Film 'The Lady of Heaven' on Prophet's daughter Fatima recalled in UK

London: A major UK cinema chain has pulled all screenings of a film about the daughter of Prophet Muhammad after the film received massive backlash by British Muslims.

Cineworld, the world's second-largest cinema chain, said it will cancel all showings of "The Lady of Heaven" due to safety concerns.

"Due to recent incidents related to screenings of 'The Lady of Heaven', we have made the decision to cancel upcoming screenings of the film nationwide to ensure the safety of our staff and customers," said a spokesperson.

As per reports, various Muslim groups protested outside theatres, calling the film "blasphemous".

The film, which was released last Friday in the UK, opens with the invasion of Iraq by the Islamic State group and then attempts to portray the story of Fatima, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad, by weaving together alleged events in her life along with the tale of a young Iraqi orphan in the present day.

The protests, attended by Sunni and Shia Muslims, centred on the claim that the film inaccurately depicts early Muslim history, negatively portrays three of Islam's most important figures and stokes sectarian hatred.

Videos online showed the manager of Sheffield Cineworld in northern England telling a group of protestors on Sunday night that the screening had been cancelled.

A similar protest targeted Cineworld theatres in the central city of Birmingham and in the northern town of Bolton.

All three places have sizeable Muslim populations.

The historical drama film calls itself the first film on the life of the Prophet Mohammed's daughter Fatimah and draws links between Islamic State in the 21st century with historical figures of Sunni Islam.

Malik Shlibak, executive producer of the film, told The Guardian that cinema chains should "stand up and defend their right to show films that people want to see".

"I think cinemas are crumbling to the pressure, and taking these decisions to quell the noise," he said.