Man of the Moment

If you've been getting your information about Muhammad from

or

or

, you've probably concluded that Muhammad was a demon-possessed pedophile and a terrorist.

A new PBS documentary, "Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet," offers a very different view. So different that various commentators--including

, director of the Middle East Forum--have complained that the U.S. Government (through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting) is promoting pro-Islam propaganda. The film's creators contend it is an effective and credible presentation of the facts of Muhammad's life and how he is experienced by many Muslims today. [Full disclosure: two of the film's three producers, Michael Wolfe and Alex Kronemer, write regularly for Beliefnet.]

Muhammad was an illiterate merchant who lived 1,400 years ago. His pronouncement that there was only one God was revolutionary in its day--particularly threatening the livelihood of ruling Meccans who profited from Mecca's role as Arabia's most popular pilgrimage center. Yet in a 23-year period, Muhammad united the Arab people, converted them to monotheism, and ended decades of tribal war.

"Unlike Jesus or the Buddha, who seem to have been purely spiritual leaders with no temporal responsibilities whatever, Muhammad found himself head of state," author Karen Armstrong points out in one of her many trenchant scenes in the film.

It is a remarkable story, and the two-hour documentary, which airs Dec. 18, for the most part succeeds in telling it. Because showing images of Muhammad is considered offensive by Muslims, a biographical film about the man faces obvious challenges. The producers use Arabic calligraphy, lushly photographed scenes of pilgrims making Hajj, Bedouins in the desert, and sweeping views of Saudi and Jordanian wastelands to transport viewers to Arabia in the time of Muhammad. Although these techniques are familiar to documentary audiences, and well-executed here, at times the people-less scenes dragged on.

The producers' creative antidote to that problem is to interweave the ancient biography of Islam's founder with contemporary personal narratives of American Muslims--a congressional aide, a critical care nurse, and a Brooklyn fire marshal and Ground Zero veteran. Their stories are the soul of the documentary, as they movingly reflect on the role of Muhammad in their lives.

"The Qur'an teaches you that the saving of one life is as if you've saved all of humanity," says Brooklyn fire marshall Kevin James, child of a Jewish mother and a father who is Native American and African American.

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