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Pakistan, Singapore creators behind first AI-generated series on Prophet Muhammad’s life

Official poster of AI generated web series, ‘Muhammad, Mercy for the Multiverse'. (Photo courtesy: Qalbox)
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Updated 23 March 2024
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Pakistan, Singapore creators behind first AI-generated series on Prophet Muhammad’s life

  • ‘Muhammad: Mercy for the Multiverse’ has 10 episodes, two released online, rest will be out on MuslimPro during Ramadan
  • Global project team was spread across Singapore, US, UK and Pakistan while bulk of technical work was done in Pakistan
Updated 23 March 2024
BURAQ SHABBIR

KARACHI: The first Artificial Intelligence-generated web series on the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has been created by content creators and producers from Pakistan and Singapore, who say they aimed to transcend the “traditional constraints of cost, time, and conceptualization” by using AI.

Titled ‘Muhammad: The Mercy for the Multiverse,’ the web series is a collaboration between Qalbox at MuslimPro, a global subscription video-on-demand entertainment streaming service for Muslims, and Qur’anscape, an online platform for spiritual education. 

A description on MuslimPro of the series, which does not include visual images of the prophet, reads: 

“Immerse in an animated series depicting Prophet Muhammad PBUH’s life, exploring pre-prophethood milestones, post-revelation challenges, and the compassionate essence of Muhammad.”

The global project team from Qur’anscape and Qalbox was spread across Singapore, the US, UK and Pakistan, while the bulk of technical work took place in Pakistan. The screen-writer is Lahore-based Fatimah Sattar while the show has been produced by Pakistani Abbas Arslan, who is the CEO of Qur’anscape. The series has been directed by Emad Khalid, the co-founder of the Lahore-based Prompt Media Lab content creation agency, while the executive producer is Junaidah Bte Said Khan, who is the Singapore-based head of Qalbox.

“The project lies in employing AI to introduce a novel perspective on the stories of Prophet Muhammad and other Qur’anic narratives, aiming to transcend the traditional constraints of cost, time, and conceptualization,” producer Arslan told Arab News. 

He said the reason the team picked AI for the series was its desire to “pioneer the use of Generative AI in telling deeply meaningful stories.”

“Generative AI offers unique advantages, such as swiftly transforming human ideas into reality, which was crucial for delivering these projects efficiently and effectively,” Arslan said. 

Khan at Qalbox said the collaboration between Qalbox and Qur’anscape was the “first of its kind in the faith genre.”

“By integrating AI, we’ve been able to bring these timeless narratives to life in a way that’s both fresh and deeply respectful,” Khan told Arab News. “This technology has enabled us to present stories that have been cherished for generations in a manner that’s both accessible and relatable to today’s diverse audience.”

Screenwriter Fatimah Sattar, who wrote the screenplay for Sarmad Khoosat’s film ‘Kamli’, said she started her research for the series with Yasir Qadhi’s lectures, referring to the renowned Pakistani-American Muslim scholar and theologian.

“The deadlines were really tight so I couldn’t really study more than this but we have a Mufti [cleric] on board who reads all the drafts and graciously corrects any mistakes or errors I make,” Sattar said. “I found the whole process very enlightening.”

Director Emad Khalid from Prompt Media Lab described the challenges of trying to portray the prophet’s life.

“As Muslims, we bear the great responsibility of ensuring that our representation is both authentic and meticulously researched,” said Khalid, an award-winning director with an honoree award at the Gen:48 AI Film Festival 2023 to his credit.

While the research and scripting of an Al-driven project was the same as for traditional filmmaking, Khalid said, in the generation phase, the team leveraged AI image generation tools to bring the screenplay to life, then animated the images into cohesive video sequences while generating character voices using AI.

“Despite its rapid evolution, AI still struggles with rendering certain details accurately, especially when it comes to creating imagery that deviates from predominantly Western contexts,” Khalid said.

“Recreating the specific environment and culture of the time of Prophet Muhammad presented a unique set of challenges. We had to employ image editing AI tools extensively to refine the generated images to our satisfaction.”

The show has 10 episodes, out of which two have been released exclusively on Qalbox by MuslimPro. The remaining episodes will be released during Ramadan.

“The feedback for the series has been overwhelmingly positive ... Marketing and promotional efforts have resulted in the show becoming one of Qalbox’s top-performing shows,” executive producer Khan said. 

“There’s notable anticipation for future episodes, and the series has been particularly well-received in countries such as the US, France, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Malaysia. The positive feedback on social media, with viewers sharing the series with family and friends, further underscores its impact and reach.”
 

Topics: AI-generated web series Prophet Muhammad

Gunmen kills seven laborers from Punjab province in Pakistan’s coastal Gwadar district

Updated 9 sec ago
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Gunmen kills seven laborers from Punjab province in Pakistan’s coastal Gwadar district

  • The assailants targeted the seven hair-salon workers while they were sleeping in a residential quarter
  • No group have claimed the attack, though Baloch separatists have targeted Punjabi workers in the past
Updated 9 sec ago
SAADULLAH AKHTER

QUETTA: A group of unidentified gunmen attacked a residential quarter in Gwadar, a coastal town in Pakistan, in the early hours of Thursday, killing seven laborers from Punjab province, confirmed a local administration official.
The attack, which occurred about 24 kilometers from central Gwadar city, targeted hair-salon workers from Khanewal district in Punjab while they were sleeping.
Speaking to Arab News, Deputy Commissioner of Gwadar Hamood-ur-Rehman said the assailants stormed the quarter around 4 AM and opened fire on the occupants.
“The attackers killed seven laborers belonging to Punjab province before escaping from the area,” he said. “One worker was injured in the attack and has been transferred to District Headquarter Hospital Gwadar for medical treatment.”
Rehman also mentioned the district administration and law enforcement agencies had started investigating the incident. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
This is the third attack against laborers from Punjab within a month in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Balochistan province, which shares porous borders with Iran and Afghanistan and has experienced a low-scale insurgency by Baloch separatist groups against the Pakistani state.
In April, the proscribed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the killings of nine Punjab residents traveling to Iran from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. In another incident last month, two Punjabi garage workers were targeted.
Baloch nationalists have long accused the Pakistani government and Punjab province of monopolizing profits from Balochistan’s abundant natural resources, saying it has led to political marginalization and economic exploitation.
However, Pakistani administrations have denied these allegations, citing several development initiatives launched in the province to improve local living conditions.
Gwadar, located on the Arabian Sea coast, plays a pivotal role in the multibillion-dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that is envisaged to enhance regional connectivity.
Despite being resource-rich, Balochistan remains Pakistan’s most sparsely populated and impoverished province.
“The slain laborers were shot multiple times,” Dr. Hafeez Baloch, the medical superintendent at DHQ Gwadar, told Arab News. “We found bullet injuries on their heads and bodies.”
“One injured individual, who was in stable condition, has been referred to Karachi for better treatment,” he added. “The bodies of the slain laborers have been returned to their native village in Punjab.”
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif condemned the killings, describing the incident as “a cowardly attack on the country by its enemies.”
“We will eradicate terrorism from the country and stand with the families who lost their loved ones in Gwadar,” he declared in a statement.
Meer Sarfaraz Bugti, the provincial chief minister, vowed to pursue the attackers, saying: “We will use all our might against these terrorists and establish the writ of the state.”

Topics: Gawadar Baloch Liberation Army (BLA)

Gunmen kill seven barbers in Pakistan’s volatile Balochistan province

Updated 09 May 2024
AP
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Gunmen kill seven barbers in Pakistan’s volatile Balochistan province

  • No group has claimed responsibility, though Baloch separatists have targeted people from Punjab in the past
  • The Pakistan government says it has quelled separatist insurgency, but violence in Balochistan has persisted
Updated 09 May 2024
AP

QUETTA: Attackers fatally shot seven barbers before dawn Thursday in a home in a volatile province in southwestern Pakistan, police and a government official said.
The killings occurred near the port city of Gwadar in Balochistan province, police official Mohsin Ali said. All of the barbers were from Punjab province and lived and worked together.
Provincial Interior Minister Ziaullah Langau condemned the killings and said police were investigating who was behind the attack.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Separatists in Balochistan have often killed workers and others from Punjab as part of a campaign to force them to leave the province, which for years has experienced a low-level insurgency by the Balochistan Liberation Army and other groups demanding independence from the central government in Islamabad. Islamist militants also have a presence in the province.
The government says it has quelled the separatist insurgency, but violence in the province has persisted.
Police said they believe the attack on the barbers was not related to their jobs. Last month, the Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for killing nine people from Punjab province who were abducted from a bus on a highway in Balochistan, saying it had information that spies were on the bus.
Separatists have also targeted people from Punjab working on coal-mine projects in Balochistan.
In January, gunmen killed six barbers in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the country’s northwest near the Afghanistan border. Pakistani militants years ago banned the trimming of beards and haircuts in Western styles.

Topics: Militant attack Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) Gawadar

No casualties, four Hajj flights ‘operated,’ CAA says after Lahore airport fire

Updated 09 May 2024
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No casualties, four Hajj flights ‘operated,’ CAA says after Lahore airport fire

  • Local media widely reports delays, says immigration system damaged 
  • CAA did not identify a cause, media says fire caused by short circuiting
Updated 09 May 2024
Muhammad Ibrahim

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said on Thursday four Hajj flights scheduled to fly in the morning were “operated,” following a fire at an airport in the eastern city of Lahore in which local media widely reported the facility’s entire immigration system was gutted.
Pakistani media channels widely attributed the fire to short circuiting while the CAA did not specify a cause in its statement.
“The situation at the airport is gradually returning to normal and no casualties have been reported,” the Authority said. “All agencies at the airport are trying to bring the situation back to normal.”
The statement said four Hajj flights scheduled to depart from the airport on Thursday morning had been “operated.”
“Normal operations will be restored as soon as the technical issues are overcome,” the statement concluded.
Several Pakistani outlets reported that the fire damaged the immigration system partially, after which the process of immigration was halted. Airport authorities also evacuated several passengers from the international immigration lounge due to heavy smoke and shifted them to the domestic lounge.
While the CAA did not report flight delays, Pakistani media widely reported that a total of six flights, including a Qatar Airways flight, had been delayed.

Topics: Lahore airport Hajj flights Lahore airport fire

Qatari minister arrives in Islamabad today amid Pakistan’s active investment outreach

Updated 09 May 2024
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Qatari minister arrives in Islamabad today amid Pakistan’s active investment outreach

  • Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi is expected to meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, other officials
  • Pakistan previously showed interest in Qatar’s IT sector and sent its a delegation to the Arab state in December
Updated 09 May 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi will arrive in Pakistan today to meet with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other officials, as the government actively seeks foreign investment to tackle financial challenges.
Pakistan has welcomed numerous foreign officials and business delegations in recent weeks, encouraging local partnerships and asking them to explore investment opportunities across various economic sectors.
A Saudi business delegation, consisting of senior representatives from nearly 35 companies, recently concluded their visit to Pakistan, during which they held several business-to-business meetings.
Additionally, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with a group of Japanese industrialists, urging them to invest in Pakistan’s nascent electric car industry.
The country is also expecting the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman later this month, hoping it would bring several billion dollars in investments.
“The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi will visit Pakistan on 9 May 2024, as a special envoy of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the State of Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrehman bin Jassim Al Thani,” the foreign office said in a statement.
“In Islamabad, the Minister of State will call on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and on Deputy Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar,” it continued. “Pakistan and Qatar have longstanding and multifaceted bilateral relations characterized by high-level exchanges and visits.”
The foreign office did not divulge specific details about the agenda of the visit. However, Pakistan has expressed interest in Qatar’s information technology sector and sent the first delegation of IT professionals to Qatar last December.
Many countries in the Gulf region are diversifying their economies beyond oil and gas by investing in technology sectors, creating innovation hubs and developing digital infrastructure to boost various industries.
The strategic shift includes a significant emphasis on adopting advanced digital technologies, such as AI, cloud computing and cybersecurity, with the goal of transforming these nations into knowledge-based economies.
Qatar has also moved in this direction by investing in tech startups and committing to host technologically advanced events such as the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Qatar has also been working actively to promote peace in regions like Afghanistan and, more recently, Gaza.
These issues have been central to Pakistan’s diplomatic engagements, and the two countries have discussed them in past meetings.

Topics: Pakistan Qatar ties

Amid Karachi’s chronic drinking water crisis, hundreds of thousands forced to buy from filtration companies

Updated 09 May 2024
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Amid Karachi’s chronic drinking water crisis, hundreds of thousands forced to buy from filtration companies

  • KWSC study conducted last year showed 90% of water from samples collected across Karachi was unsafe for drinking purposes
  • Impure water has forced people to spend thousands of rupees monthly on filtered water sold by reverse osmosis plants
Updated 09 May 2024
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: Hina Mehmood Javed, a mother of three, opened the door to her second-floor apartment in Karachi earlier this week after she heard the familiar cry of ‘pani wala’ [water man] followed by a knock.
Outside, a young man stood with a heavy 19-liter water bottle, which he delivered for a fee to Javed, one among hundreds of thousands of residents in Pakistan’s commercial hub of Karachi who are buying water from plants that use reverse osmosis to separate pollutants.
A Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) study conducted last year showed that 90 percent of water from samples collected from various places in Karachi was unsafe for drinking purposes, contaminated with E. coli, coliform bacteria, and other harmful pathogens. And that’s when there is water flowing through the city’s water pipes. Most residents are forced to get their water through drilled motor-operated wells (known as ‘bores’), even as ground water in the coastal city tends to be salty, and unfit for human consumption.
The only other option for residents is to either buy unfiltered water from private water tanker operators, who fill up at a network of legal and illegal water hydrants across the city, or buy from RO plants that they visit to fill up bottles or have delivered to their homes.
“We have to buy it [water] from outside and sometimes it happens that when the weekends come or when there are government holidays, and there’s no water at home, we have to use water like gold,” Javed told Arab News as she paid Rs100 ($0.36) for the water bottle, which is delivered daily.
“We have to buy and drink water because clean water is not available to us.”
The chronic shortage of drinking water is caused by a broken distribution system as well as leakages and inefficiency in the system and theft.
Dr. Muhammad Bashir Lakhani, a water and energy expert associated with a company working on the K-4, a major project that aims to address Karachi’s chronic water shortages, said the city’s daily water consumption was around 1,250 million gallons.
The megacity draws its water mainly from the Keenjhar Lake, a man-made reservoir about 150km from the city, which sources it from the Indus River. Through a network of canals and conduits, 550 million gallons of water a day (MGD) is fed into the city’s main pumping station at Dhabeji, most of which, a staggering 42 percent or 235 MGD, is either lost or stolen before it ever reaches consumers, according to KWSB data.
And the water that does manage to reach people’s homes was largely unfiltered and untreated, Dr. Lakhani told Arab News.
“Not only is it not treated but most of the time it is polluted,” he said. “It is mixed with sewage and wastewater flows.”
“FORCED TO BUY WATER”
Many, like Muhammad Adeel, are tapping into this problem of impure water by going into the filtration business, setting up small RO water plants inside their shops or homes to supply filtered water to households.
Adeel, whose plant is located in the city’s old and busy Burns Road neighborhood, explained that his system treated water through seven different processes before it became drinkable.
“It [plant] contains minerals which dissolve in it, making it mineral water,” Adeel told Arab News.
Dr. Lakhani, however, said while water provided by RO plants may be safer to drink compared to piped water, it was still not entirely safe for consumption.
“Most of these RO plants do not follow the required environmental health cleaning sanitization requirements,” he said.
But residents have no choice and there are hardly any neighborhoods in the sprawling metropolis where at least two RO plants are not operating.
“You do the math, there are thousands of plants. If at least five to six workers are working on one plant, then you can calculate how many households are being served by this,” Adeel said. “This is a good source of employment for people.”
Residents too said they had no choice, even though it was unfair to have to pay for water, which was the government’s responsibility to provide.
“We have cut down on many expenses to buy water because survival is impossible without water,” Javed the housewife said.
Dr. Lakhani agreed:
“Ten to fifteen years ago, bottled water was considered to be a luxury. But now every person is forced to buy the water from these water filtration companies.”

Topics: karachi water Pakistan Water Crisis

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