Time Hoppers: Muslim filmmakers empower kids through Islamic history storytelling

Flordeliza Dayrit and Michael Milo have just done something no Muslim filmmakers have done before: put an Islamic animated feature into mainstream cinemas across the United States and Canada — and watched it land in the Top 10 at the US box office on opening weekend.

Time Hoppers: The Silk Road, distributed by Fathom Entertainment, one of America's largest theatrical distributors, marks a breakthrough moment for Muslim-led storytelling on the big screen.

The Canadian couple behind the film are also the founders of Muslim Kids TV, the world's first and largest streaming platform for Muslim children.

What began as a mobile game and e-book series has now evolved into a full-scale cinematic universe — and the first chapter of what they hope will become a long-running Time Hoppers franchise.

Aimed at children aged 6-9, Time Hoppers: The Silk Road is, as the title suggests, a time travel movie. Set in the year 2050, Laila's scientist father Habib, voiced by American comedian Omar Regan, is being chased by an evil organisation that wants to get their hands on his time machine, forcing them to relocate to Canada. 

There, they join Laila's aunt, Hafsa, at Aqli Academy, where Laila makes new friends: Aysha, Abdullah and Khalid. With time travel causing too much harm to adult bodies, the children are the only ones capable of using Habib's time machine to travel back to 9th-century Baghdad, where they meet mathematician Al-Khwarizmi, the father of algebra. 

But when Abdullah drops his time-travel device, it is picked up by an evil thief named Fasid, forcing the gang to time-hop through different points in history to get it back.

They meet lots of famous Muslim figures along the way, from Emperor Mansa Musa to Ibn Al-Haytham, the master of optics. It is an action-packed adventure with lots of comedy along the way. 

The golden age of Islamic history, with its scientific inventions, mathematical discoveries and literary contributions, never makes it to school history lessons in the West.

It is this neglected portion of world history that Flordeliza and  Michael say they want to present to children, but in a storytelling format that is both accessible and, more importantly, fun to watch. 

There are plenty of educational Islamic cartoons around, but whether those cartoons are actually engaging is another story, something that Dayrit and Milo were very conscious of when creating the movie. 

"Books today never highlight this period in history, and I think that is something we have to start talking to our kids about, whether they're Muslim or not," Flordeliza tells The New Arab.

"It's part of history. You cannot just erase history; it has to be told. And if we want to make sure that our kids grow up to become global citizens, then it's important for them to know histories of the world." 

She adds, "Whenever kids are presented with Islamic content, it's always very preachy. And so, we want to showcase our creativity. If you look at the history of Muslims, they have always been innovators in art, science and literature. We need to bring that back and remind people that this was the golden age of Islam. We've been told too many times that we're the villain of the story, and we want to change that narrative."

Breaking barriers

Time Hoppers: The Silk Road has received significant support from the MPAC® (Muslim Public Affairs Council) Hollywood Bureau, which works closely with the American entertainment industry to ensure accurate, authentic, and nuanced representations of Muslims and Islam in film and TV. 

The success of Time Hoppers at the US box office is proof that there is scope for Muslim movies with the right funding and support. 

One of the biggest challenges, Flordeliza and Michael say, is funding, as producing animation is very costly, followed by the lack of belief within the Muslim community that working in animation is important and that telling our stories is important too.  

"We've been doing this now for over 10 years, and the number of creative people in the Muslim community has increased a lot. In the past, you would find very few Muslims working in creative industries," explains Michael.

"One of the issues we found while pitching in some MENA countries is that they haven't understood the potential of their own storytelling. They don't have faith that stories from Muslim culture and heritage can be interesting to the world. In Malaysia, Indonesia and in Türkiye to some extent, we know that when they've had that support from the government, their [animation] industry flourished."

The characters are culturally diverse; however, as a viewer, you really gain a sense of their unity as Muslims beyond ethnicity.

It was important, says Michael, that Muslim children watching the movie see themselves in the characters, and the feedback from them so far has been amazing.

"In the different events we have attended, the kids just loved seeing themselves and were so excited about it," he says. 

Among the scholars, scientists and emperors that the Time Hoppers meet during their adventures, one particular character stands out: a young girl called Mariam Al-Ijliya in 10th-century Aleppo. Not many people know, Muslims included, that she invented the astrolabe.  

"Casting Mariam as a young girl was very intentional," Flordeliza shares.

"We wanted to send a message to girls, especially, and boys too, that even at a young age, you can do great things. We want to empower them with Mariam, so they know that anything is possible, even at a very young age. And I think that's definitely Michael's favourite part of the movie." 

The movie ends with a cliffhanger, and Flordeliza and Michael confirm that there will be a second instalment.

"It is not just The Silk Road; there is so much more to Islamic history, so there is so much we can do with this. It is a never-ending history lesson!" they laugh. 

"When people ask us what we want to be, what our long-term vision is, we always say we want to be the Disney of the Muslim world," adds Flordeliza. 

"We want to provide entertainment not only to Muslim children, but to the world. Our work is about highlighting our values, our stories, our faith and our people. That's something that is very important to us." 

Yousra Samir Imran is a British-Egyptian writer and author based in Yorkshire. She is the author of Hijab and Red Lipstick, published by Hashtag Press

Follow her on X: @UNDERYOURABAYA