Islam: Empire of Faith

Every human with a bit of intelligence combined with objectivity will appreciate what was revealed by this documentary. Watch it and search for the rest if not satisfied. There are some things which are not mentioned in the documentary about Islamic civilization at all. For instance, it does not talk about stars named with Arabic names in the first observatory founded by Muslims. This documentary mostly only sketches the Islamic civilization and it does a very good job with that considering the existence of those ignorant people asking "Do Muslim's believe in God?". It is sad but definitely there are lots of people who will benefit a lot from even 10 minutes of this documentary. It was shocking for me to realize the pilgrims' visits which could be considered as a kind of globalization achieved peacefully so many years ago.

This is the first documentary that is fair to Islam and the Muslims. It is strongly recommended for anyone who lives in the West, particularly in the USA, and is skeptical of the propaganda that is constantly spread by the current U.S. administration and certain special-interest think tanks and groups.

If you are curious about Islam, and one of those who listen with a critical ear, this is a movie for you to watch. It is a first rate production that describes the faith accurately and recounts history as it was. It is also well crafted, with a beautiful cinematography, an excellent narration and a stunning display of art and architecture. Yes, it is missing a few things, but I don't believe anyone could have done a better job in trying to recount 1400 years of history in two hours.

Islam Empire of Faith is about the political side of the religion of Islam. Great leaders of every nation and period practiced some form of religion, but many of these pseudo documentaries tend to bring the religion to the forefront rather than the politics of the era. Case in point, Americans wouldn't call Franklin Delano Roosevelt a great Christian leader. FDR is simply a great leader that practiced Christianity. I was hoping to learn more about the religion itself. In the end, Jews, Christians, and Muslims all believe in the same God, but kill each other in the name of that same God. I don't think that this is really what God had intended so it must be the people who pervert the religion; it is more a sin to conquer in the name of God than it is righteous. Most religions would have you believe that their spread is bloodless, but this is rarely the case. Changing people's beliefs is the hardest thing to accomplish without exercising some kind of force. It is always good to get every side of historical events, so this definitely has some value.

"The Making of Islam: Empire of Faith" provided me with great insight into the faith of Islam. It was filmed and photographed beautifully, complementing the subject matter perfectly. The documentary depicted how the strength of the faith- a worldwide power grounded in spirituality, brought an empire together and united many people across three continents. This provided a secular perspective rather than solely a religious one, so it was interesting to learn about the religion in this context. It goes from the genesis of the religion, to the Crusades, and finally to the prosperous years under the reign of Suleiman the Great. Although the movie didn't exactly touch on contemporary issues of Islam (It stopped in the 16th century), I think it is an eye-opening documentary for those who don't know much about the religion, or who have been influenced only by western propaganda and news of Islamic terrorism. Another thing I found particularly interesting is how so many tribes within the peninsula that were previously isolated united under the banner of Islam, launching a huge, powerful, community tied solely in faith. This was due to the fact that Muhammad brought a sense of solidarity and a sense of mission that united all these different people. I think that this really shows the power that religion has on uniting people together, and reiterates the point that collective human power reigns over all. However, there was another thing that I felt that was missing from the documentary besides a contemporary view of the religion. I feel like the documentary was a little biased, or at least cherry-picking of it's information and pictures. It didn't really discuss the sometimes violent, gruesome aspects of conquest. Overall, I really enjoyed this informative documentary, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about Islam in a historical context- to learn more about how it developed to be one of the biggest religions in the world today. In fact, I think it is especially great for those who don't know very much about the religion in the first place.

"Islam: Empire of Faith" is quite good. I can't really fault much of its content. However, sadly, the documentary stops in the 16th century!! This does a disservice to Islam and provides absolutely no insight into Islam today and its relations with the rest of the world. What it does cover is from the birth of the religion in the 7th century, the early days of Islam, the Crusades and the final great years of Islam during the reign of Suliman the Great. Throughout the documentary, you hear lots of experts, see lots of video from various great cities, artwork and the like all set to nice music, Ben Kingsley's lovely narration and great polish.

My only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that the film seemed a bit too positive. In other words, instead of a critical look at the religion or Muhammad (which I would also like in a film about Christianity or Buddhism), it's mostly a glowing portrait. The only exception is that it talked about the crazy Egyptian who rules over Jerusalem and helped to spur on the Crusades (and this is the only documentary about the Crusades I've seen that talks about this). Still, it's well made and worth seeing even if a bit incomplete.