The Pakistani movie “ Khuda Ke Liye”, which literally means “In the Name of God” in English, focuses on a very tough subject and it is mostly handled well throughout the movie.
The beautiful portrayal of the Muslims living in the cities like New York, Chicago and so on after the 9/11 attack as well as of the Muslims who are either brainwashed and turned into religious extremists or who already are religious extremists is commendable. This “bold” movie is produced and directed by Mr. Shoaib Mansoor and was shot in Chicago, Lahore and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.The movie is basically about two musician brothers Mansoor and Sarmad, of which Mansoor falls victim to racial profiling and Sarmad turns into a religious extremist. They both belong to an upper middleclass family in Lahore with a blend of traditional and liberal values. Mansoor and Sarmad have their own music group and are shown as budding musicians in Pakistan.
But, just when they start getting success, the younger of the two brothers, Sarmad, gets involved in an religious extremist group and leaves music because now he sees music as “haram.At the same time the elder brother, Mansoor, goes to Chicago to attend a music school in order to further fortify his music skills. Now, Sarmad deceitfully marries his British born and raised cousin Mary (Mariam). Sarmad marries her ‘in the name of god. ’ The UK based uncle (Mary’s father) was worried by the prospect of his daughter having an affair with a white British and fearing that he will be a laughing stock in his community traps her into a visit to Pakistan and sends her to an Afghan Village where she is forcefully married to her cousin Sarmad. But, the UK based uncle is himself living with a white British woman.
Later, during the stay, Sarmad even rapes her ‘in the name of god’ as he was being brainwashed by Maulana Tahiri, who is another religious extremist and preaches or rather brainwashes young men. On the other hand, the 9/11 attacks takes place while Mansoor was in Chicago. Post the attack, Mansoor is picked up by law enforcement agencies in the middle of the night and is held allegedly in an extra constitutional prison and humiliated in all possible ways. By the end of the movie it is shown how Sarmad realizes his mistake and Mansoor becomes mentally challenged, but is flown back to his country.The characterization of most of the Muslim characters is not a stereotype.
As Mansoor and Sarmad, none of them had a beard or wore traditional clothes. But when Sarmad transforms into a religious extremist, he grows his beard and starts wearing traditional clothes. Also, the depiction of the protagonist family of the village in Afghanistan where Mary was kept, the transition of Sarmad where he is sandwiched in the thought processes of Mansoor and the radical Maulana Tahiri and the nuances and the layers in the Pakistani society has been done very well.The most important and interesting character in the movie that I thought was of Maulana Wali. He comes later in the movie when Mary is saved by her British boyfriend and her mother as well as her Uncle (Mansoor and Sarmad’s father).
He is shown as a well known Maulana in Lahore who is invited by the court to give his opinion on religious matters in this case of Mary and Sarmad’s. Maulana Wali tries to embark upon the issue of music in Islam. He mentions Hazrat Dawud and how he had knowledge of ragas and had the most melodious voice.He also explains to the court how Islam is being butchered in the name of war and hatred, bringing the religion forward in a believable and peaceful manner. What I think was very interesting is the way Maulana Wali explains about the attire of Muslims. He beautifully explains that how have we mixed culture and religion.
He further says that attire is entirely based on culture and not religion; also he mentions that there is beard in religion and not religion in keeping a beard.To sum it all up, there is a war going on between the fundamentalists and the liberal Muslims. This is not only creating differences between the western world and the Muslims but also within the Muslim community. The educated and modern Muslims are in a difficult situation because of their approach towards life and their western attire.
They are condemned and harassed by the fundamentalists and on the other hand the western world looks at them as potential suspects of terrorism just because of their Muslim names.
