In its Stories from the Koran series, Al-Manar TV, which is affiliated with the Lebanese terrorist organization Hizbullah, aired an Egyptian claymation children's special by the well-known filmaker Dr. Zeinab Zamzam. [1]
The following are excerpts are from the program, which aired December 7, 2005.
TO VIEW CLIP VISIT http://memritv.org/clip/en/964.htm.
[Music. A backdrop of the splashing waters of the Red Sea. Fade in to a village on the shore.]
Grandfather: "How beautiful is our blessed village, my child. Look at this great sea the Lord gave us, and placed us on its shore."
Boy: "What is this village called, Grandpa?"
Grandfather: "Eilat, my child. Do you know why I brought you to the sea today?"
Boy: "No, Grandpa Shuhayr."
Grandfather: "You must know, my child, that our village is not like any other."
Boy: "Why, Grandpa?"
Grandfather: "The Lord made the whales and fish come of their own free will out of the sea to the shore, every Sabbath."
Boy: “Only on the Sabbath?”
Grandfather: "Yes, my child. The Lord ordered us not to do anything at all on the Sabbath, and to stay at home to worship the Lord."
Boy: "And what if we go out on the Sabbath?"
Grandfather: "The whales will still come out of the sea to the shore."
Boy: "Then why shouldn't we go out, catch them, and grill them?"
Grandfather: "Because the Lord has put us to a difficult test. If we defy Him, we will be punished most severely. I've brought you to the sea, and taught you this because you've grown up, and you must learn and observe the Lord's commandments, just as David, the Lord's Prophet, ordered us."
Boy: "I understand, my good grandfather."
[Music. Scene fades in to Pinhas and Shamloun digging in the sand.]
Pinhas: "Come on, come on, lazybones. Dig deeper, so the whales and fish will be trapped in our pool tomorrow."
Shamloun: "What a great trick, you devil. How ever did you come up with it?"
Pinhas: "The Lord has forbidden working and fishing on the Sabbath, yet the whales come only on the Sabbath. That's how I came up with the idea: I would work hard on Friday, and dig channels and pools, so that the Sabbath fish will be trapped in them, and we will pick them up on Sunday. That's how the trick will work."
Shamloun: "You're such a devil. But the Lord has forbidden the catching of Sabbath whales, Pinhas."
Pinhas: "That's no problem. We are catching the Sabbath whales - but not on the Sabbath. Come on, come on, lazybones."
Shamloun: "Come on, you devil, before anybody sees us and realizes our trick."
[Music. Water and fish fill the ditch Pinhas and Shamloun have dug. Fade in to a village. Habakkuk appears and, led by a strong aroma, walks up to Shamloun’s front door.]
Habakkuk: "What is that smell? Is that grilled fish I smell? Who is that wicked man who is grilling something forbidden?"
Shamloun: "What are you doing outside my house, you sneak?"
Habakkuk: "What about you, accursed Shamloun? The smell of forbidden grilling is coming from your house. Are you grilling something that the Lord forbade, Shamloun?"
Shamloun: "You're imagining things. Get out of my face, and don't come near my home."
Habakkuk: "First let me see your oven, if you are telling the truth."
Shamloun: "I told you to go away."
Habakkuk: "Not before I see your oven. You see, you sinner?! You and this criminal, Pinhas - you have betrayed our covenant with the Lord and behaved cunningly. You have fished what was forbidden by the Lord. By God, curses will befall you. You will see. By God, curses will befall you."
Pinhas: "[laughs with Shamloun] Why don't you share this delicious food with us, and forget about the Lord's covenant?"
Habakkuk: "You will see the curses raining down on you now, you accursed people."
[The sky turns dark.]
Habakkuk: "Curses will rain down on them right now! Fire from the skies will fall and consume them right now! Right now! Right now! The curses are a little late, but they will come down, while these accursed people are having their lavish feast. Now, they will understand and will regret their deeds, but their regret will no longer help them. What's this? Nothing whatsoever has happened to you? Have the curses not rained down on you yet?"
Shamloun: "I'm standing right here, and so is Pinhas, and we are both fine, Habakkuk."
Habakkuk: "Nothing has happened to you?"
Pinhas: "The only thing that has happened to me is that I had the pleasure of eating the forbidden fish, my friend."
Habakkuk: "Woe betide you! Beginning next Sabbath, I will start selling publicly in the market."
[The marketplace. Pinhas and Shamloun smell their large basket of Sabbath fish.]
Pinhas: "We sell [fish] on the Sabbath. Step right up!"
Shamloun: "Step right up and buy fresh, raw fish, my friend."
Habakkuk: "What sinners you are. You are selling fish on the Sabbath?!"
Pinhas: "And what about you? What made you leave home on the Sabbath, you 'non-sinner'?"
Habakkuk: "I want to buy something, and there is also something I want to sell you - coals for grills, ropes, and traps for whales."
Shamloun: "Don't you fear that curses and torments will befall you for working on the Sabbath, Habakkuk?"
Habakkuk: "It seems that working on the Sabbath is permitted to us, and was prohibited to our ancestors, because they killed their prophets. [Laughs]"
[Scene shifts to people building a wall in the village.]
Boy: "Don't you feel tired, Grandpa?"
Grandfather: "No, you don't get tired when you do good deeds."
Boy: "Is building a wall between us and those who have made a mockery of the Lord's covenant and went to work on the forbidden Sabbath considered a good deed?"
Grandfather: "A good deed it is indeed, my child. We have isolated them so that when catastrophe strikes, it will strike them alone, and we will be saved, because of our faith."
Boy: "Grandpa, they are laughing at us, throwing stones at us, and say we are poor because we don't work on the Sabbath like them. Look!"
Man: "Do you fear all these illusions? There are no curses, and there is no reason to be afraid, you cowards."
Woman: "You are building a wall to distance yourselves from your actions, and therefore, you are doomed to eternal poverty, while we are destined to be rich. If you ever try to cross over to our side, we will kill you. Go ahead and build your wall, you fools [laughs]."
Grandfather: "Come on, men, keep building. Tomorrow is the Sabbath and we will not work, as we were commanded by the Lord. We must double our efforts today."
[The boy, his grandfather, and other villagers continue to build the wall as the scene shifts back to the marketplace.]
Pinhas: "Step right up and buy your Sabbath goods. We trade on the day that the Lord once forbade, and get rich. Come, step right up, all you who do not believe in curses."
Shamloun: "Shamloun is inviting you. Check out my merchandise, and don't be afraid of anyone. You won't be punished - not from the earth nor from the skies."
Habakkuk: "Step right up. It is me, Habakkuk. I am, as you can see, safe and sound. The only illness that has struck me is wealth. Come here. How nice it is to work on the Sabbath. How nice it is to work on the Sabbath. I am working on the Sabbath, and I challenge the will of the heavens."
[While jumping up and down, Pinhas, Shamloun, Habakkuk, and others in the marketplace turn into apes. The boy and his grandfather open a door in the wall and step to the other side with some other villagers.]
Grandfather: "Look, my child, the young among them have turned into apes, and their elderly have become pigs."
Boy: "They should know that the Lord speaks the truth and punishes severely."
Grandfather: "Praise the Lord, who has saved us. They remained in this condition for three days, and then were annihilated. The wind has cast them into the sea."
[Music plays as the apes and pigs are cast into the sea.]
Narrator: "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. When they disregarded the warning that had been given to them, We rescued those who forbade Evil; but We visited the wrong-doers with a grievous punishment because they were given to transgression. When in their insolence they transgressed prohibitions, We said the them: 'Be ye apes, despised and rejected.' Behold - thy Lord did declare that He would send against them, to the Day of Judgment those who would afflict them with grievous penalty. The Lord is quick in retribution, but he is also oft-forgiving, most Merciful."
[1] For more about the work of Dr. Zainab Zamzam, see:
http://www.icff.ir/en/festivals/20/specials/islam.