Ar Risalah) Among the Moroccan Diaspora
. Volume 9, Issue 1 May 2012 Connecting Islam and film culture: The reception of The Message (Ar Risalah) among the Moroccan diaspora Kevin Smets University of Antwerp, Belgium. Summary This article reviews the complex relationship between religion and film-viewing among the Moroccan diaspora in Antwerp (Belgium), an ethnically and linguistically diverse group that is largely Muslim. A media ethnographic study of film culture, including in-depth interviews, a group interview and elaborate fieldwork, indicates that film preferences and consumption vary greatly along socio-demographic and linguistic lines. One particular religious film, however, holds a cult status, Ar Risalah (The Message), a 1976 historical epic produced by Mustapha Akkad that deals with the life of the Prophet Muhammad. The film’s local distribution is discussed, as well as its reception among the Moroccan diaspora. By identifying three positions towards Islam, different modes of reception were found, ranging from a distant and objective to a transparent and subjective mode. It was found that the film supports inter-generational religious instruction, in the context of families and mosques. Moreover, a specific inspirational message is drawn from the film by those who are in search of a well-defined space for Islam in their own lives. Key words: Film and diaspora, media ethnography, Moroccan diaspora, Islam, Ar Risalah, The Message, Mustapha Akkad, religion and media Introduction The media use of diasporic communities has received significant attention from a variety of scholarly fields, uncovering the complex roles that transnational media play in the construction of diasporic connectedness (both ‘internal’ among diasporic communities as well as with countries of origin, whether or not ‘imagined’), the negotiation of identity and the enunciation of socio-cultural belongings.
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