“Muhammad: The Messenger of God,” a film by the Iranian director Majid Majidi, opened in Turkish theaters Oct. 28, selling a remarkable 261,376 tickets in its first week. Reviews for the film, which focuses on the childhood of the Islamic prophet, have varied, particularly those by Islamists, for whom portrayals of the prophet in popular media come with high stakes.

Islamists have assessed “Muhammad” in terms of the role of religious sensibilities in its content, including scenes of miraculous events, as well as concerns of off-screen sectarianism and politics. Some critics have dismissed the film entirely on the ground that it is cinematic art with “Western roots.” On the other hand, Hayrettin Karaman, a respected religious authority in conservative Islamist circles, approved of the film when he viewed it last year.

As some Islamist critics seethed with rage, Majidi’s film titillated the fancy of many other conservatives, who praised his efforts. Nihal Bengisu of HaberTurk wrote, “I didn’t love it, but I liked it,” and Ozlem Albayrak from Yeni Safak advised, “Let’s not be too cruel.”

Much of the criticism involved accusations of “Shiite propaganda.” Yeni Safak pundit Yusuf Kaplan invited readers to stand up against Majidi’s film, which he called the “last hoop in a corrupting plot.” For him, the aim of the film is to present Shiism as a catalyst of interfaith dialogue and love, while portraying Sunnism as uncompromising and creating terror.