Everyone knows someone or at the very least, has heard of someone who may have considered extremism, if not pursued it. ”Tug of War” is a 60-minute not-for-profit film produced by Boonaa Mohammed that counterattacks extremism and showcases how the role of foreign policy, the role of local and federal law enforcement and the role of the community can lead someone to embrace extreme ideologies from random online sources.
Set in Toronto, “Tug of War” illustrates the mind-boggling journey of two friends who were drawn to radicalized Islam through different avenues. Khalil, a Somalian born Muslim who turned his life around and made Tawbah and reconnected with Islam after serving 4 years in federal prison. Sadly enough, upon his release, everyone he has ever known alongside the community had turned their back on him. While Anas is a former police informant turned extremist who is hell-bent on waging war against the system that ruined his life.
Boonaa Mohammed, a well-known poet, and a filmmaker played Khalil and Mohammed Zeyara, a Humanitarian Activist/Public Speaker played Anas. They simultaneously did a fantastic job in constructing a Muslim narrative. And I appreciate the fact that It couldn’t have been easy to remain persistent and portray such roles for the greater good while fully knowing people would attack such an idea without justifiable cause.
I really like how this movie as it is a movie made by Muslims for Muslims. Boonaa Mohamed envisioned a demand for Islamic Cinema and catered to that market. This movie purposely aids you to comprehend, “Would you help Khalil?” We as a community should rise to accommodate the needs of our brothers and sisters regardless of their circumstance in a way that wouldn’t deviate them to seek affiliation with extremist groups through various platforms. This movie also illustrates extremism is not picture perfect as extremists preach as the reality is one second they are recording a message of hate for the west and the next second they are crying themselves to sleep fully knowing that there are in a state of no return.
Many lessons can be learned from this movie. Some of which are:
P.s don’t quote me word for word. :)
- Do not seek knowledge from random unknowledgeable online sources. – Mohammed Zeyara
- As a community, we need to stop investing in our “buildings” (masjids) and start investing in people as our youth are the leaders of tomorrow! – Boonaa Mohammed
- If we do not write a narrative where you are the hero, someone else will write the narrative where you are the villain. – Navaid Aziz
- We as a community should rise to accommodate the needs of our brothers and sisters regardless of their circumstance in a way that wouldn’t deviate them to seek affiliation with extremist groups through various platforms. – Me
Overall, this is an extraordinary movie that puts the radicalization issue into perspective as it sheds light on topics commonly not tackled by mosques or communities and in some cases families too which enables it to cover an even broader spectrum. Moreover, it is for all ages.
From the scale of 1-5:
I’d rate it as 5
…
Below are a few links to check out
Tug of War Official Soundtrack
Tug of War interview with Boonaa Mohammed
Tug of War interview with Mohammed Zeyara
Enjoy and Thank you for reading :)
Words of a Ramadan Addict 
The poeple mentioned in the write up (Boona Mohamed, Navaid Aziz and Mohamed Zeyara) are amongst those that Ive been following on FB and other social media platforms, yet I havent heard of the movie before. Im so glad you did this article, I will definately be following it up…and from youve written I can say a movie like this is quite overdue! Thank you for sharing.
I recommend you contact them through their website and ask if they will be screening it in your city.
Alhumdulilah thanks for this, may Allah swt guide us all :)
I haven’t heard about this movie either. Is it very new? I will try to look it up – thank you for enlightening us!
Do not think I have ever heard of it too. It sound yum. Like the if you do not write about your heroism someone would write about you being the villian quote.
I haven’t actually heard of this before. It really is an issue today because so many people are doing it. I have to watch the movie later today, it looks really good.
xo
Zeinab
Masha Allah. Interesting find.
Would love to watch and recommend to my youth audience insha Allah. Sounds like the much needed narrative we need in our Ummah today.
Thanks for sharing. I will follow it up insha Allah.
This is a good review would love to watch this inshallah xx
I have only heard of Mohammed Zeyara out of all these people you listed, and the things he writes about on his Facebook page are pretty important. This movie sounds like it tackles a very volatile subject in a good way. I will definitely be adding it to a list of must-watch movies :)
Not heard of this movie before but sounds interesting. I will have to keep a look out for it and try to watch it if I get the chance.
good post!
Sounds like a really interesting film with some good messages. I think the first point is very important. We should always check sources and try to find out if they are legitimate. Something which is quite difficult at this time of the Internet.
I saw the publicity around it quite a while back, but they’ve never had screenings in my country. Any idea if it is actually available in any way to purchase? The movie website is quite outdated now in terms of last news update…
Which city do you live in? A Muslim community in the city, contacted bonna mohammed and requested it. He did say eventually he would upload it online for sale or something. But the purpose of the movie is to start a dialogue between Muslims and law enforcement agents. So, he plans on traveling from city to city first.
Salaam alaikum, I know this is a bit late but I have been trying to find this movie online and am having no luck at all. Does anyone have any sources where i can search for this movie? With such an important message i would hope it would be accessible to more people! Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you very much :)
Sorrt for the late reply Andrew. I just checked out their website on your behalf and it looks like you can now stream it off their website at https://safinamedia.vhx.tv/products/tug-of-war.
I hope you enjoy it and share your findings.