Omar (Arabic: عُمَرْ) or Omar Farouk (Persian: عمر فاروق) is a historical[1][2] Arab television drama miniseries-serial that was produced and broadcast by MBC1 and directed by the Syrian director Hatem Ali.[3] Co-produced by Qatar TV, the series is based on the life of Omar ibn Al-Khattab, the second Caliph of Islam, and depicts his life from 18 years old until the moments of his death.[3] The series had to face large controversy[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] due to its depiction of Omar, Abu Bakr, Uthman and Ali, the four Rashidun Caliphs,[11] along with other characters, who some Muslims believe should not be depicted, much like Mohammad. The series consists of 31 episodes and was originally aired in the month of Ramadan since July 20, 2012.[12][13][14] It was made at a cost of 200 million Saudi riyals and filmed in Morocco, primarily in the cities of Marakesh, Tangiers, El Jadida, Casablanca and Mohammedia. After the series was broadcast on MBC, it was dubbed into several languages for international broadcast[15][16][17] and subtitled in English on YouTube; it received great support from many different scholarly bodies and people watching it.[18][19][20] As the series depended largely on reliable historical established facts, the series did not face criticism in terms of its content, as past films faced.
