Islam: Empire of Faith

"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.

This documentary is an excellent introduction to those aspect of Islam which is covers. Unfortunately it is far too limited in scope but I understand why this is. With a fixed amount available for production costs the choice was either coverage in depth of a small part of the whole or a diluted coverage of a wider range of topics.

It covers, at about 50 minutes each, three aspects of the religion: Mohammed and the origins, the culture and the first Christian crusade, and the Ottoman empire. Each is given excellent coverage but it is very much a secular description rather than a religious one. For those people who have little knowledge of Islam except for exposure to the western propaganda and the news of Islamic terrorist (a minute minority of the whole) this is an eye-opening documentary. Everyone should know about the rich cultural heritage which kept alive intellectual pursuits during the dark ages of western Europe. The sections on the Ottoman empire and the fall of Constantinople is well covered and provided some information I was not familiar with.

The photography is also excellent, showing some of the wonderful architectural achievements of the early Muslims. I was not clear how much of the footage was of real life situations being recorded, how much was scripted for the production, or how much (if any) was extracted from other footage, but the blend results in a well-balance, instructive video.

Highly recommended for everyone, especially those whose exposure to Islam is only that which is portrayed by the USA media.

I loved every bit of this documentary, I was really eager to know the genesis and the expansion of Islam. I would recommend this movie/documentary for anyone who wants to have an insight on Islam. And i would also recommend it seeing on a big screen TV.

Also the narration by Ben Kingsley is phenomenal.Not many people know that Kingsley is a Muslim ( born to an Indian Muslim Father and British Mom).

In this present era, with everything thats been said on TV, this is a great eye-opener for the most beautiful religion of the world. For anyone and everyone to know the history and the truth , i highly recommend.

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.

"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.