User Reviews

In 1999 a military coup saw General Pervez Musharraf take power in Pakistan. In order to examine in life in Pakistan under a dictatorship, filmmaker Sabiha Sumar arranges to be invited to dinner with Musharraf and his family and discuss his background and vision for the future. Similarly she travels around the country meeting the poor and the rich, the liberal and the religious, the young and the old to get their views and experiences of how the country is run and how it is being run.

As many of my recent reviews may tell you, I have been catching up on films from the BBC4 season "Why Democracy?" recently and been very impressed with how the films work together – they are not just on the topic of democracy but they actually give you different points of view in some regards and compliment one another in others. One of the recent ones I saw was Campaign, which showed a local election for the popularity contest that it was, with no change, no policy, just endorsement and image management. The question asked at the start of the film by the channel was "can politicians solve climate change" and I must confess, watching Campaign, that the answer was "no" and I think the film made a good case for democracy being scrapped and a dictatorship being the norm.

Dinner with the President actually deals with similar themes as it explores the situation in Pakistan where technically a military dictator sits over the country. The film acknowledges that Musharraf is not a cruel dictator and indeed the central "dinner" shows him to be intelligent and committed to change and, ironically enough, democracy. The film does a good job of exploring the alternatives to his rule by talking to the Mullahs about how they would rule as well as going into some of the tribal areas. Credit to Sabiha Sumar for doing this as she must have been at least a little intimidated by her surroundings.

She also talks to the liberal modern Pakistanis, partying on the beach and enjoying life and the difference between them and the men living out of the back of a constantly moving truck is massive but yet the film treats them the same in regards their opinion. Both groups have illogical aspects to them but it was a delightful moment to have the men criticising the Mullah's decision to ban music and saying they will ignore it but then turn round and say they would vote for them again. Around these moments we have the dinner of the title broken down across the whole film and it makes for very interesting food for thought. I'm sure there is plenty we did not see and plenty of issues in the country and with Musharraf but to hear him talk about making long term changes and to see the attitudes of the Mullahs did make me wonder if it was such a bad thing that he used the military to seize power like he did.

well she asks the tribal men about head covering, who by the way are not the representative of a true image of Islam, but they are an easy target for such pseudo-feminist kind of women who conduct such interviews. She says she couldn't find it mentioned anywhere in Koran that women should cover their heads or live in segregation. For someone at her age, she should do a better research than that.

Quran: 24:31 And tell the believing women to lower their gaze (from looking at forbidden things), and protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts, etc.) and not to show off their adornment except only that which is apparent (like palms of hands or one eye or both eyes for necessity to see the way, or outer dress like veil, gloves, head-cover, apron, etc.), and to draw their veils all over Juyubihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms, etc.) and not to reveal their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husband's sons, their brothers or their brother's sons, or their sister's sons, or their (Muslim) women (i.e. their sisters in Islam), or the (female) slaves whom their right hands possess, or old male servants who lack vigor, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And all of you beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful.

But this isn't a prove, cuz she would want Allah to come down Himself and tell her one day. For people like those and the beach party music channel vjs, there's another ayat in the Koran which says:

Quran: 2:85 After this, it is you who kill one another and drive out a party of you from their homes, assist (their enemies) against them, in sin and transgression. And if they come to you as captives, you ransom them, although their expulsion was forbidden to you. Then do you believe in a part of the Scripture and reject the rest? Then what is the recompense of those who do so among you, except disgrace in the life of this world, and on the Day of Resurrection they shall be consigned to the most grievous torment. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.

2:86 Those are they who have bought the life of this world at the price of the Hereafter. Their torment shall not be lightened nor shall they be helped.

So these poor people who want freedom so they can have a beach party with women, to smoke, dance, drink etc., and these women who are blown away by west' agenda of freedom of women, who are arrogant enough now to confront God, are only in turn just doing what Allah has mentioned: "Then do you believe in a part of the Scripture and reject the rest? Then what is the recompense of those who do so among you, except disgrace in the life of this world, and on the Day of Resurrection they shall be consigned to the most grievous torment."

May Allah show us all the right path. This movie was a good waste of time BTW!! It was just as bad as the dictator Musharraf, who just doesn't get it that people hate him!!

Let me just start by saying that the host of this documentary does not know the basics of Islam. She tries to argue with village elders on the topic of covering for women and falsely says that there is no saying in Islam regarding the covering of women. This is false. Quran 33:59 says:

O Prophet! Enjoin your wives, your daughters, and the wives of true believers that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad): That is most convenient, that they may be distinguished and not be harassed.

It is clear that the documentary host has never read the Quran and the entire purpose of this documentary is to erroneously claim that Islamist are stupid and secular people are the future.