UK Cinemas Cancel Screenings of Controversial Prophet Muhammad Film Amid Protests

The screenings of "The Lady of Heaven", a feature film about the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, are not to the liking of Muslims. They have expressed their anger in front of the Cineworld cinemas in Sheffield, Birmingham or Bolton, reports The Guardian. In a petition, nearly 120,000 people describe the film as "blasphemous, disrespectful and racist", and call for its withdrawal. This film "claims to be the first to address the character of Fatima Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad and the wife of Ali, the first Shiite imam, and to put the "face" of the Prophet Muhammad on the screen".

The demonstrations forced Cineworld to cancel the film’s screenings. "Due to recent incidents related to the screenings of The Lady of Heaven, we have decided to cancel the upcoming screenings of the film nationwide to ensure the safety of our teams and customers," said a Cineworld spokesperson. In a video posted on social media, the manager of a Sheffield theater is seen announcing the cancellation of the film’s screening in front of several dozen Muslim protesters, who celebrate this decision with the cry of "Allahu Akbar".

Malik Shlibak, the film’s producer, regrets this cancellation: "Cinemas should defend their right to show films that people want to see rather than succumbing to pressure." The Lady Of Heaven is written by Australian director Eli King, a British screenwriter and Yasser Al Habib, a Shiite cleric from Kuwait.