Islam: The Untold Story (2012)

Islam: The Untold Story is a documentary film written and presented by the English novelist and popular historian Tom Holland. The documentary explores the origins of Islam, an Abrahamic religion that developed in Arabia in the 7th century; it criticizes the orthodox Islamic account of this history, claiming that this traditional story lacks sufficient supporting evidence. It was commissioned by the British television company Channel 4 and first broadcast in August 2012. Its release followed the publication of Holland's In the Shadow of the Sword: The Battle for Global Empire and the End of the Ancient World (2012), which also discussed the rise of the Arab Empire and the origins of Islam.

Adopting the controversial theories of academic historian Patricia Crone as a basis, Holland asserted that there was little hard evidence for the origins of Islam and asked why it took several decades after the death of Muhammad for his name to appear on surviving documents or artifacts. Arguing that there was little evidence for how the faith was born, he suggested that the city of Mecca may not have been the real birthplace of Muhammad and Islam, and – while not clearly disputing Muhammad's existence as a real historical figure – posited that much of the Islamic origin "myth" was later developed in the early years of the Arab Empire.

The documentary proved controversial. Mainstream media reception was mixed, but it provoked criticism from figures within the United Kingdom's Islamic community who argued that Holland ignored evidence supporting the orthodox account of early Islamic history. Government-approved regulatory authority Ofcom and the broadcaster Channel 4 received an estimated 1200 complaints regarding the program. Fearing "violent retaliation from militant Muslims", Channel 4 cancelled a public screening of the documentary at their London headquarters.



^ Sutcliff, Tom (29 August 2012). "Last night's viewing – Islam: the Untold Story, Channel 4; Accused, BBC1". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012.

^ Dex, Robert (3 September 2012). "Islam: The Untold Story documentary receives 1,200 complaints". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012.

Synopsis

In Islam: The Untold Story, Holland deals with the origins of the religion Islam. Traveling to Saudi Arabia, he visits Arabian bedouins to hear their orthodox Islamic accounts of the religion's origins. Holland then talks to Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a practising Muslim who teaches Islamic studies at the George Washington University, Washington D.C., and Patricia Crone, a non-Muslim historian of Islamic history at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. The former defends the orthodox Islamic account of the faith's history, citing its development within oral history, but Crone challenges the reliability of oral history, and therefore the traditional account.