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Depicting the Prophet in Movies

Assalam O AlaikumI am a regular visitor to this website and greatly appreciate the work that you are doing.I am a computer cartoon animator and have aspirations to work on a flash movie of the history of Islam - a small project which is an animated presentation similar to Islamic movies like The Message. I do aspire to make a flash based series of the story of the life of the Holy Prophet(PBUH) - keeping in consideration the fact the Holy Prophet(PBUH) and Most of His Blessed companions are not to be depicted.I have however come under on one hand appreciation for my intentions and yet criticism from some of my peers. Criticism in the sense that some of my peers abhor the idea of such a project considering it as abhorable citing the prohibitions of pictures and music. I am quite confused at this point, for I was inspired to do this project after having seen the animated movie of the Prophet(PBUH) which incidentaly recieved approval from various Islamic authorities such as the Authority of Al Azhar and centers of learning. I would like your scholarly opinion on this matter and whether or not: 1 - It is allowed to work on such a project considering that there will be some drawings and animation of certain characters which will be limited to some of the personalities depicted in the movie the Message 2 - Considering the integration of music in the project. 3 - Further guidelines and advice to what care should be taken in working on such projects.I donot wish to cause any offence to anyone or be involved in any sinful activity.I would greatly appreciate a detailed answer. Thank you for your attention.

Ramadan’s New Moon and Unity

Assalamu alaikum.There is a group here who say that we have to unify our Islamic Calender,so that Eid and Ramadhan can be started on the same day.They say that with the help of new moon chart we can know early when new moon will occur.Their Calender is Mec ca centred and they say new moon will invariably occur by 3 AM in the morning.For this they have the opinion of Scholars(Allah?s mercy upon them)that if moon is sighted anywhere in the world the whole Muslim world can take it-Rahmathul Umma page 118-note that page numbers will be different in different editions mostly by 1 or 2 page on either side-Imam Qurtubi(Allah?s mercy be upon him)said ?Fast when you sight it?is Aam for all Muslims-Nailul Authar 4:269-This group says the word Ra-aa not only means to sight but also ?to know?.So by calculation we know when new moon will occur.(This calculation is very accurate and is used by NASA today).They say Sahabah,especially Ibn Umar,Aisha(Allah be pleased with them)even when sky was cloudy as a caution they would take fast on Shaban 30 by keeping niyyat of both sunnah of Shaban and Fardh of Ramadhan since losing a Fardh fast would be serious-Saadul Ma ad 1:330.So only sighting is not a criteria.They say today people only go to look for the moon on 29th whereas Sahabah(Allah be pleased with them)would look on important days like 7th,14th etc as Allah says ahilla are for fixing time-2:189.In fact the word ?hilal? is nowhere in the Quran.They stress the fact that it is not ?unity in time? but ?unity in date?.This is because whenever they make this opinion people will immediately start comparing with prayer timing saying Dhuhr prayer in the East will be more than 24 hrs. after East.So it is not unity in time.Here they say another important thing.It is at the International Date Line(I.D.D.)that first Jumah prayer occur on Friday and then one by one  as rotation occurs all part of the world will be praying one by one Jumah prayer.So why should not the whole world celebrate Eid on the same day as it should be a day of unity.This unity will not occur if local sightings are taken.So since for Jumah prayer if this uniformity of same day can be achieved why not also for start of the date which can happen if we start the date from knowing when the new moon will occurFor unity in date to occur for this group day starts at Fajr.So once new moon occurs at every place except at I.D.D.(International Date Line)day will start by Fajr and one by one 24hrs.will be completed.In I.D.D.though it will be 2 different days yet by 24 hrs here also it will be same day.Their argument for unified calender is because 1.Recently in many parts of the world including the place I am staying Ramadhan 30 and Eid occurs on the same day in adjacent towns hardly 20 to 30 kms.apart.One day is 24 hours.In one town it is Ramadhan 30,adjacent town Shawwal 1 and yet in the same country in another state Ramadhan 29.Is this not absurd?In other words how can one day occur in 3 days?i.e.Shawwal 1 on Thursday,Friday or Saturday in same country in different states?Will Allah?s calender be so illogic?2.If we take local sightings in many places like the place I am staying 1st day Hilaal will not be seen mainly due to pollution and will actually be starting Eid on Shawwal 2.So after knowing thru calculation that Shawwal 1 has already occurred(and so fasting forbidden)how can we name Shawwal 2 as 1.In the desert at the time of Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)the sky was clear and the only hindrance was cloud and I gave you earlier that when it was cloudy also Sahabah(Allah be pleased with them)took fast and cloudy days occur only 3 or 4 months a year.3.Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)has specifically asked us to fast on Arafa day-Muslim- Book 006 number 2602.There is no fasting in Arafa and it is for the rest of the world.Though there is a Hadith of virtousness of DulHaj 9 yet Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)confirms by above Hadith it is day of Arafa.Only if calender is unified this will be possible.ie.Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)asked us specifically to fast on the day of Arafa.4.In 2:185 some Tafseers puts in bracket?so whoever of you sights (the crescent of the first night of)?..In fact the word ?crescent?is nowhere in the textIn fact in most tafseers it is ?whoever of you witness/present in the month.Also in most places the sighting crescent will not be first but second crescent.4.Allah says ?He has appointed the sun and moon for reckoning-6:96?hence favours calculation.Other similair Verses are 10:5.55:5.The Verse 2:189 says ?ahilla?s are for marking fixed period of times for mankind(hence for civil purposes,also not only for Muslims but also for MANKIND as Allah?s calender will be perfect;so why not show it to the world?But unfortunately even Muslims are not aware of this)and for the pilgrimage?hence religious purpose.So why should we hesitate to make a unified calender?It took me nearly 3 months to study this group and it is with so much anxiety I am asking this question.Hope you will take the patience to study this and answer appropriately.Hope you will not end up by giving a simple answer as I am really confused whom to follow?The people who sight or calculate for unified calender so that we can avoid todays chaos and celebrate Eid and start Ramadhan on same day.Some people totally prohibit calculation.But they do not realize that we calculate for prayer timings in advance which was not the method of Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).Allah says not only sun but also moon is for calculation.So here is a method which can unite Muslims,cease chaos and confusion which has support of Quran,Hadith and Imaams(Allah?s mercy on them).At the time of Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) there was an intercalated calender which was prohibited by him in Hajjathul Widah Sermon,but nowhere did he prohibit calculation,infact Islam encourages education,which was the first Verse revealed?Iqra?and Allah also says sun and moon are for calculations.I gave you the Verses.The Jews at that time also used calculations but their calculation cause error by 1 day in 2000 years.If 1 day becomes wrong then everyday following it will have wrong dates till end times.Jews calculations at that time was Jerusalem based at 6PM.Hence Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)did not use it,as accurate calculations were not known as if Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)used it it could go wrong.Though at that time Jews knew when new moon occurred yet since astronomy was not developed as today they did not know accrately when and exactly where new moon occurred like today.In fact astronomers say a differnce of 4 minutes in calculation can make a difference of one day.In Islam day is sacred and so on Shawwal 1 we should not fast..Today astronomical calculations are accurate and cannot go wrong.Hence man went to moon and space shuttle landings occur at milliseconds accurate.So with calculations we can celebrate Shawwal 1 on the correct day and also whole Muslim world will be united.In fact Muslim Unity is a Quranic dictum and Allah has warned us of disunity which is what enemies of Islam want.This group also makes a strange  claim that there is no evidence that either Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)nor companions(Allah be pleased with them) went to sight crescent as participating in Magrib Jamah is compulsory.They say Ruia means to know and Jibreel(Allah be pleased)told Prophet(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)about starting of new month,because it was Jibreel(Allah be pleased)who told it was 29th of month when there was problems with his wife and did not talk for 1 month.Then I asked them but the Hadeeth say if it is cloudy complete 30,they say the word Rumm Alaa means not only cloudy but also doubt..If this groups views are wrong,what are their mistakes with proof as they are causing great influence on younger generation as it causes unity of which is causing concern and also due to its scientific proofs as Quran and Hadith does not contradict science?.Was Salaam.