بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

The Matrix – Hollywood ‘Reloads’ Disbelief in Allah

May 2003 saw the worldwide release of the much hyped and highly anticipated film of this year 'The Matrix - Reloaded'. It has been applauded for its special effects by the film and television industry the world over and on its release, was watched by millions around the world. Before the release the hype surrounding the film was at fever pitch generated by both the media and companies like Samsung who changed their tag line to be Digital Matrix, with the words Rotating Realities used to describe their new mobile phone with a built in rotating camera. To date 'The Matrix - Reloaded' has netted almost $550m (£330m) at the box offices world wide, putting it in the top 20 most successful films of all time.

The Matrix series of films are based around a question posed in the first film 'What is The Matrix?' The film portrays the human race as being enslaved by artificially intelligent machines, which use humans as batteries, to power the world. 'The Matrix' itself is a computer program, which all humans are plugged into, making them believe they are going about their normal business on earth, when their entire lives are just a virtual reality. Three humans have been unplugged from 'The Matrix' and are trying to save the human race from their enslavement.

The films present the idea that the world may not be the reality we believe it to be, but we may be existing in parallel with another universe even though it appears to be real, this creates an idea of uncertainty about the origins of life and the unseen (Allah (subhanahu wa ta’aala) in the minds of the viewers.

The Matrix in the words of Laurence Fishbourne, who plays Captain Morpheus in the trilogy, "is a combination of science fiction, Hong Kong kung fu, cyber punk and classic American action, with heavy doses of spiritualism and philosophy".

Over the years, the film and television industry has used its creativity to produce a great number of films and dramas, which explore the origins of life and offer a variety of different truths about the unseen, Such as ET, Men in Black, X-Files and Independence day, to name but a few.

All these films are based on the finding or existence of aliens or creatures from another universe or planet. So the X-Files emphasises 'The Truth is Out There', yet the whole basis of the program is that any strange happenings are quickly dealt with and covered up by two FBI agents. In the film Men in Black, the truth is also hidden by erasing the memory of people, with special devices, who may have seen an alien or something strange hence leaving the people thinking they had seen nothing abnormal.

All the plots of these films emphasise the uncertainty of there being one definite truth about the unseen or the reality of life and establish firmly the idea of 'seeing is believing'.

So, why are these types of films in high demand? What ideas and concepts do these films push or establish? What effects do these films have on society as a whole and the Muslim youth in particular? These are the questions that need answering.

The recent cover of the Time Magazine had the words 'Where did God go?' splashed across it with an image of a stained glass window blanked out in white where Jesus should appear. This is an example of the spiritual void left by Capitalism, which is apparent to even non-Muslims within western societies. However rather than to try and answer the question of why western societies refuse to make God a part of their lives and what is the truth about the origins of life, Hollywood produces more fantasy tales for the masses to view. This can be seen by the recent release of the latest Jim Carey movie titled "Bruce Almighty" which is advertised with the strap line, "If you could be God for one week what would you do?" So rather than trying to solve the mysteries of the Universe and its creation, Hollywood insists in indulging the desires of capitalist societies to watch films about the most weird and wonderful scenarios.

In order to understand why this uncertainty exists we need to address the intellectual basis of the western viewpoint about life. The capitalist ideology is based on the idea of Secularism, which basically means a detachment of religion from everyday life. This is because capitalism offers no answer to the origin of life and the existence of a Creator, but chooses to ignore it, claiming it as irrelevant in every day life, so religion (God) should be left in the Churches, temples or mosques and rule by mans' laws in every day life.

It is because of this idea of secularism and capitalism's failure to answer the questions about the origins of life and the truth about the unseen that the western societies are left with a spiritual void. The spiritual void created by these ideas is what helps generate a great deal of interest and fascination in science fiction films like "The Matrix - Reloaded" and is the fuel for Hollywood to produce similar films in the future. Capitalism is unable to address man's problems in the correct manner and offer mankind tranquillity because it confuses with uncertainty any spiritual or religious emotion or thought.

Therefore Hollywood has become the opium of the capitalist society and a means by which people fulfil this spiritual void by attempting to explore the origins of life and the unseen, but in an unserious non-intellectual way, never allowing them to reach the truth.

Films such as these have a powerful effect on society as a whole and in particular the Muslim youth. They actually emphasise the uncertainty about the truth, origins of life and the unseen as well as establishing corrupt concepts like 'seeing is believing'. They also present ideas that some truths can be uncovered by further scientific investigation but these would never include the uncovering of there being one definite truth about the unseen i.e. The Creator (al-Khaliq).

The Islamic ideology has not left any questions unanswered whether they are about the origin of life, reality of life in this world and about there being one definite truth about the unseen i.e. the Creator Allah (subhanahu wa ta’aala). Islam addresses all these questions in an intellectual and comprehensive manner and establishes it as a rational fact not based on any scientific investigation, superstition or mythology.

Allah (subhanahu wa ta’aala) says to the whole of mankind, in Surah Ale-Imran:

إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لآياتٍ ِلأَولِي الأَلْبَابِ
"Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day, these are indeed signs for men of understanding." [TMQ Surah Ale-Imran: 190]

And in Surah Al-Baqarah

ِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَالْفُلْكِ الَّتِي تَجْرِي فِي الْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ النَّاسَ وَمَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنْ السَّمَاءِ مِنْ مَاءٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ دَابَّةٍ وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَاحِ وَالسَّحَابِ الْمُسَخَّرِ بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالأَرْضِ لآياتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ
"Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the difference of night and day, and the ships which run upon the sea with that which is of use to men, and the water which Allah sends down from the sky, thereby reviving the earth after its death, and dispersing all kinds of beasts therein, and in the ordinance of the winds, and the clouds obedient between heaven and earth are signs for people who have sense." [TMQ Al-Baqarah: 164]

In the above ayat Allah (subhanahu wa ta’aala) is addressing mankind in general both the Muslims and the non-Muslims and is encouraging them to think about the reality man perceives in everyday life like the alternation of the day and night, or the changes in the weather patterns. But it also compels man to contemplate on the creation of the heavens and the earth, as these are all signs for men of understanding.

This contemplation and thought would ultimately lead to man arriving to the correct conclusion about his reality and the unseen through the conclusive evidence for the existence of a Creator, Allah (subhanahu wa ta’aala).

It is because of these conclusive and definite rational evidences about the existence of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’aala) that Muslims have tranquillity and so never need to explore any other alternatives to the truth about the existence of the Creator, the origins of life and the reality of life in this world.

Allah (subhanahu wa ta’aala) says in Surah Al-Ma'idah:

الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمْ الإِسْلاَمَ دِينًا
"This day, I have perfected your religion (Deen) for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion." [Surah Al-Ma'idah: 3]

In the above ayah, Allah (subhanahu wa ta’aala) is addressing the Muslims and is telling them that he has completed their Deen therefore all the answers to any questions lie within the Deen of Islam. The ideas of other opinions on this matter have no room in any Muslim's life because as Muslims we need to refer to the Islamic evidences in order to derive an opinion on any question posed to mankind.

It can clearly be seen that Hollywood culture promotes the ideas that no truth is certain and the uncertainty about the unseen, hence the disbelief in Allah (subhanahu wa ta’aala) which can have a detrimental effect on society and in particular on the Aqeedah of Muslims who will inevitably be affected by these ideas.

Muslims should be aware and take care to avoid such culture and ideas, and establish in the Muslim youth a firm conviction in the existence of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’aala), based on rational thought and firm facts. When such ideas are presented in future to the Muslim youth they will be able to easily dismiss them and be steadfast in their Aqeedah and the belief in the unseen, Allah (subhanahu wa ta’aala).

Source: Khilafah Magazine July 2003 Edition
By Nadeem Aslam

Mesdames, Messieurs, une personne volontaire pourrait-elle me traduire cet article en français ?

guerrouj1 a écrit*: Films such as these have a powerful effect on society as a whole and in particular the Muslim youth. They actually emphasise the uncertainty about the truth, origins of life and the unseen as well as establishing corrupt concepts like 'seeing is believing'. They also present ideas that some truths can be uncovered by further scientific investigation but these would never include the uncovering of there being one definite truth about the unseen i.e. The Creator (al-Khaliq).

dear friend
the purpose of movies in general is entertainment, and we all know beforehand that we shouldn't beleive what we see in movies, we know that they're just the imagination of some script writer.
our religion is strong enough to take minor threats like the likes of sci-fi movies
Capitalism is the real threat on spiritualism on this planet, the hunger for more and more tangibles is a threat on all religions and all mankind
:-) :-) :-) jinx

guerrouj1 a écrit*: Mesdames, Messieurs, une personne volontaire pourrait-elle me traduire cet article en français ?

j'ai cru que tu a compris se que tu as envoyer, c'est trop long pour traduire (j'ai pas le temps)
mais en general
les films comme the matrix, x files ect...
sément l'incertaineté (si ce mot existe) dans le coeur des jeunes musulmans qui les regardent, et commencent a leur donner une dimension philosophique (origine de l'homme, qui est le maitre de ce monde ect...

:-D

[pense_bete]

on sait l'islam a répondu à toutes les questions concernant la création.

C'est dingue qu'il y ait encore des scientifiques qui cherchent à comprendre les ressorts de la création alors que tout est décrcit dans le coran!!! :-P :-P :-P

[Fleurbleunuit]

Hi Jinx

I think that this article says a lot of truth about how americans are trying to interfere in the deepest matters of the humans including the origins and religion.
And if you think that your faith is stronger than anything else, then you should be grateful to god and proud of yourself of course but don't forget that many youngsters, muslims or non muslims know very little about their religion and find themselves losing control and sinking in a materialistic world that would lead them to nothing but failure.
Besides, the human being is so weak that he finds it easy to believe in anything else but God, something like unusual creatures or spirits which will always be unknown to him and to which he doesn't need to give any account..so at the end these movies are very successful in destroying faith and weakening personnalities but of course God will always bless America ;-)