Movie about Islamic prophet's daughter causes protest storm by Muslims

Protests have erupted around the country about a film, titled the Lady Of Heaven, which depicts the story of Lady Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, as it was described by its critics as "blasphemous" and "racist", and more than 120,000 people have signed a petition against it - leading to some cinemas pulling screenings from their schedules.

However, the makers of The Lady Of Heaven and free speech campaigners say the protests set a "dangerous" precedent, according to Sky News.

It was written by Shia Muslim cleric Sheikh Yasser al-Habib and portrays Lady Fatimah's death, describing her as "the first victim of terrorism" in its synopsis.

The different schools of religion have differing views on this, and it is mainly Sunni Muslims who have strongly criticised the film, saying the plot does not accurately portray historical events.

It was due to be shown at Vue, Showcase and Cineworld cinemas - with the latter pulling all screenings citing concerns for staff and customer safety.

The depiction of Islamic prophets on screen and in art has long been contentious.

In accordance with Islamic tradition, The Lady Of Heaven filmmakers say, they went to great lengths to not show a holy person represented by a human, with no actress actually playing the role of Lady Fatimah. Instead, the performance was generated through a mixture of CGI, lighting and visual effects.

But criticism of the film is largely focused on the portrayals of several other characters, including the Prophet Muhammad's companions, Abu Bakr and Umar ibn al-Khattab, the first caliphs of Islam.

Malik Shlibak, The Lady Of Heaven's executive producer, told Sky News that the film tells the story of Lady Fatimah's "life, her struggles, the journey she went through".

"We believe she is the best figure in history for us today to learn from, to know how to tackle things such as extremism, radicalism and corruption. And we felt it's important to share this story with the world," he said.

However, Shahid Ali, a cleric who organised a protest against the film in Bradford, said the film presents a "false narrative of the early caliphs of Islam… of them being terrorists".

The "Remove The Lady Of Heaven from UK cinemas" petition, set up by a user named Muslims UK and now signed by more than 126,000 people, says the film has caused "heartache" and "spread false information on Islam", and "directly disrespects" the Prophet Muhammad.