Islam and Science Fiction Film: The Portrayal of Kauniyah Verses in Interstellar (2014)

Abstract

Research on media representation on Islam and Muslims have been carried out widely in the post 9/11 tragedy from a cultural, religion, political and social group lens. However, this paper discusses a science fiction film, Interstellar (2014), directed by Christopher Nolan. It is a film about space exploration by a group of scientists in their quest to find a new planet for humankind to replace the earth. The film portrays scenes of the scientists travelling into places in space-the wormhole and other potential planets for a living. Apart from highlighting space and its discovery journey from the perspective of modern science, this film can also be explored from the perspective of Islam. Many scenes in the movie represent and translate what Allah SWT has thought of Muslims through verses in the al-Quran. What are the scenes, and how does it relate to verses in the Quran? This paper uses qualitative content analysis to highlight selected verses of Kauniyah (verses explaining about Allah’s creation of the universe and its system) in the al-Quran as evidence that reflects the truth of al-Quran and the Islamic teachings. The findings are highlighted based on the relationship of scenes containing this evidence in the film with the verses in the Quran and their meanings.