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Source: The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

August 25, 2010

Public showings of movies during the nights of Ramadan have been attracting strong criticism from several top clerics. The movies are shown as part of a project called “From Azan to Azan” (from the call to prayer in the morning of Ramadan to the call to prayer at the end of the fast), the initiative of several large movie theater owners, which was approved by the Ministry of Islamic Guidance. The project was launched last year in several large movie theaters in Tehran and was expanded this year to include movie theaters in other major cities, including Ahvaz and Rasht. Movies are shown from 3 PM to 3 AM, and the project itself aims to promote the Iranian film industry and ticket sales during the month of fasting, in which the number of tickets sold is considered relatively small.

The project drew strong criticism from several conservative clerics. The ultra-conservative cleric Hojjatoleslam Seyyed Ahmad Alam al-Hoda, the Friday prayer leader in mosques in the city of Mashhad, lashed out against the project, claiming it encouraged people to watch movies instead of attending prayer. During his Friday sermon, the cleric called on senior officials in the major cities to stop the project, saying it prevents people from devoting their attention to God and to the Quran (ISNA, August 13).

Seyyed Ahmad Miremadi, the Friday prayer leader in the city of Khoramabad, also lashed out against the project, saying it is “anti-religious”. According to Miremadi, while clerics make efforts to draw people to pray in mosques, movie theater owners encourage the public to watch movies. He noted that the Ministry of Islamic Guidance must encourage Iranians to come to mosques during the month of Ramadan, not to movie theaters.

The movie theater owners claimed, however, that the project is highly successful with the public, and that many Iranians come to the movie showings with their families. Responding to the criticism voiced by the clerics, Ali Sartipi, a senior figure in Iran’s movie industry, said that the project does not compromise the religious programs customarily held during the month of fasting, and that, at any rate, no religious activities take place in mosques or religious centers when the movies are shown. He stressed that the project has the approval of the authorities and that it is carried out with the cooperation of the internal security forces (Fars, August 14).

It should be noted that, while movies are shown in the movie theaters, there are also movies broadcast on Iranian television. In the past, the broadcasting of movies by Iran Broadcasting was also criticized by clerics, who claimed that the movies encouraged people to stay home and engage in movie watching over going to mosques and attending religious ceremonies that take place during the month of fasting.