I sit with my children and we watch stories within video series, discussing their accuracy, trying to develop critical …
I sit with my children and we watch stories within video series, discussing their accuracy, trying to develop critical thinking in them.
The truth is there are quite a few of these series with great benefit. But at the same time, they contain major errors that prevent me from recommending them. I hope my words reach those producing them: the effort put into these series is enormous. I wish you would include religious and educational reviewers in your team so these errors don't occur. All this while I don't adopt drawing living beings. But you drew anyway (with a fatwa you consider valid or without one - regardless) so our advice to you continues.
The first episode of one series, for example, was built on a false story with no chain of narration at all. More seriously, it contains corrupt meanings. In summary: a man's camel ate from another man's crops, the crop owner got angry and they fought, during the fight the crop owner threw the camel owner to the ground, the camel owner grabbed a rock and hit the crop owner's head and he died. The camel owner hadn't intended to kill him but was defending himself. The brothers of the crop owner brought the killer to the judge who ruled he should be killed. He asked to be allowed to say goodbye to his wife and children but the judge and the victim's brothers refused, fearing he would escape, so Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) guaranteed him.
The man left and was delayed, so they thought he wouldn't return and brought Abu Dharr forward to be killed instead. At the last moment, the camel owner came back. They said to him: What made you return? He said: I feared it would be said that keeping promises has left humanity. The victim's brothers were moved and pardoned him, saying: We feared it would be said: forgiveness has left humanity.
This story has corrupt meaning. If it were only about lack of authentic chain, that would be lighter. But it contains corrupt meanings that confuse the image of Sharia in viewers' minds. First: The mentioned case is quasi-intentional killing. Since the killer was defending himself and didn't intend to kill the crop owner. Such a case requires aggravated diyah (blood money), not qisas (retaliation). It's important for children to know that killing has different cases and details, and not just any killer - intentional, accidental, or quasi-intentional - is killed so easily!
Second: If someone guaranteed the killer as in this fabricated story that Abu Dharr guaranteed the killer, and the killer didn't come, the guarantor would NOT be killed under any circumstances!! Rather, he must pay the diyah to the victim's family. It truly bothered me during the episode when the judge said to Abu Dharr: (By Allah, Abu Dharr, if it were up to me I wouldn't kill you, but I am implementing Allah's law)!! This is not Allah's law! Rather, it seeps into children's souls a kind of disrespect for human life.
Conclusion: Although the series producers intended in this episode to highlight the values of nobility, faithfulness, and forgiveness, it contains major errors that overshadow its benefit. The truth is there are other episodes with similar observations despite the great benefit in this series.
The advice is to present episodes to religious and educational reviewers before producing them.
I advise my brothers and sisters to discuss this criticism of the episode with their children to develop critical thinking.