Circa 630 AD, the sun beats down on an ocean of dunes, rippling like waves frozen in time towards the horizon. A caravan of camels trudges in formation, silhouetted against a glaring sky. It follows a stream of Muslim warriors in white garments and gleaming armour on horseback, kicking up clouds of fine dust as they gallop across the barren landscape.
In their lead is a companion of Prophet Muhammad, Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan (605–680), hailed by Sunni Muslims as the father of the Umayyad Caliphate, but reviled by Shiites as the enemy of their revered Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet’s cousin and the last of the four Rashidun, also known as the ‘rightly guided’ caliphs.
This scene is from Muawiya, a 2025 Ramadan TV series produced by Saudi Arabia-based MBC Studios, featuring an ensemble cast of actors from across the Arab world.
With a screenplay by Egyptian journalist Khaled Salah and direction by Tarek Alarian and Ahmed Medhat, this mega-production period piece took three years to make and had a staggering budget of $100 million.
For context, the events of the series cover the historical period right before and during the caliphate of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, through the rule of Uthman ibn Affan and the subsequent unrest that led to his assassination.
It then covers the caliphate of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, highlighting the conflict between him and Muawiya — a struggle that ended with the assassination of Imam Ali during the ‘Great Fitnah‘ (discord) from 656 to 661.
The series continues to the establishment of the Umayyad caliphate, which created dynastic hereditary rule when Muawiya, the long-time governor of Greater Syria, handed power over to his son Yazid I.
Escalation of sectarian strife
Despite its huge budget, the series has sparked as much controversy as the man himself and has faced accusations of historical inaccuracies, incitement of sectarian strife, and the blatant politicisation of history.
These criticisms led to a ban of the series in Iraq, where sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites has been ongoing since the Iraq war in the early 2000s.
The show was also banned from translation and screening in Shiite-majority Iran. Furthermore, in Egypt, Al-Azhar al-Sharif, the theological centre of Sunni Islam, warned against watching the show due to its portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad’s companions, which the authority deemed religiously inappropriate.
With the show continuing to stir controversy, The New Arab spoke to individuals across the Middle East to get their insights.
“Among the foremost opponents of the TV show was the leader of the Sadrist movement in Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr, who rejected its broadcast, considering that it might fuel sectarian strife,” Noor Salem, a member of Organisation of Communist Alternative in Iraq, told The New Arab.
That said, the Iraqi Media and Communications Commission officially requested that MBC Iraq not broadcast Muawiya, warning of its impact on the social fabric and potential to stir divisions between Sunnis and Shiites.
Noor explained that the decision to ban the series reflects the government’s monopoly over the historical narrative, which it uses to serve its sectarian and political interests.
“I reject this hegemony over history because it is an extension of the political tyranny that has long excluded diverse voices to control historical narratives,” said Noor, adding that it is all “part of the system of control over our consciousness.”
Iraqi novelist Yassin Ghaleb noted that Iraqis tend to lean towards the history of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–833), viewing it as an extension of their heritage, free from sectarian sensitivity. This contrasts with their view of Umayyad history, which evokes aversion even among non-Muslims, such as Iraqi Christians.
“You can tell the difference because in the 1990s, the TV series Harun al-Rashid was wildly welcomed in Iraq,” said Yassin, noting that Harun al-Rashid was the fifth Abbasid Caliph who ruled at the height of the Islamic empire, with Baghdad’s luxury remembered in The Thousand and One Nights.
“When it comes to Muawiya, it is difficult for the Iraqi collective conscience to digest a work that glorifies a character linked to deeply rooted tragedies in the public’s historical memory,” Yassin added.
‘Preparing the ground for upcoming conflicts’
Following the ban of Muawiya in Iraq, Iran’s Audiovisual Media Regulation Authority (SARTA) issued a decision to block the series from traditional broadcasting channels and prohibited its circulation on social media.
However, despite this, an Iranian digital platform aired two episodes in Arabic, prompting the intervention of the Iranian prosecutor general, who ordered their removal.
In a statement to the Iranian News Agency Tasnim, the head of censorship at SARTA said the ban was because the series showed a different version of history, portraying the Umayyads in a way that goes against the Shiite view and clearing them of crimes against the Alawites.
“Muawiya is a tool to fuel sectarian tension in the region,” said Islamic preacher Mohammed Abdullah Nasr.
“Glorifying the character of Muawiya to align with the Sunni version of history fuels sectarian tension,” Mohammed added. “It is an attempt to mobilise the masses for a sectarian war in the Middle East. It is the work of intelligence agencies preparing the ground for upcoming conflicts in several countries.”
Al-Azhar’s role in censorship
As the seat of Sunni Islam, objections to Muawiya stemmed from a doctrinal aversion to the portrayal of the companions of Prophet Muhammad.
The series features popular actors such as Syrian Lojain Ismail as Muawiya and Jordanian Eyad Nassar as Imam Ali, alongside a slew of other celebrities.
Former Undersecretary of the Ministry of Endowments for Preaching Affairs, Salem Abdul Jalil, explained that, in Islamic view, prophets are infallible and cannot be represented in any form of art. Any attempt to convey their image will not reflect their moral or behavioural reality.
“Although the Prophet’s companions are not infallible, the same applies, and they should not be depicted through representation,” Salem told The New Arab.
“Portraying historical figures is subject to the whims of screenwriters and directors,” he added. “Hence, it requires input from Al-Azhar as the official Islamic reference, which must be consulted before producing any historical work related to Islam.”
Salem further explained that when Al-Azhar calls for a public boycott of a TV series, it should not just issue a statement, but take measures to prevent the series from being screened in the first place.
“Instead of providing a fair historical vision, such works provoke divisions and sectarian tension,” he added.
Al-Azhar’s concerns about the portrayal of religious figures are not new and date back to the golden age of Egyptian cinema in the 1930s and 40s, when a project to depict Prophet Muhammad was immediately stopped by Al-Azhar.
A similar controversy later led to the banning of Moustapha Akkad’s masterpiece The Message, in which the Prophet’s uncle Hamza was portrayed by Anthony Quinn in the English version and Abdallah Gheith in the Arabic version.
Two years ago, Al-Azhar also banned The Atheist by controversial journalist Ibrahim Eissa, prompting a huge cultural debate.
“Al-Azhar does not have legal authority over showing or blocking or criticising artistic works, as these powers are subject to the censorship authority,” art critic Rami Al-Metwally told The New Arab.
“By stirring controversy around a certain work, Al-Azhar exercises its spiritual authority over society either as an institution or through one of its scholars, threatening the very existence of the work,” he added. “But with the development of digital platforms and modern technology, imposing a ban has become almost impossible.”
Social media users speak out
With its release earlier this month, historical and technical errors in Muawiya have become the subject of ridicule among social media users.
“The dramatic context of the work itself is illogical,” art critic Ahmed Saad El-Din told The New Arab.
He explained that there is a contradiction between showing Muawiya as a human while simultaneously valorising him as an infallible army leader.
“The dramatic treatment is also inconsistent with historical narratives, not to mention the set design and costumes, which fail to reflect the historical era dating back 1,400 years,” added Ahmed, pointing out a clear disconnect between the two who helmed the artistic direction.
With this in mind, it is the historical inaccuracies that have sparked the most outrage.
“The work did not adhere to an accurate historical narrative, but rather reformulated events to embellish Muawiya’s image,” preacher Mohammed Nasr told The New Arab.
He added, “It does not show the truth that Muawiya seized power by force after the assassination of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib.
“It does not show the role of his son Yazid in the killing of Imam Hussain [the grandchild of Prophet Muhammad] and 80 of the Prophet’s household, and how he captured the women of the Prophet’s household and banished them from Iraq to the Levant.”
Building on these critiques, the most blatant distortion was the false representation of Muawiya as one of the early embracers of Islam.
“It is a historical fact that Muawiya was among Al-Tulaqa’, the Meccans who converted to Islam after the conquest of Mecca,” said Mohammed.
Shimaa Elyoussef is a freelance Egyptian journalist
This piece is published in collaboration with Egab
