Whenever Muslims have talked about their continued demonized image in Hollywood, and subsequently about the dearth of Muslims working behind the camera to help change it, the example of filmmaker Moustapha Akkad often came up as a bright spot. Akkad, who was murdered last week in the Jordan suicide bombing along with his daughter Rima, was for half a century the most successful Muslim in Hollywood, known in the West for jumpstarting the horror genre with the "Halloween" films that he produced. But to Muslims worldwide, he was the one who brought the 1976 movie "The Message" - which told the story of the birth of Islam while deftly avoiding portraying the Prophet Muhammad directly - to the big screen.

As with his 1981 film "Lion of the Desert" (about the real-life story of Libyan resistance, led by the simple Omar al-Mukhtar, to the Nazi invasion of WWII), "The Message" performed poorly at the box-office (despite critical acclaim) but won the hearts of Muslims worldwide for being the "Passion" of its day. "I felt that it was my obligation [and] my duty to tell the truth about Islam," said Akkad, whose first experience with the type of extremists that took his life was when a group of Muslims who thought that "The Message" portrayed the Prophet (which it did not) took hostages at three Washington, DC theaters, demanding the movie not be shown in the US.

Having lived in California for most of the last 50 years, Akkad's passion was to tell stories of import to the Arab and Muslim worlds, but in a way that would be relevant and entertaining to Americans. "In my house, I am a pure Arab, mentally and everything," he told a Jordanian newspaper last year. "When I step out, I am thinking like an American." Akkad has inspired a generation of Muslim Americans - among them his son Malek - who have entered the creative fields, determined to tell their stories and to entertain others.

At the time of his death, Akkad had been achieving some progress in his decades-long effort to bring the story of Salahuddin to the screen in an $80 million epic, reportedly convincing Sean Connery to play the lead role. ("The character of Saladin should be presented in a language [Americans] understand and interpreted by actors/actresses well-known to them," explained Akkad.)

But for the meantime, the cameras are off as family and Hollywood friends pause to remember their own "Lion of the Desert."

What a sad and shameful loss! My condolences go out to Mr Akkad's family.

Shahed, this is an appropriate article. It would be nice to know, however, how we can send condolences to his family.

Migocup

How sad, how shameful, how tragic.

How many valuable lives have we lost, and how many more are we going to lose in this fratricidal, meaningless war!

Official condolences can be sent here (this is the website of Akkad's production company).

Thanks for link Shahed.

I believe Muamar Gaddafi financed these two movies of Mr. Akkad. I remember a few years back browsing thru the biography of Actor Anthony Quinn (who has also passed away), at the local bookstore I'd say in the early nineties sometime. And he had written a whole chapter on these two movies that he and Mr. Akkad produced together. Interesting how Mr. Akkad tricked Gaddafi into ponying up the funds as narrated by Quinn.

So Ghaddafi gets half credit for these movies, I dono how palatable that is to most folks. I believe these for shot in the Libyan desert too. I remember reading about Quinn's bumping into Yasir Arafat in a hotel elevator at the time of the shooting (movie shooting that is).

Ghaddafi (how do you transliterate his name?) fully financed "Lion of the Desert" to the tune of $35 million. The film only took in $1 million at the box office, making it one of biggest financial disasters in the movie biz. Not sure about his role in "The Message", though.

I remember the "Making of segment..." mentioning Libya and Morocco on the DVD release.

What a tragic loss. Extremists have slain the man who directed the first Englis-speaking film worth seeing on the life of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Till this day, aside from PBS documentaries, "The Message" and "Lion of the Desert" are the two films that are staples at any Islamic or Arabic store, the pride of many Muslims, and still the favorite Islamic films in English to date. These two films have brought many a person to Islam and kept many a person IN Islam.
I'm beyond sorrow at this point.

It is said that specially edited versions of "Lion of the Desert" are used to inspire Al-Qaeda terrorists in their deeds. Ironic. A filmmaker should always insist on retaining editorial control of his work.

Most odd that after last month's bombing in Amman that this is the only commentary about it on altmuslim.com. Should other victims be ignored as if they never existed? What about the political and religious implications?

Most odd that after last month's bombing in Amman that this is the only commentary about it on altmuslim.com. Should other victims be ignored as if they never existed? What about the political and religious implications?

I talked a bit in our last podcast about how we shouldn't forget the scores of people who have anonymously suffered the same fate as Akkad. It's all too easy to get numb to the repetitive nature of these killings.

It was a shame Mossad would not allow him to finish his film.

I salute Mr. Akkad for bringing to the screen the early history of the spread of Islam by our Prophet Muhammad. While watching the movie, I could easily get emotionally attached to the bitterness and hardships faced by our Prophet in spreading the words of Allah. This only makes me sympathesize with, believe in, and love him even more. Now I realize that what moslems have to do today approaching the end of the world is to practice Islam in his footsteps--as a way of both great respect to the prophet for what he had done and also of belief in one God who promises happiness in the afterlife to whoever regards him most. For this effort Mr. Akkad put into the movie, I pray to God that he is placed best in heaven...Amin