TEHRAN - Scenes depicting Hazrat Abbas (AS), brother of Imam Hussein (AS), in “Mokhtarnameh” will be altered in the TV series due to the views of certain clerics.

The series is about an uprising organized by Mokhtar Saqafi after the events of Ashura, the 10th of Muharram, to take revenge against the killers of Imam Hussein (AS).
Ten parts of the serial have been aired on Channel 1 of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) over the past three months.
Producer Mahmud Fallah had previously said that the scenes had to be cut from “Mokhtarnameh”. However, he later reversed himself and said that the scenes would not be cut.
“But the face of Hazrat Abbas (AS) will be replaced with a shiny light through special effects,” he said in an interview with the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency on Sunday.
He expressed hope that the cuts would not damage the TV series.
The decision to depict scenes of Hazrat Abbas (AS), also known as Qamar-e Bani Hashem and Hazrat Abolfazl, in “Mokhtarnameh” has provoked outrage among clerics over the past few weeks.
Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad-Ali Alavi Gorgani, and Ayatollah Hossein Mazaheri raised strong objections to the decision earlier.
Ayatollah Hossein Vahid Khorasani is the most formidable opponent of the decision.
“I have heard that they want to screen an actor (playing the role) of Qamar-e Bani Hashem (AS). God forbid that they would make such a blunder. Otherwise, there will be no excuse for what may happen and what we would say,” Vahid Khorasani said.
“If the face of an actor is depicted as Qamar-e Bani Hashem (AS), his devotees will cause a riot during this year’s Tasu’a that will break the backs of the people who screen such pictures,” he stated.
Tasu’a is the ninth day of the lunar month of Muharram and the day Hazrat Abbas (AS) was martyred, and is one day before Ashura, which is the day Imam Hussein (AS) was martyred.
However, according to a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Seyyed Ezzeddin Hosseini Zanjani, the depiction of Hazrat Abbas (AS) in “Mokhtarnameh” could be conditionally allowed.
“Showing the image of Hazrat Abbas (AS) is not forbidden based on the shariah (Islamic law), but the individual selected to play the role should have a good reputation among the people and a background devoid of any negative attributes, and he would also have to be careful in selecting his future roles,” he said.
“They should try to present an image as close as possible to the real portrait of Hazrat Abbas (AS). On the whole, it is a difficult task and requires careful, in-depth consideration,” he noted.
An all-Iranian cast is appearing in “Mokhtarnameh”, which is directed by Davud Mirbaqeri, who previously directed the TV series “Imam Ali (AS)”.
Mirbaqeri took about eight years to complete “Mokhtarnameh”.
Kaveh Fotuhi plays the role of Hazrat Abbas (AS) in the series and Imam Hussein (AS) is played by Hamed Mirbaqeri, whose face has been replaced with a shiny light by special effects.