Glimpses of the Iranian film that is being widely criticised for portraying Prophet Muhammed

The biggest budget movie in the history of Iranian cinema is about the holiest figure in Islam: the Prophet Muhammed. The film portrays the Prophet's childhood from his birth in Mecca up to the age of 12 when, according to Muslim historians, he meets a Christian monk, Bahira, in the Syrian city of Bosra who foretells that young Muhammed is going to be a messenger of God. In February, Egypt's Al-Azhar Islamic Centre called on Iran to ban the film. Al-Azhar in its statement claimed that production of such films undermines the sanctity and lofty status of the messenger of God. The film is the first part of a trilogy that will be released in Persian, Arabic and English.