Do's and Don'ts of Adapting the Lives of Imams in Dramatic Texts

Today, dramatic arts are one of the most important ways to promote ideologies. Producing a dramatic work about the lives of religious leaders is one of the main goals of Muslim artists, but this task faces many challenges. One of the most important challenges is adapting the lives of the Imams in dramatic texts. The purpose of this article is to identify the licenses and limitations of this matter from a religious perspective.

Data will be collected using library research method and analyzed descriptively and analytically.

By examining storytelling and drama from an Islamic perspective, we have found that Islam has not explicitly stated anything about such arts, but through the practices and methods of the Qur'an and Imams, a kind of implicit confirmation can be inferred because God has repeatedly used this method to convey teachings to humanity. We have also found definitions for concepts such as blasphemy, insult, and sanctity in addition to various adaptations.

Adapting the lives of the Imams in dramatic texts is not inherently problematic, but it should not lead to something forbidden. Two things are considered forbidden in this matter: blasphemy and insult. In faithful adaptation, we are usually not exposed to these two issues, but in free and borrowed adaptations, if the writer claims truthfulness, he or she is exposed to blasphemy and subsequently insult. The writer must be careful not to insult the sacred and holy characters, even if the story is fictional. From the Islamic and Shia point of view, this insult and violation of sanctity cannot be forgiven.