Theme: Islamic Mythology

Islam is one of the world’s key religions. It emerged around the 7th Century in the Arabic world. It holds that Muhammed is the prophet of God or Allah and that the Qu’ran/Koran is its holy book. Like Christianity, there are numerous different flavours of Islam. Key to Islamic beliefs are a series of moral codes and strictures regarding diet, clothing, prayer, pilgrimage and the place of women in society. The religion also entails the notion of jihad, a holy war against unbelievers.

Outside of cliches about fundamentalist extremism and terrorism (which should be heavily emphasised does not comprise all of Islam), Islamic beliefs and mythology only occasionally enter into fantastic cinema.

Islamic ideas underlie much of the fantasy tales of Arabian Nights, although most of these are Westernised depictions. One of the key elements of Islamic mythology that has appealed to many is the idea of the djinn – something that leads to the Genie – although the original form is as a desert spirit, that is less cute and cuddly and can often take on demonic form.