Writer: Fiza Raza | Editors: Zainabrights and Hussain Makke | Anchor: Fatima El-Zein | Video editor: Team BOLD

Saudi Arabia’s controversial Muawiya series has sparked global criticism for fueling sectarian divisions and manipulating historical narratives for political gain. In this original video report, TMJ News features an in-depth look at the series from a historical and modern-day perspective, and uncovers the political motives behind it.

The highly controversial series Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan is far more than just a historical drama; the timing and content of this production suggest a carefully orchestrated political move by Saudi Arabia to stoke sectarian tensions and reinforce political divisions to suit the monarchy’s geopolitical interests.

After two delays, it premiered on Saudi Arabia’s MBC network at the beginning of March. The series boasts an astonishing production budget of approximately $100 million, marking it as potentially the most expensive production in the history of Arabic drama.

The series dramatizes the life and political career of Muawiya, a controversial figure in early Islam. 

The Airing of Muawiya: Why Now?

Following the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, the geopolitical landscape of West Asia enjoyed an unprecedented and historic unity as the Muslim Ummah saw Sunni and Shia Muslims fighting side by side against their common enemy, the Zionist regime. The Palestinian cause was finally transcending sectarian divides and the Muslim world experienced a collective awakening against the Zionist regime. 

The timing of the decision to air Muawiya recently—just after a period of extraordinary unity among Muslims—could not be more provocative. It clearly shows that Saudi Arabia, through its media, is seeking to simultaneously reignite sectarian divides and create a distraction from the realities on the ground to advance its own political and ideological gain. 

In fact, Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the Syrian conflict was heavily reliant on sectarian dynamics, and by framing the conflict as a Sunni-Shiite struggle, Saudi Arabia successfully fueled radicalization among the Syrian opposition groups back in 2011, leading to a loss of several hundred thousands of lives in the Syrian civil war.

Those same groups are now in power and massacring every group that does not align with them ideologically. 

This sectarian approach, while aimed at countering Iran and its allies, has helped create an environment where extremist groups like HTS can thrive, deepening the sectarian divide in the region. This has benefited none but the Israeli Zionist entity by bringing the downfall of one of the major supporters of Palestinian resistance in the region.  

Saudi Arabia’s involvement in producing this series aligns with its long-standing use of media to advance sectarian narratives, often targeting Iran and its allies. Just recently in October 2024, the Saudi MBC channel had its license revoked in Iraq after it referred to major resistance figures as “terrorists.”

Analysts suggest that this series serves as a calculated move within Saudi Arabia’s geopolitical and media agenda. By linking contemporary sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shia to historical events from early Islam, the show is an attempt to undermine the solidarity that has emerged among Muslims after October 7, 2023.

Muawiya: A Polarizing Figure in Islamic History

The controversy surrounding Muawiya reached international proportions with Iran and Iraq’s media regulator banning the series, fearing it would incite sectarian unrest. Similarly, the General Authority of Senior Scholars at Al-Azhar University, one of the most influential Sunni institutions in the world, issued a fatwa prohibiting the viewing of the drama due to its portrayal of the Prophet’s companions, a matter they deem religiously inappropriate.

At the heart of this film remains the question, who was Muawiya, and why is he such a polarizing figure in Islamic history? More importantly, why is this film being used to further a certain agenda in this time? 

Muawiya has long been a divisive and controversial figure, and his actions and characteristics cannot be separated from the political message that the series seeks to convey. Far from being a unifying figure, Muawiya’s legacy is marred by political manipulation, sectarianism, and betrayal. 

Muawiya was the son of Abu Sufyan, one of the staunchest enemies of the Prophet Muhammad. His mother, Hind bint Utba, was infamous for her brutal actions following the Battle of Uhud, where she mutilated the body of the Prophet’s uncle, Hamza and ate his liver.

Initially an opponent of Islam, he only converted after the conquest of Mecca—not out of genuine faith, but out of fear of political defeat. His conversion is often seen as opportunistic, with many historians arguing that had the Muslim forces not prevailed in Mecca, Muawiya would have remained an uncompromising polytheist.

This marks the beginning of a long history of political maneuvering that would define his reign as the first monarch in Islamic history.

Muawiya’s rule was characterized by his notorious act to order the public cursing of Ali ibn Abu Talib, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, from the pulpits of mosques, even in Medina, near the Prophet’s tomb.

For over six decades, Muawiya’s government mandated the cursing of Ali, a move that directly contradicted the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings on love for Ali. According to many scholars, this sowed the seeds of the sectarian divide that still plagues the Muslim world today. 

One of the most infamous aspects of Muawiya’s legacy is his transformation of the Islamic caliphate into a dynastic monarchy. After a truce, Muawiya pledged to transfer leadership to Hasan ibn Ali, the Prophet’s grandson, but instead broke that promise and solidified his own position and established the Umayyad dynasty as a hereditary monarchy by appointing his son Yazid as his successor.

Muawiya’s Reign and the Seeds of Division

Yazid was notorious for public drunkenness and un-Islamic behavior, and this decision led to the tragic events of Karbala, where Yazid’s forces killed Hasan ibn Ali’s brother and Prophet’s Grandson, Hussain, his family members and companions.

By using sectarianism as a political tool, Muawiya strategically used ethnic and tribal divisions to consolidate his power, elevating his family and supporters while marginalizing those who opposed him. His manipulation of these divisions laid the foundation for the ongoing Sunni-Shia split, a division that would deepen over time and fuel political conflict for centuries to come.

Muawiya’s attempts to suppress opposition, coupled with his use of religious legitimacy to justify his rule, would have a lasting impact on Islamic governance. Under Muawiya’s rule, the Umayyads expanded their empire through force, and this expansion came at the cost of abandoning the spiritual core of Islam in favor of imperial ambition.

His creation of a monarchy that laid the groundwork for a system of rule that was more concerned with maintaining power than with adhering to the principles of justice and equality that Islam originally espoused.

This approach not only contradicted the teachings of the Prophet but also fostered an environment of unprecedented corruption and dynastic rule that would plague the Muslim world for centuries to come.

Muawiya’s reign also brought about theological changes, such as the introduction of the divine right of kings, an idea borrowed from Christian theology. This concept justified Muawiya’s monarchy and reshaped the political landscape of the Islamic world.

His reign also saw the introduction of problematic elements into Islamic teachings, influenced by figures like Kaab al-Ahbar, a Jewish convert, who played a significant role in the early Umayyad religious establishment.

The Rise of Modern-Day Sectarianism

The airing of the series Muawiya is not simply the release of a historical drama but an ironic politically charged event aimed at exacerbating sectarian tensions in the Muslim world. By framing contemporary Sunni-Shia divisions within a historical context, Saudi Arabia attempts to reshape the narrative to suit its geopolitical interests.

As the Gulf countries continue to ignore the suffering of their Muslim brethren in Gaza, it is unsurprising that they intensify their use of Western-driven Sunni and Shia terminologies to deepen the divide between these two sects, despite their many shared beliefs and practices. 

This narrative is exacerbated by Turkey’s President Erdogan, who has positioned himself as the leader of the Sunni world and the self-proclaimed savior of Palestine. However, his actions clearly betray his rhetoric, as he simultaneously supports Israel by funding groups like HTS in Syria, contributing to broader geopolitical instability. 

The rise of sectarianism—deliberately stoked and manipulated by countries like Saudi Arabia and Turkey—has become a key instrument in the achievement of their political objectives, pulling Muslims further away from true Islamic unity.

Their spiteful schemes conveniently align with their broader ambitions to normalize relations with the Zionist state. 

Within this context, the decision to air Muawiya is far from innocent; it reflects a calculated attempt to manipulate Islamic history in service of present-day political agendas.

At a time when unprecedented levels of Muslim unity are beginning to take shape in opposition to external threats, such productions risk unraveling the fragile cohesion that has emerged, reigniting old divisions for the benefit of those who profit from disunity.