“When the Prophet migrated to Madinah, he stayed in Ayub's home as a guest for a month until he built his mosque. It is this visit of mine which inspired me to make a video about the great companion,” says Ahmed, who is originally from Bangalore, India and is currently living in the Los Angeles area.
Since then Ahmed embarked on a journey to Muslim lands to document Islamic history and propagate Islam through his documentaries. As writer, researcher and director of these videos his work has taken him to Spain, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Palestine, India and several Islamic cities. “In my opinion, this is one of the best ways of providing knowledge about Islam to the general public,” says Ahmed.
Ahmed established Islamic Video Productions in 1986 and his videos have since been in wide circulation in the United States and throughout the world. In many countries his videos are broadcast on local channels, shown in Islamic schools, and even prisons in the United States.
“I would say that mostly the topics are selected through inspirations,” says Ahmed, who cites his film "Preservation of the Holy Qur’an,” as one such example. It describes the process and methodology adopted by Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) and his companions, which led to the preservation of the last revelation.
One of his most popular videos is the “Dome of the Rock” which covers the Islamic history of Jerusalem to the creation of the state of Israel, the differences between the major monotheistic faiths, and the significance of several religious monuments. “My Islamic consultant Mr. Muhammad Aryan who is from Palestine enlightened me with the subject of Al Aqsa mosque. He took me to Jerusalem where I shot all the scenes of Al Aqsa Mosque, Hebron, the Jewish Wailing wall, the Holy Sepulcher of Christians. We went through the entire Islamic history of Jerusalem.” Ahmed says the video has been in great demand since the day it was released.
His personal favorite is “Spanish Muslims” a film about the Muslim rule of Spain, which lasted 750 years. The video is also one of his most popular videos and is regularly shown in Mexico City to the local population. Ahmed spent two years researching the video and visited Spain twice and also Morocco to trace the glorious history of Spanish Muslims. In the video he explores Islamic history in towns like Cordoba, Seville, Madrid, Toledo, Gibraltar. The video shows the great mosque of Cordoba, the Alhambra Palace, the [Geralda Tower] minaret of Seville, the market places and the oldest Islamic university in the city of Fez.
