Muslim Video Games

The makers of the video game Al-Quraysh hope its gameplay, set in the early part of Islamic history, will combat the negative portrayals of Muslims in other games and give young Muslims a positive self-image. From the Christian Science Monitor article:

"Al-Quraysh is going to help people in the West better understand the people who are living in the East," says Radwan Kasmiya, an avid gamer and the executive manager of Afkar Media. "We want to show that this civilization was a sort of practical and almost heavenly civilization."

The game also holds lessons for Muslims, says Mr. Kasmiya.

"I get very embarrassed by the way we are showing our civilization," says Kasmiya. "There were rational laws that were governing Muslims at that time. This allowed this civilization to last for a long time and to accept the other civilizations that they came in touch with. It was not a conservative or sectarian civilization. But people have stopped taking the ideas behind the laws, and are taking the laws themselves. They do not understand the essence of the laws."

The first game released by the same company, however, centers around fighting modern Israeli forces.

Read the entire article here.