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Koran By Heart
October 15, 2013
6:30-8:30 pm
King 320
Every year, about one hundred of Islam’s best young students from around the world come to Cairo for the International Holy Koran Competition. Many are in their late teens, some as young as seven. Koran by Heart follows the progress of three scholars, a girl and two boys, all ten years old, as they compete against students who, in some instances, are nearly twice their age.
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Inside Mecca
October 23, 2013
6:30-8:30 pm
King 114
Each year millions of travelers flock to Mecca, undertaking the Hajj, or pilgrimage, required of all devout Muslims. Few people outside of Islam, however, have seen this ancient and sacred city. This program offers an unprecedented look at the birthplace of Muhammad and the rituals that bring together the followers of the world’s fastest-growing religion.
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Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World
October 29, 2013
6:30-8:30 pm
King 320
This film takes audiences on an epic journey across nine countries and more than 1,400 years of history. It explores the richness of Islamic art in objects big and small, from great ornamented palaces and the play of light in monumental mosques to the exquisite beauty of ceramics, carved boxes, paintings, and metal work. It revels in the use of color and finds commonalities in a shared artistic heritage with the West and East. The film also examines the unique ways in which Islamic art turns calligraphy and the written word into masterpieces and develops water into an expressive, useful art form.
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Prince Among Slaves
November 12, 2013
6:30-8:30 pm
King 320
In 1788, the slave ship Africa set sail from West Africa, headed for the West Indies filled with a profitable but highly perishable cargo—hundreds of men, women, and children bound in chains. Six months later, one of its human cargo, a twenty-six-year-old man named Abdul Rahman, was transported and sold in Natchez, Mississippi. According to legends that developed around Abdul Rahman in antebellum America, he made the remarkable claim to the farmer who purchased him at the auction that he was an “African prince” and that his father would pay gold for his return. The offer was refused, and Abdul Rahman did not return to Africa for another forty years. During his enslavement he toiled on the Foster plantation, married, and fathered nine children. His story also made him one the most famous Africans in America for a time, attracting the attention of powerful men such as Secretary of State Henry Clay.
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