History & Biography

This year on the show, we’re testing out new, exciting and fearful grounds. It’s new, because of the places we visit for the first time.

Al-Ayen International

Adults

Arabic

DVDMS3

Dr. Ali Al Omary

From the author:
I have traveled east, west, and north and have gone to countries far way like Sri Lanka for one episode of 10 minutes. The effort, tiredness, and trouble along the way is irrelevant because the nature of paving the way to revival is difficult and risky, but the end is fun, exciting and calls for work. We are overdue and have kept ourselves busy meditating the big, wrong goal that qualifies us to be the best nation. I will work, God-willing, to lift up the revival and civilization flag that the ummah is proud of in all fields. As mission and beauty are explored in Sri Lanka, art and science are explored in France, charity in Kuwait, awareness and development in Qatar, humanity and sacrifice in Egypt, and tidiness and progress in Oman. All these scenes in the minds of the youth in the ummah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). And allow me here to put down my humble pen to start thinking about the civilization and revival project for the next year.

0

From the author:
I have traveled east, west, and north and have gone to countries far way like Sri Lanka for one episode of 10 minutes. The effort, tiredness, and trouble along the way is irrelevant because the nature of paving the way to revival is difficult and risky, but the end is fun, exciting and calls for work. We are overdue and have kept ourselves busy meditating the big, wrong goal that qualifies us to be the best nation. I will work, God-willing, to lift up the revival and civilization flag that the ummah is proud of in all fields. As mission and beauty are explored in Sri Lanka, art and science are explored in France, charity in Kuwait, awareness and development in Qatar, humanity and sacrifice in Egypt, and tidiness and progress in Oman. All these scenes in the minds of the youth in the ummah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). And allow me here to put down my humble pen to start thinking about the civilization and revival project for the next year.

DVD

5015

Begins with the story of the known voyages of Admiral Zhen He.

PBS Home Video

Adults

English

841887004497

Larry Belling

Experience little-known history in this telling of the story of a Muslim from China who may be the one to receive credit for discovering America. Using location photography and beautifully crafted dramatic reconstruction, this two-part documentary begins with the story of the known voyages of Admiral Zhen He, a Chinese Muslim navigator, and ends with an examination of best-selling author, Gavin Menzies' hypothesis, and evidence that it was Zhen He and the Chinese who in fact discovered America long before Columbus.

PBS presents Menzies' theory and puts it to the test, traveling across the continent in search of clues, drawing on contemporary historical accounts, and providing a wealth of scientific and technological evidence from scholars. The results are fascinating, often dramatic, and make for gripping television.

From the Back Cover
Did the Chinese discover America in 1421? This fascinating documentary examines this question, and the mystery surrounding the sailing exploits of the legendary Admiral Zhen He, and his impressive 30-year command of a massive Chinese fleet. The Ming emperor burned all records of Admiral Zhen He's daring voyages and achievements, and unwittingly created a mystery that tantalizes the world 500 years later.

DVD Specifications

• Widescreen presentation (1.78:1 aspect ratio) - enhanced for widescreen TVs
• Dolby Digital 2.0 English
• NTSC
• Region 1

0

Experience little-known history in this telling of the story of a Muslim from China who may be the one to receive credit for discovering America. Using location photography and beautifully crafted dramatic reconstruction, this two-part documentary begins with the story of the known voyages of Admiral Zhen He, a Chinese Muslim navigator, and ends with an examination of best-selling author, Gavin Menzies' hypothesis, and evidence that it was Zhen He and the Chinese who in fact discovered America long before Columbus.

PBS presents Menzies' theory and puts it to the test, traveling across the continent in search of clues, drawing on contemporary historical accounts, and providing a wealth of scientific and technological evidence from scholars. The results are fascinating, often dramatic, and make for gripping television.

From the Back Cover
Did the Chinese discover America in 1421? This fascinating documentary examines this question, and the mystery surrounding the sailing exploits of the legendary Admiral Zhen He, and his impressive 30-year command of a massive Chinese fleet. The Ming emperor burned all records of Admiral Zhen He's daring voyages and achievements, and unwittingly created a mystery that tantalizes the world 500 years later.

DVD Specifications

• Widescreen presentation (1.78:1 aspect ratio) - enhanced for widescreen TVs
• Dolby Digital 2.0 English
• NTSC
• Region 1

DVD

5502

This year on the show, we’re testing out new, exciting and fearful grounds. It’s new, because of the places we visit for the first time.

Al-Ayen International

Adults

Arabic

DVDMS2

Dr. Ali Al Omary

This year on the show, we’re testing out new, exciting and fearful grounds. It’s new, because of the places we visit for the first time. It’s fearful because we visit places of extreme hardship and pending fates, such as Darfur. And it’s exciting because it will thrill your hearts to see great Muslims landmarks which have become landmarks for others!

As the host of the show narrates, “Never in my life have I experienced such fatigue, both mentally and physically. These ongoing travels have even affected my health, which needs more care! I thought about canceling the project Tourist Diaries, since so much time has passed by since filming the last episode. But after the broadcast episodes were viewed by so many, I heard so much positive feedback from the viewers, and my fatigue went away. Nevertheless, we also need to pay attention to our own nation.”

0

This year on the show, we’re testing out new, exciting and fearful grounds. It’s new, because of the places we visit for the first time. It’s fearful because we visit places of extreme hardship and pending fates, such as Darfur. And it’s exciting because it will thrill your hearts to see great Muslims landmarks which have become landmarks for others!

As the host of the show narrates, “Never in my life have I experienced such fatigue, both mentally and physically. These ongoing travels have even affected my health, which needs more care! I thought about canceling the project Tourist Diaries, since so much time has passed by since filming the last episode. But after the broadcast episodes were viewed by so many, I heard so much positive feedback from the viewers, and my fatigue went away. Nevertheless, we also need to pay attention to our own nation.”

DVD

4420

Takes viewers through an engaging, insightful journey into this critical period in world history.

Unity Productions Foundation (UPF)

Adults

English

9780979885709

Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain takes viewers on an epic journey back into one of the most fascinating and important periods of world history.  It tells a story of vital importance for our contemporary world about the triumphs and shortcomings, achievements and ultimate failures of a centuries-long period when Muslims, Christians, and Jews inhabited the same far corner of Western Europe and built a society that lit the Dark Ages.
The lemon tree, the water wheel, and Aristotle’s lost philosophy all arrived in Europe through Islamic Spain, as did algebra and the beginnings of modern medicine, science, and poetry.  Here were the very roots of the European Renaissance.
All this was the legacy of a diverse society that managed to create a culture of light in a time of general darkness and ignorance in Europe.  Cities of Light shows how it was possible for Muslims, Christians, and Jews to co-exist and thrive together—and yet how fragile that union can be when religious extremism begins to rise.  The glories of Islamic Spain are beautifully rendered, but the film does not flinch when vividly portraying the violence and horror that ultimately engulfed it—violence that seems similar to what we witness today.
The world is at a crossroads.  Exploring the vibrant history of Islamic Spain could not be more important as we confront the profound political, strategic, and ethical challenges that will determine issues of war and peace for generations to come.  
The history of Islamic Spain demonstrates that when religious diversity is accommodated within a social and political system, problems and tensions may still exist, but society is able to successfully manage them, generally to the benefit of all. But when a power system or religious movement rejects complexity and insists on a single cultural and religiously-centered point of view, then society is likely to come to grief with everyone losing something.    
The history of Islamic Spain delivers this message with unprecedented power because it is a common history shared by both the Muslim East and the European West.
Supported by a diverse group of scholars, this film was co-produced by Unity Productions Foundation (Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet), a nonprofit corporation dedicated to increasing cultural understanding through the media, and by the award-winning film director Rob Gardner (Islam: Empire of Faith; Arab and Jew: Return to the Promised Land; The Barbarians).  The film makes an important contribution to our understanding of history and world events—what once occurred and what might happen again—and will help advance the global discussion already underway concerning peace and social progress in the 21st century.

Here are some interesting facts about the production of Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain:

• Filming took place over a period of 18 months.
• The re-enactments were filmed in studio facilities in Lithuania, one of the most cost-effective locations in Europe.
• Filming included extensive shooting of art, landscapes, and architecture in Spain.
• Computer animated art teams from major museums scanned color transparencies for color and detail accuracy.
• The film uses three-dimensional high-color map imagery throughout the story to enhance viewers’ understanding of the migratory paths various groups and individuals took to reach Spain, as well as to highlight geographical events.
• Cities of Light was filmed in high definition
• The film features a commissioned original musical score, which incorporates Christian, Muslim and Jewish music themes of that time period, presented in the style of a modern cinematic score.
• The film received an endorsement from The World Economic Forum, who’s Council of 100 Leaders on West-Islamic World Dialogue (C-100) chose interfaith screenings of the film as a priority project.
• The Cities of Light broadcast is accompanied by a grassroots dialogue campaign, called the 20,000 Dialogues.

• Lesson plans and facilitator's guides for further exploring Islamic Spain.

• Widescreen presentation (1.78:1 aspect ratio) - enhanced for widescreen TVs
• Dolby Digital 2.0 English
• NTSC
• Region 1

0

Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain takes viewers on an epic journey back into one of the most fascinating and important periods of world history.  It tells a story of vital importance for our contemporary world about the triumphs and shortcomings, achievements and ultimate failures of a centuries-long period when Muslims, Christians, and Jews inhabited the same far corner of Western Europe and built a society that lit the Dark Ages.
The lemon tree, the water wheel, and Aristotle’s lost philosophy all arrived in Europe through Islamic Spain, as did algebra and the beginnings of modern medicine, science, and poetry.  Here were the very roots of the European Renaissance.
All this was the legacy of a diverse society that managed to create a culture of light in a time of general darkness and ignorance in Europe.  Cities of Light shows how it was possible for Muslims, Christians, and Jews to co-exist and thrive together—and yet how fragile that union can be when religious extremism begins to rise.  The glories of Islamic Spain are beautifully rendered, but the film does not flinch when vividly portraying the violence and horror that ultimately engulfed it—violence that seems similar to what we witness today.
The world is at a crossroads.  Exploring the vibrant history of Islamic Spain could not be more important as we confront the profound political, strategic, and ethical challenges that will determine issues of war and peace for generations to come.  
The history of Islamic Spain demonstrates that when religious diversity is accommodated within a social and political system, problems and tensions may still exist, but society is able to successfully manage them, generally to the benefit of all. But when a power system or religious movement rejects complexity and insists on a single cultural and religiously-centered point of view, then society is likely to come to grief with everyone losing something.    
The history of Islamic Spain delivers this message with unprecedented power because it is a common history shared by both the Muslim East and the European West.
Supported by a diverse group of scholars, this film was co-produced by Unity Productions Foundation (Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet), a nonprofit corporation dedicated to increasing cultural understanding through the media, and by the award-winning film director Rob Gardner (Islam: Empire of Faith; Arab and Jew: Return to the Promised Land; The Barbarians).  The film makes an important contribution to our understanding of history and world events—what once occurred and what might happen again—and will help advance the global discussion already underway concerning peace and social progress in the 21st century.

Here are some interesting facts about the production of Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain:

• Filming took place over a period of 18 months.
• The re-enactments were filmed in studio facilities in Lithuania, one of the most cost-effective locations in Europe.
• Filming included extensive shooting of art, landscapes, and architecture in Spain.
• Computer animated art teams from major museums scanned color transparencies for color and detail accuracy.
• The film uses three-dimensional high-color map imagery throughout the story to enhance viewers’ understanding of the migratory paths various groups and individuals took to reach Spain, as well as to highlight geographical events.
• Cities of Light was filmed in high definition
• The film features a commissioned original musical score, which incorporates Christian, Muslim and Jewish music themes of that time period, presented in the style of a modern cinematic score.
• The film received an endorsement from The World Economic Forum, who’s Council of 100 Leaders on West-Islamic World Dialogue (C-100) chose interfaith screenings of the film as a priority project.
• The Cities of Light broadcast is accompanied by a grassroots dialogue campaign, called the 20,000 Dialogues.

• Lesson plans and facilitator's guides for further exploring Islamic Spain.

• Widescreen presentation (1.78:1 aspect ratio) - enhanced for widescreen TVs
• Dolby Digital 2.0 English
• NTSC
• Region 1

DVD

4115

A giant of a man against a General seeking glory... a spectacular adventure of archenemies in battle.

Anchor Bay Entertainment, Inc.

Adults

Arabic and English

013131329193

Moustapha Akkad

Made in 1979, Lion of the Desert is a historically faithful study of the guerrilla struggle against the Italian fascist occupation of Libya led over a 20 year period by Omar Mukhtar, played by Anthony Quinn. The Italians colonized Libya, Somalia, and Ethiopia as part of an attempt to compete with their Western European rivals who had a toehold in Africa. Mukhtar was a leader of the Senusi people who lived in the Cyrenaica region in Eastern Libya before it became a modern state. Described as a bedouin in the film, the Libyians have the same kind of fiercely independent streak as the Algerian Kabyle (Berbers) who challenged French colonization in the 1950s.
Quinn relied more on wile than on physical prowess, just as Mukhtar did in real life. This is not a Braveheart-type of film that unrealistically depicts the oppressed Libyans as defeating the much larger and better equipped Italian army through sheer courage, but rather one that is marked by frequent exhaustion and defeat. Omar Mukhtar today is remembered less for his ability to foil the fascists, but rather for his inner resourcefulness and belief in freedom.
In the beginning of the film, Mukhtar is giving Qur’an lessons to young boys in a Senusi village. Throughout the film, the character’s religious faith goes hand-in-hand with his determination to resist the occupation. These same beliefs also lead him to avoid mistreatment of Italian prisoners. His main adversary in the film is Gen. Rodolfo Graziani (Oliver Reed), who was hand-picked by Mussolini to quash the Senusi rebellion. His methods included herding the Senusi into concentration camps and erecting a long barbed-wire fence between Libya and Egypt to cut off supplies. Historians estimate that between 30,000 and 70,000 Senusis were killed during the occupation. Shortly after, the fascists hung Omar Mukhtar. His followers issued a statement that could be a rallying cry for the Iraqi resistance today:

The Fascists believed that the condemnation of Omar Mukhtar to death would make it easier for them to occupy the country, but unfortunately for them the souls of the martyrs are an eternal flame which inspires the national spirit in the hearts of the people still living. The martyr of the Tripoli-Brace nation is not dead; for he has left his people with an immortal monument of heroism which will be inherited by future generations. This sad monument, built by the Fascist assassins’ hands, will remain forever and will never be forgotten because it has left mortal wounds in our hearts.
Woe to those oppressors who do not respect the age, the courage and the incomparable heroism of Omar Mukhtar, but they cannot understand the significance of this quality. The years cannot wipe out the horror of this crime, which struck the heart of all Arabs, and which will always remain as a stain on their history, washed as it is in the blood of innocents, of women, of men, of the aged and of children.

0

Made in 1979, Lion of the Desert is a historically faithful study of the guerrilla struggle against the Italian fascist occupation of Libya led over a 20 year period by Omar Mukhtar, played by Anthony Quinn. The Italians colonized Libya, Somalia, and Ethiopia as part of an attempt to compete with their Western European rivals who had a toehold in Africa. Mukhtar was a leader of the Senusi people who lived in the Cyrenaica region in Eastern Libya before it became a modern state. Described as a bedouin in the film, the Libyians have the same kind of fiercely independent streak as the Algerian Kabyle (Berbers) who challenged French colonization in the 1950s.
Quinn relied more on wile than on physical prowess, just as Mukhtar did in real life. This is not a Braveheart-type of film that unrealistically depicts the oppressed Libyans as defeating the much larger and better equipped Italian army through sheer courage, but rather one that is marked by frequent exhaustion and defeat. Omar Mukhtar today is remembered less for his ability to foil the fascists, but rather for his inner resourcefulness and belief in freedom.
In the beginning of the film, Mukhtar is giving Qur’an lessons to young boys in a Senusi village. Throughout the film, the character’s religious faith goes hand-in-hand with his determination to resist the occupation. These same beliefs also lead him to avoid mistreatment of Italian prisoners. His main adversary in the film is Gen. Rodolfo Graziani (Oliver Reed), who was hand-picked by Mussolini to quash the Senusi rebellion. His methods included herding the Senusi into concentration camps and erecting a long barbed-wire fence between Libya and Egypt to cut off supplies. Historians estimate that between 30,000 and 70,000 Senusis were killed during the occupation. Shortly after, the fascists hung Omar Mukhtar. His followers issued a statement that could be a rallying cry for the Iraqi resistance today:

The Fascists believed that the condemnation of Omar Mukhtar to death would make it easier for them to occupy the country, but unfortunately for them the souls of the martyrs are an eternal flame which inspires the national spirit in the hearts of the people still living. The martyr of the Tripoli-Brace nation is not dead; for he has left his people with an immortal monument of heroism which will be inherited by future generations. This sad monument, built by the Fascist assassins’ hands, will remain forever and will never be forgotten because it has left mortal wounds in our hearts.
Woe to those oppressors who do not respect the age, the courage and the incomparable heroism of Omar Mukhtar, but they cannot understand the significance of this quality. The years cannot wipe out the horror of this crime, which struck the heart of all Arabs, and which will always remain as a stain on their history, washed as it is in the blood of innocents, of women, of men, of the aged and of children.

DVD

3561