Cineworld Pulls Screening of ‘Blasphemous’ Movie
The announcement comes after days of protests around the country by Muslims furious at the depiction in the film of the Prophet (PBUH), his wife Aisha, and his companions Abu Bakr and Umar.
Nearly 120,000 people have also signed a petition demanding that the film be removed from UK cinema screens.
“Due to recent incidents related to screenings of ‘The Lady of Heaven’, we have made the decision to cancel upcoming screenings of the film nationwide to ensure the safety of our staff and customers,” a spokesperson for Cineworld said on Tuesday.
Over the last few days, thousands of Muslims have demonstrated outside Cineworld venues in Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bolton, and elsewhere. All protests have remained peaceful and police have not had to intervene in any of them.
Meanwhile, the cinema chain Vue still has screenings listed for London and the southeast.
The film, directed by Eli King, is said to be the first film that tells the life story of Hazrat Zahra.
Many renowned Shia scholars have condemned the movie for its poor background research and inflammatory content.
A few years ago when reports emerged about the production of the film, several Iranian sources of emulation, including Ayatollahs Lotfollah Safi Golpayegani, Nasser Makarem Shirazi, and Hossein Ali Nouri Hamaedani, blacklisted it and called on Muslims to desist from watching or promoting it.
Source: 5PillarsUK
