Source: AMCC
Have you ever heard of “Muslim Netflix”? Since the last century, people around the globe have strived to counter anti-muslim notions that have grown into a plague, destroying religious and cultural harmony. Entrepreneurs have tried achieving that goal with all sorts of innovative approaches. The Muslim Netflix—Alchemiya—is one of those approaches.
Vision: To Showcase The Best Of the Global Muslim Society
In 2015, co-founders Navid Akhtar and Ajmal Mansoor decided to leverage the film industry and media to create a means of awareness. They followed a linear goal, a digital platform designed to detoxify the way the world sees Muslims. Using entertainment to instruct a global audience was in itself a brilliant idea, but what imbued it with that concrete attractiveness was the way they constructed, carried, and shaped it even more brilliantly.
Alchemiya was always intended to be a kind of complete and explosively creative entertainment and educational platform, the scope of which is evident from the lines, “from the Ottoman Empire to Mipsterz in Brooklyn, Persian carpets to the Paris Mosque, Hijazi script to Hijabi bloggers, a video library that celebrates the culture and heritage of the Muslim world.”
The World’s Best Content About Islam and Muslims—Streamed
To explain Alcheimya and talk about what it brings to the community, one naturally thinks of words like celebratory, inclusive, non-sectarian, open-minded, culturally rich, heritage-focused, and feel-good—the very foundational themes of the initiative.
Alcheimya prides itself on bringing the best content, one aimed at inspiring Muslim youth to feel positive about their religion and born out of necessity to counter the anti-Muslim notions. It does so by creating such an assortment of media, diverse in genre, and encompassing a variety of offered films with 650–700 pieces of content as of 2021.
- Feature films from the Middle East
- Short films
- Documentaries
- Lifestyle shows on cooking and arts
- Travelers guides
- Banned Films such as the documentary on Bangladesh Liberation War
- Original Productions
Source: Bing Image
The Setbacks: What Could Have Happened Differently
There is always something that could have happened differently. On a road that leads to a goal, one high and noble, mistakes are bound to happen. They leave behind the question of “could have been.” Something similar has been expressed by Abdulhamid Evans, the COO of Alchemiya, when asked about the setbacks they faced along the way.
Beginning out, they faced some ‘internal problems’—as he terms it—resulting from mismanaged communication. Those errors could have been sorted out smoothly had such communication hurdles not happened.
Advice for Young Entrepreneurs: Remember, Protect, and Remain Progressive
The one passionate piece of advice they had for young ones starting out was about sticking close to that “spark” that normally propels one onto the road.
“Never forget that ‘Aha!’ moment of inspiration that made you start! You will need it as a constant and reliable companion on the potentially long and lonely journey across the valley of abandoned start-ups. Protect your sources of inspiration; you will need them. Stay lean, flexible, sincere, and full of hope. Never stop learning, and don’t be afraid to pivot!”
Conclusion: Moving Towards Harmony
Alchemiya continues to be a notion-altering platform with that profound creativity in the soil of its roots. Breaking hate trends that result from stereotypical ideas, especially those centered around religious contentation, is not an altogether easy goal. But Alcheimya achieves it. The team expresses solid optimism to continue pursuing their goal: serving the religion and the community and moving towards a more harmonious world.
Website: Alchemiya | Muslim Movies & TV Shows
