I would like, to share with you a little background of this wonderful project, how this movie became a reality. Michael Wolfe and Alex Kronemer, two American producers, in 1998, were on the same flight, from Saudi Arabia to New York, after attending a conference there. As faith had destined, they were sitting next to each other, on this flight. Alex was telling Michael about this person, who had written those beautiful books on Hajj and Michael told him, that he was that person. Discovering a common interest, the whole idea began to take a course, on which we all find ourselves today.
Our beloved Prophet, (PUBH), was very misunderstood, by the people outside our faith, so Alex proposed his idea to Michael, to produce a documentary on Prophet's life, as an answer to a strong and growing need, for presenting accurate information, about our Prophet and his teachings to the West. Then they contacted Dr. Shakeela Hassan, who is a Pakistani, living in Chicago in April 1999, with the idea of producing, this documentary on Prophet Muhammad,(PBUH).
In April, of this year, we had a fundraiser in Houston and had the pleasure of meeting Michael Wolfe, Alex Kronemer and Dr Shakeela Hassan.
Alex Kronemer is a writer and lecturer on religion and Islamic civilization.
He is a frequent speaker on religious diversity, Islamic awareness and cross-cultural understanding. He has a master's degree in Theological Studies from Harvard University where his research concentrated on the philosophy of religion and comparative religion. He is the co-founder of Unity Productions Foundation and co-creator and producer, of Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet.
In April, 1998, Alex acted, as a consultant and on-air commentator, in Makkah for CNN-TV News, during its week of live-broadcast coverage on Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage with Riz Khan.
Michael Wolfe is an author and has published many books about Islam. Just to name a few are The Hadj: An American's Pilgrimage to Mecca (1993); and One Thousand Roads to Mecca.
Wolfe's work on Islam, has been widely reviewed, in the mainstream press, in Western Academic journals, and among Muslim scholars too.
In 1997, Wolfe wrote and narrated, a special televised Hajj report, from Makkah for ABC Nightline program by Ted Koppel.
Both Alex and Michael have become Muslims.
Dr. Shakeela Hassan, served her internship at Northwestern University and from 1961 onwards, was an anesthesiologist on the faculty, at the University of Chicago and now she is an Associate Professor Emeritus, at the University.
After reading, and seeing their work presented on television in April 1999,she agreed to serve, on this board, as their Fundraising Chairperson for this film.
Before accepting this position, she asked only one question, who will be acting the Prophet's part and Michael's spontaneous answer to that was, there shall be no actors or reenactments, Shakeela's answer was yes and she joined hands with them. On November 1, 1999 Unity Productions Foundation, came into existence as a non-profit corporation.
The mission, of this project is, to develop a balanced, fair and accurate journalistic material concerning the world's cultural and spiritual traditions of Muslims in order to help increase, understanding and tolerance. At the present time Muslims live in 120 countries in the world and in America we have Muslims from 80 countries.
Our hope, is to share an accurate information, about our beloved Prophet Muhammad, PBUH, and understand the impact of the teachings of Islam, as it is alive today, in our daily living in these contemporary times.
She went from state to state and after visiting forty states, with four thousand donors, she has successfully been able to raise, $3.7 million for this project.
Now you have heard, the great work, of these three wonderful people, who took this bold lead to make this movie a reality. Now it is our turn to join Unity Productions ‘Circle of Friends’, and spread the word in our communities, schools and Islamic Centers.
The message in this movie, is the Prophet's biography, combined by historical material, with the words and stories, of contemporary American Muslims. This will be of interest to a large viewing audience. I need your help in spreading the word, so please join us, to pass this message to as many people as possible.
Lets make it a great success, by getting the highest rating. The movie is aired on Dec 18 on PBS, which is Channel 8, 26, 22 at 8.00 pm. This movie is going to be shown on primetime, on 353 PBS Television stations all over the United States.
Thank you and may Allah's Blessing be upon you.
