danelakhmetova Review of Inside Mecca

Inside Mecca (2003 TV Movie)

Inside the plurality of Muslim identity...

[6/10 · 2 April 2020]

The director of "Inside Mecca", Anisa Mehdi, is of half-Iraqi and half-Canadian descent. It is perhaps not surprising that someone like Mehdi would wish to explore issues of identity, which are at the core of this movie, in more depth in their own professional work. In this review, I will argue that this documentary film's main purpose was to expand the borders of what being a Muslim means in the understanding of people both inside and outside the religion, although perhaps for the latter group to a greater extent. This was done through the choice of main participants and the demonstration of historical facts behind the rituals of the hajj amidst a number of cinematographic techniques to support it. The 2003 National Geographic documentary follows three individuals on their way to the journey that every Muslim dreams upon doing at least once in a lifetime - the hajj to Mecca. It gives us an insight into the participants' different backgrounds, preparations for the road, and eventually the struggles and the bliss that they have to go through to be able to call themselves Hajji or Hajja. Another exploration that this film pursues is the historic significance of Mecca to both Islam and non-Islamic religions. First, the participants of this documentary had been chosen to represent various racial, national, and even religious past and backgrounds. This was to show, for both Muslim and non-Muslim populations, the diversity of those individuals that might be committed to Islam, especially since completing the hajj is considered the most valid proof of one's dedication to this religion. These individuals come from Malaysia, South Africa, and the United States and all of them speak English, bringing them closer to an English-speaking audience watching the documentary. As the documentary rightly pointed out, there are currently more than a billion Muslims (with the majority of non-Arab background) in the world growing their numbers each year around all continents and nations, including the United States and Europe, where Muslims have been for long undoubtedly marginalized and discriminated. The shots from afar of Kaaba and other places around Mecca help people to see the uncountable number of people that practice and dedicate themselves to Islam before we even take into account that people at Mecca replace each other all the time with new people coming and leaving throughout the whole year and also that many Muslims would never be able to accomplish such journey. Even for some members of Islamic faith, as was shown in the documentary, and more definitely so for non-Muslims, it might be strange to stumble upon someone from a different background than what is generally assumed to represent a Muslim person. For example, Khalil Mandhlazi, a black South African male pilgrim to Mecca, was not so much accepted allegedly due to the color of his skin, even in the circles representing his own country. Similarly, Fidelma O'Leary, a white American having a while ago converted from Catholicism, also voiced problems of needing secondary confirmation of her being an actual Muslim from the mosque that she attends in order to be able to obtain a visa, along with the fact that she has surprised many individuals she met in Mecca who inquired where she was from and if she was, indeed, Muslim. However, eventually, Khalil managed to find a group of Malawi pilgrims to pray with, with whom he felt more accepted, and Fidelma felt that she was "welcome" after a brief encounter with a man who greeted her nicely. This was to show for the non-Muslims (and probably to encourage those within the Muslim faith to do the same) that Muslims can be accepting of each other despite the differences and are not as exclusivist or nationally/ethnically/racially isolated as one might think. Second, the rituals were, in my view, successfully explained to the general non-Muslim audience of other Abrahamic religions, for instance Christians or Jews of the United States, who might be to various degrees struggling to understand what the significance of them was. The specific explanation of the hajj and the rituals accompanying it in the film helped overall to connect Islam with the other Abrahamic religions, the connection that tends to be forgotten in the wake of rivalries between believers of these faiths, again for both Muslims and non-Muslims. Even though Mecca had now become the most sacred of all places for the Muslims most dominantly, according to the historic background presented in the film through a couple of expert opinions, this place had had a profound connection to all Abrahamic religions even before they emerged as world religions. In fact, as a scholar of Islam claims in the documentary, it was Abraham, "the father of Jews, Christians, and Muslims", who besides advocating a submission to one deity, created the concept of pilgrimage to Mecca, that is the hajj as we know it today (14 min). The use of European paintings portraying Abraham, Ismail, angel Gabriel and the like, which are closer to the audiences coming from the Western countries, was an effective technique to describe those stories to an otherwise skeptical community that might not identify with Muslim faith. Many things described in this documentary are seen as important to other non-Islamic religions, thus it makes audiences coming from those backgrounds understand the significance behind what most Muslims seek to achieve once in their life - the hajj. Other things were, in my perspective, aimed not only at the non-Muslim religious and non-religious audiences, but also specifically at those within the Islamic community of believers itself. For example, a woman does not need to wear hijab on the daily basis or have a husband, for that matter, to call herself a Muslim and attempt to do the hajj. Fidelma, who is also a professor of neuroscience, does not wear head garments every day and has been divorced. The importance of charity in Islam is shown and more importantly how Muslim members of non-dominant ethnicities within the religious community can give as much or even more attention to upholding some values, such as the significance of giving to those in need, that are integral to Islam and life of a Muslim believer. Upon arriving to Mecca, Khalil is shown as being not at ease with "hungry and poor" kids and later decides to buy and take a patch of food to those communities in need that tend to live above the city, thus bringing some difficulty to those like Khalil wishing to engage in charitable activities. In conclusion, "Inside Mecca" showed the extent of what kinds of people can identify with Muslims despite the stereotypes that both people of Muslim and non-Muslim identities might have. One of the film's main arguments is that believers of Islam can be of all ethnic and racial backgrounds coming from a wide range of countries geographically distant from each other, such as Malaysia, South Africa, and the United States, as was shown through the three cases depicted in this documentary. Furthermore, the movie establishes that what Muslim individuals believe in and practice, of which the most vivid example is the hajj, is not completely separated from the origins of other dominant world religions, most importantly Christianity (as per the majority of the assumed Western or American audience of this film). For the audience coming from the Muslim community itself also, "Inside Mecca" gives some questions and limitations to think about, such as the importance of charity, the presence of female headwear, or the existence of racial prejudices within the community.