Egypt’s Al-Azhar Institute: ‘Noah’ irreligious and should be banned
The Al-Azhar Institute in Cairo, Egypt’s top Islamic body, says the film “Noah”, starring Russel Crowe should be banned because it is “irreligious”, according to an AFP report today.
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The movie “antagonizes the faith”, the Sunni Muslim body noted, saying the film violated Islam by portraying a prophet.
The movie is supposed to debut in Egypt in three weeks.
Depicting prophets in art is a “crime; not art, that is harmful to the image of prophets,” Sheikh Sameh Abdel Hameed, a member of the Salafi Call, was quoted as saying.
“Depicting prophets opens the door for doubting the behavior of prophets … Actors cannot accurately mimic the behaviors, manners and appearances of prophets,” Abdel Hameed added.
Although the Al-Azhar institute cannot cannot ban the film outright, it does have an advisory role on censoring movies and books in Egypt.
The film has already drawn the concern of Christians prompting Paramount to release a statement.
“Egypt has a special place in the Islamic world and movies that damage Islam or harm prophets should not be displayed in the country,” Abdel Hameed, the member of the Salafi call, noted.
Other scholars have called for “destroying” any movie theatre that displays the blasphemous film.
