By AHMAD JAWAD
Writer is Chief Visionary Officer of World’s First Smart Thinking Tank ” Beyond The Horizon” and most diverse professional of Pakistan. See writer’s profile at http://beyondthehorizon.com.pk/about/
Reference Article : دنیا بھر کے مؤرخین کو چیلنج ہے میرا
Attached link reminds us about the greatest Ruler & General of all times: Hazrat Umar Farooq. It also highlights the disappointment that why Alexander the Great gets more attention for his victories compared to bigger victories & achievement of Hazrat Umar Farooq. Reminders are necessary to keep a nation aware of his legacy & history. History is not just Past, it’s the Flash light towards Future. If we don’t switch on Flash Light of Past, Future will be dark.
History is not what actually happened, history is what has been written in books , can be seen in Heritage Museum or historical sites & symbols or lately what has been shown in the video form through documentaries, Films or Television Serials. We the Muslims are responsible to destroy & conceal our own history. Where is our historical sites & historical symbols of greatest victories of Hazrat Umar Farooq?where is any Islamic Museum showing the history of Hazrat Umar Farooq?Where is the Image of Hazrat Umar Farooq which could be used in movies or documentaries?Where are the movies or documentaries on his great victories? If we don’t use any of the tools of highlighting History, we cannot complain of our history distorted or not recorded. Only effort to highlight the great history of Hazrat Umar Farooq is a recent Television Serial made in UAE but question remains how many Muslim countries are ready to launch it officially through Cinema or Television. It is still seen only on YouTube or through other social media tools.
I wonder when, how & why we Muslims reached to the conclusion that showing an imaginary image of Hazrat Umar & other Sahaba Karam is prohibited? Why a movie or documentary can not be made on Hazrat Umar Farooq?
Why all the historical sites & symbols of evolution & rise of Islam do not exist in Makkah or Medina? Why we are reluctant to use such sites as a show case of our history?
Turkey & Iran are two exceptions who have done quite well in preserving our Islamic history. These are only two countries where Muslims all over the world & are able to see great signs of our Islamic history.
Today, every Islamic religious leader is so keen to appear on Television or Social Media, why don’t they help lifting a ban on making movies & documentaries on sacred history of Islam? One Islam allows these religious leaders to appear on Video & at the same time, same Islam prohibit putting sacred Islamic history on video. Is it not a contrast?
Why ” Message” was banned? Only movie in English which could show the world about the struggle & victory of Prophet & his team.
How Nasim Hijazi wrote history with the spice of fiction & background stories of love & hate relationship is done in every part of world. History of Scotland can be seen in Film ” Braveheart” or Television Serial ” Reign” & can be read in an authentic historical books. Either medium still manage to convey something useful, a nation must know. How many people in the world had ever read ScotLand history, probably negligible figure. How many has seen ” Braveheart” & ” Reign”, they must be in hundreds of Millions of people. Careful selection of Fiction added to real historical events is the most modern & effective technique of telling history.
Movies like “Braveheart” & TV Serials “Reign” actually create feeling or sympathy for Scottish Freedom fighter and Queen Mary of Scotland. Such sympathy factor travels & even reach into today’s referendum of independent Scotland.
Turkish Television Serial ” Mera Sultan” depicts history of Ottoman Empire with a mix of fiction. Yet it captures the greatest attention of Turkish & other Muslim countries. Though Tayyip Erdogan is quite skeptical about this TV serial.
Time has come that we realise the importance of preserving & highlighting our history using modern techniques like rest of the world to avoid our disappointment. Nations with lost history are lost in the future also.
