shiddiq, who goes to Egypt to study the Qur’an at Al-Azhar University. It has been praised for showing Islam positively, “based on love, patience and sacrifice,” in the words of the director, Hanung Bramantyo. It’s a notable and important goal.

According to the article, the film is “one of the first here to intertwine religion and popular culture on the big screen.” From the edits my local paper made to the AP full version, this alone became the focus of the article. What a depressing message — positive portrayals of Islam are noteworthy just for being positive.

Fans are quoted as hoping the film teaches viewers about Islam, Muslims — and the treatment of women. This is where it’s potentially troublesome.

All that’s clear about the women in the film is that Fahri has a lot of them. Fahri “struggles to choose a wife among four beautiful and distinctly different women.” He marries one, and then finds it necessary to marry another. Polygamy is “controversial” in Indonesia, according to the article, and Fahri again “struggles” to treat his wives equally, but the article doesn’t dwell further on the issue. I don’t know how the film deals with the topic. It’s possible it investigates the issue of polygamy with the complexity and maturity it deserves. And it’s noted that Fahri passes on “gentle issues about tolerance, corruption, women’s rights, and interfaith relations.”

But without watching the film — only available in Indonesia — we can’t know how it ends up. Instead, it sounds like the message imparted about women is that Muslim men don’t just marry one. That isn’t a reflection of the majority of Muslims’ marriages, and it’d be nice to hear about Muslim women who are more than just “beautiful and distinctly different.”

But despite its flaws, the article reflects Muslims who believe in a peaceful, tolerant Islam. That’s never something to complain about.

Cinema

News

Previous Post

March 25, 2008

A Class Apart

Next Post

March 27, 2008 From Drag to Riches

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advertisements Art/Theater Books/Magazines Cinema Comics/Cartoons Culture/Society Events Fashion Film Friday Links Merchandise/Commodities MMW Announcements MMW Highlights Music/Radio News Photography Politics Profile Ramadan 2012 Ramadan 2013 Ramadan 2014 Ramadan 2015 Roundtable Satire Social Media Sports Technology/Science Television Uncategorized Video Web

Select a Month November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Besides Samuel, Elkanah and Hannah had this many children.

Select your answer to see how you score.

5 2 8 0