Rahman reacts to Fatwa, says he composed music in good faith

Chennai: Music director A R Rahman on September 14 evening, reacting to a fatwa issued against him by a Mumbai-based Sunni Muslim group for composing music for Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi's film "Muhammad: Messenger Of God", said he had composed music for the film in good faith and that he had no intention of causing offence.

In a post on his Facebook page, Rahman said his decision to compose the music for this film was made in good faith and with no intention of causing offence. "I am not a scholar of Islam. I follow the middle path and am part traditionalist and part nationalist," Rahman wrote in his one-page statement on his Facebook page. The statement had several quotes from the Quran like: "Nothing shall ever happen to us except what Allah has ordained for us." Rahman said, "I didn't direct or produce the movie 'Muhammad: Messenger of God'. I just did the music. My spiritual experiences of working on the film are very personal and I would prefer not to share these." He also sought to remind his detractors about the mutual tolerance for faith that existed among communities in the Indian sub-continent. "We are indeed fortunate and blessed to live in a country like India where religious freedom is practiced and where the aim of all communities is to life in peace and harmony sans confusion and violence."

"My decision to compose music for the film was made in good faith and with no intention of causing offence," he added.

Mumbai-based Raza Academy had initiated a fatwa against the Iranian director of the film, Majid Majidi, Rahman and other co-workers of the film. Rahman recalled an interview given to a journal by Raza Academy member Saeed Noorie who had said that "it was imperative for Muslims to do something about it as it was against the religion, so that later when they face Allah, they would not be chided by Him for doing nothing to stop this from happening."

Rahman said the decision to compose music for the film was based on a similar point of view as expressed by Noorie. "What, and if, I had the good fortune of facing Allah, and He were to ask me on Judgement Day: 'I gave you faith, talent, money, fame and health... why did you not do music for my beloved Muhammad film? A film whose intention is to unite humanity, clear misconceptions and spread my message that life is kindness, about uplifting the poor, and living in the service of humanity and not mercilessly killing innocents in my name."

He added, "Today there is a blur between the real world and the virtual world and I have been taken aback to see that, for some years now, unethical, unacceptable and unkind remarks are made online concerning the Holy Prophet. These abhorrent comments are no doubt due to a lack of understanding. I have always felt that we must counter this reaction with love and kindness, and through the audio-visual media reach out to people who wish to broaden their understanding."