Share this video with your friends and family, and leave us a message below the article or on Facebook. We are welcoming any suggestions to improve our videos. I hope that this first series of videos in the land of the  Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) sparked your interest in the history of Islam, studying Islamic knowledge or learning Arabic. For the next episode, we will go to another country inshallah!

PS: There is also a version of this episode without music and instruments on the Youtube channel

This video was shot in extreme conditions. Many risks were taken to expose the truth about halal meat, and the concept around this horrific tradition. A lot of questions are brought to mind after watching such a documentary. See for yourself (click on CC to activate subtitles):

“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee Moses, and will put my words in his mouth - the Quran -; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” Deuteronomy 18:18

“The LORD came from Sinai - Moses - ,
and rose up from Seir - Palestine, Jesus - unto them;
he shined forth from Mount Paran - Makkah, Muhammad -,
and he came with ten thousands of saints -10,000 companions-:
from his right hand went a fiery law for them - the Quran-.” Deuteronomy 33:2

Some prophecies of Muhammad in the Bible, my notes

Back to school!

Like every year, around this time, it happens. This time it’s a film insulting our prophet Muhammad (saws), who, for that matter, is also their prophet, since Muhammad was actually sent to the Jews of Madinah, the Christians of Najran as well as the pagan Arabs of Makkah. To all mankind.

As it happens, an “anti-slam” pseudo-director, half-conman, half-evangelical Zionist., has given us a short film, on the internet, showing Muhammad (saws). Dubbed in Arabic by people who hear the adhan 5 times a day but who persist in believing that God died on a cross, and that Muhammad is a liar.

We are the people of the middle way, the community of the right path. Islam is a religion that fights all extremes.

We make no distinction between the prophets, they are all our role models and we associate none of them with the Divine. Jesus is neither the son of God, as today’s Christians claim, nor the son of a prostitute, as the Jews say, he is a prophet and we love him as much as Muhammad.

Neither died on a cross like they’ve pretended for 2000 years, nor died at all, as it has been said for 200 years, God, Allah, huwa al hay al qayum allathi la yamut, He is the Living, the Eternal, the one who does not die. These are the teachings of Muhammad, the one that is insulted every year, in increasingly creative ways too, first a drawing, now a film, what next? An anti-Muhammad theme park?

Alright, let’s move on… if you want a little bank note, read your way through.

And no, I’m not putting a price on some target person’s head.

Destruction breeds destruction and that’s not what we want, and it’s especially not what we were taught by our Messenger, and as we said, yours too.

Questions:

- This season, every year, a caricature of the prophet (saws)? 

- Do you want to see your children grow up in this environment?

- A break at grandma’s in July, summer camp in August, back to school in September, then hey, caricatures of the Prophet in October?

Here’s the framework, in this millennium’s start.

If you follow my project, Muslim World Tour, I began with NOTHING, I presented my plans to Muslim entrepreneurs, who gave me a little boost to start off (1000 dollars) to buy my first camera. With 1000 dollars you could also buy an AK-47 in some countries, but that’s not my combat in 2012, I think that investing in a camera is much better.

After that, I started to make episodes about my different travels. Incidentally, one of the first episodes was an interview about caricatures of the Prophet, I had gone to see an Egyptian sheikh in Dubai.

Alhamdulillah, God has placed good people into my path.

One year and a half before that, I had no clue how to work a camera, what shutter speed meant, or f/stop, or focal distance.

A year later I’ve got thousands of views on my videos and the website muslimworldtour.com exceeds 15,000 visits per month. The Facebook page is loaded, and yet I started with nothing, but I was determined! 

I make video-episodes and I’m now starting to live on that. I’ve got 3 people helping me with my work. Alhamdulillah.

I am like you. I didn’t invent anything, everything was there in front of me, I just had to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

The Mokhtar Awards

or the Golden Palm for Muslims

It’s my turn, I want to help young Muslims make quality films, I want to pull my community upwards and take them out of the streets, car seats, bed sheets. And above all, out of the gutter in which we find ourselves.

For how long are we going to let ourselves be walked over?

Insulted?

And the worst part is, we vote for those who keep on insulting us! (Translator’s note: author is French Muslim)

We respect people; they reward us with caricatures of the Prophet thrown into our faces.

Believe, don’t believe if you want, but just don’t insult anybody. I watch Michel Onfray’s lectures on the internet with a keen interest (translator’s note: French atheist philosopher), and I learn things, I have no problems with disbelievers. All that I ask: don’t insult my Prophet, your Prophet!

Freedom of speech… they say! or freedom to insult ?

In most of the western countries insulting the president or the king takes you to jail. For the Muslim Ummah, insulting prophet Muhammad is worse, he is greater than any president or king. We have no power in today’s world, we can’t fine people or put them to jail. Khilafah is over. So we need to be creative.

In France we have a law called right to image, if a photographer takes a picture of you without your consent, you can sue him. Prophet Muhammad didn’t give you his consent as far as I know. In France, my country, any Tom Dick or Harry is more important than Muhammad, my prophet, your prophet.

These people, these papers, these media campaigns want to make us hate God. I’m telling you in all honesty, leave them, we’ll deal with their children and grandchildren, we’ll try to make them love God.

Do not riot, do not go out into the streets yelling slogans in bad English, do not shame Muslims and Islam. Be dignified, follow the teachings of the Messenger! If you must shout, do it without spelling mistakes, with intelligence… but knee-jerk shouting is rarely a sign of intelligence, as far as I know.

So let’s think of something else, much more powerful. Let’s respond to this insult with good words, this is exactly what we need in these difficult times for self-respecting believers who do not bring insult to themselves.

Here is what I propose : a video-competition for short Youtube videos less than 5 minutes long about Islam or Muslims.

Shorter than 5 minutes because they are more easily shared and spread on Youtube and other social networks (Facebook etc).

That should take a few days, or a few weeks, to make and upload for anybody interested in participating .

The winner will walk away with 10,000 euros ($13,000) in the French category, and 5000 euros ($6500) in the international category.

It’s my commitment.

Friends, I’m talking about quality videos, not an amateur webcam video in your living room.

Give us 1936 Berlin. Not London 2012. Give us propaganda. Excel.

Even with an iPhone and good optics (lenses) you can do great videos.

Aside from the film The Message by Moustapha Akkad, seen and seen again, what do we have to show our mates? Our family?

This film brought more people to Islam in 30 years than all of the preachers on all satellite TV channels put together, in the same time period.

And what did that same director do after that? Horror movies… Great opportunities…

The deadline is December 2013 : you have 1 year to submit your videos. For me, I have 1 year to find 15,000 euros ($20,000).

That’s my problem, though.

Look at it as the Muslim Cannes film festival. The ceremony will be in Paris, because Paris… is magic!

This is your project. Let’s work together.

This is a project for the Muslim community of France, a little lagging behind other countries, yes, but we can only catch up inshaAllah.

When we look at what the Muslims are doing in England, in Canada, in the US, the only way is up.

My Ummah’s Got a Talent

“Compete in [the performance] of good”, says the Qur’aan.

No whining, no demonstrations, no compensation, no court.

Our salary, we know where we’ll find it, and with whom. But even so…

Cash, money… don’t forget, this is a chance for a little bank note…

I’ve put a little cash at stake because I know my people well. Very well. Growing up in a country where everything is given, nothing is earned.

The Muslims of today are not the companions of the Prophet (saws), the 10,000 mentioned in the Bible, who liberated Makkah the highest of cities, who witnessed the last sermon, on Mount Arafat. These companions were passionate amateurs. Today, and I’ve seen it with my own eyes and experienced it, Islam is run, not by professionals, but by functionaries. So no, we are not the companions, but we can be inspired by them, we can emulate them.

The reward:

• 10,000 euros for first place for a French movie,
• 5,000 euros for first place for a foreign movie,
• a trip to Makkah (or Jerusalem if the winner is a non-Muslim) for second place,
• a 5.90 euro kebab meal for third place.

And eternity for them all. 

If you have the right intention. If you put your all into it. I wish you the reward. I wish it more for you than for myself wallahi.

I will do everything so that (s)he who is better than I has the chance to express him/herself, that the best of us, represents us. Us, Muslims, that (s)he represents us in the ceremony of the Mokhtars, our ceremony. If you receive my email newsletter, you will know that my view of the Islam of France, and Islam in France, is a little grim.

But there are pearls in our community, I know that in my emails I can be a little harsh on my brothers and sisters. There are pearls, people who do amazing work in their respective domains: producing rap videos, making music, journalists, video directors,… but what do they do for Islam?

But we sometimes need a blow with a club, where an electric shock isn’t easily available.

My dream is that even non-Muslims will participate. I would be happy if a traditional French Catholic who calls his parents “mother” and “father” wins the prize. Sincerely.

I am personally taking care that I reward the winner in December 2013. I don’t even know if I will have enough money to continue the world tour. To tell you the truth, I’m not bothered, I believe in this!

I’ll sell my brother’s car and eat ketchup sandwiches if I have to – that sounds better than the rice I’ve been eating for 2 months anyway – I’m a bit sick of it quite frankly (and so is Abderamane my Cameraman!)

A monthly Muslim World Tour video is not enough, we’re working on it but together, we can flood the net with videos just like Muslim World Tour, and even better quality too.

Journalists, rap vid producers, Youtube mujahidin, fire my imagination.

Fire the imagination of the ummah that is so bored of spending its evenings at the shisha cafe, on muslima.com (or shaadi.com for the Indians out there) So bored, to the point of watching the devil’s TV channels and the stupid TV shows presented by Jewistanis (translator’s note: most French TV presenters are Jews)

What I want to see, is a wave of Youtube videos in 2013, pollute my Facebook wall with videos about Islam and Muslims.

Academy awards ?

Oscar Awards ?

César awards ?

NO, these are the Mokhtar 

Awards !

With our mothers and our families in the front rows, and they will be the ones to decide the winner. They will vote. Not like people voting for Your Country’s Got Talent, no, they will vote for the Mokhtar Awards for the best film.

An awards ceremony without alcohol, without over made-up girls, with appropriate dress, with halal snacks.

Made of quality, I’ll have you know. I’ve done it. It’s not hard.

Never forget, we have already won. And remember the words uttered at Uhud, when the Muslims were defeated.

There is no tie for us. There is no defeat for us.

It’s not about money, means, fancy Hollywood productions or the greatest team of journalists under the influence of cocaine.

It’s about your intention and your sincerity. And you will be better than me, I know it.

There is no defeat, because before even launching this project, we were winners.

Because before even sending down His word and creating this world, God made winners, His slaves.

Know that, whether you are one of the winners, or you take the bus home. And it goes for me too.

10,000 bucks and even

my grandma will join

the Youtube Jihad

I wish you all the hardship, the blood, sweat and tears that I was able to experience in starting my Muslim World Tour project. In our weakness and our adversity, our community
is blessed and worthy of praise, I come from one of the poorest district in France, the Seine-Saint-Denis district (93), suburbs of Paris, where, according to statistics, the most
common name given at birth was Muhammad, Mohamed, Mohamadou, Mamadou, Mehmet - the worthy of praise – prove yourself as up to it. We already won.

I lived in Dubai and in Saudi, the Muslim world is worn out and they complain while sitting in their 4x4s, eating McD to go, complaining because McD doesn’t do home delivery (ya taaban!), funding a few mosques here and there to stroke their conscience. Don’t be like that; give it your 200%. We have nothing, and that is our strength!

It is 3am here in Malaysia, and I’m finishing this email that you will receive tomorrow. I’m writing this email in an internet cafe where all the young muslim teens spend their nights playing video games. I walked 2km to find this non-aircon cafe, to write you this email, this article about the Prophet and the Mokhtar Awards. It’s Thursday evening and nobody will go to the mosque tomorrow for Friday prayers, I am sure of it.

I’m not judging. I was the same not long ago, since then I’ve realised that you only live once, but you only die once, too.

It’s your turn.

Gibran,
Muslim Blogger, Globetrotter and Youtube Mujahid

Visit the Mokhtar Awards website for more information:

MokhtarAwards.com

PS : If you want to contribute to the prizes (10,000 euros, 5,000 euros, Omrah to Makkah, etc), make a donation on the website MokhtarAwrds.com after entering your email, a page will show.

Some goodies to spread via Facebook, email, even print them out and distribute them if you want!

Print a few and display them at your local mosque’s wall.

Please refrain from commenting with insults or attacks, mistakes or negativity on these articles. Comments are moderated and require my approval, so don’t waste your time writing uninteresting stuff or insults I will not publish them. You are not on Yahoo Answers. This is a Muslim house, please remove your shoes, take a seat and if you want to discuss, we will serve you Coke or tea, no problem. Thank you.

For this month of Ramadan, we are in the Philippines, and like very month we donate part of the money we earn and collect on the website to the poor we meet. In the city we visited, we helped 2 families Al Hamdulillah. This is your money and it is a responsibility for us to keep our promises and to be transparent.

I thank all donors and keep supporting us especially for the last days of Ramadan, take the opportunity to see your good deeds multiplied

And for those who didn’t help us, you can participate to this journey inshAllah, making a donation (Paypal or bank transfer) or sharing the videos

To make a donation click here

Salam alaykum / Hi,

Every month I donate part of the project money we earn (donations, ads, sponsors) and last month we helped Fatima.

Take advantage of this holy month of Ramadan to make a donation, and join the adventure inshallah. Video shot just after Umrah and I was tired !

To make a donation, click here

Subtitles avalaible click activate on the player

This is the second episode of my Muslim World Tour, I take you with me in the most sacred land, the land of the prophets, and the birthplace of the last messenger of God : Muhammad (pbuh).

What about you ? What did you feel when you visited Makkah ? What are you waiting to visit Makkah ?

Leave us a comment

Subtitles available in english, press CC (except for iPad/iPhone, please use a computer with flash)

Some stories about driving in Arabia People here are crazy drivers. This short video before my next episode of the Muslim World Tour. Enjoy

I am staying a few weeks in the most sacred place of Islam, for this first episode of the Muslim World Tour. The land of Prophet Muhammad (saws) and the birthplace of Islam since Abraham (as).

This trip to Arabia is for me an occasion to see the reality of life there, and I also explain to you in this video my effort, my project and the goal of this world tour.

Subtitles available (click CC on the video, except for iPhone/iPad

English subtitles available: click on the “CC” button.

Erratum: Ismail étudie Usool ad Deen (études islamiques) à Preston University, Ajman, EAU

Link to the Quran I am talking about in the video :