Herbert’s ‘Dune’ had deep Muslim influences. Villeneuve’s movie erases them. - The Washington Post

In 1965, “Dune” offered a daring challenge to imperialism. Frank Herbert’s classic novel tells the story of an offworlder, Paul Atreides, whose family rules the eponymous planet under the aegis of the interstellar Padishah Emperor. Dune is the only source of spice, a drug vital to interstellar travel and to the Indigenous Fremen. Paul, exploiting a myth proselytized to the Fremen, leads them in a jihad against the empire. Herbert’s editors initially asked him to tone down the “Muslim flavor” of his book. The latest adaptation, directed by Denis Villeneuve, does just that. “Dune” is a multilayered allegory for subjects including T.E. Lawrence’s Bedouin exploits (which Herbert critiqued, following Suleiman Mousa’s “T.E. Lawrence: An Arab View”), Caucasian Muslim resistance to Russian imperialism, OPEC and Indigenous struggles in the United States and Latin America. It is also thoroughly Muslim, exploring how Islam will develop 20,000 years into the future. While drawing on other religion

In 1965, “Dune” offered a daring challenge to imperialism. Frank Herbert’s classic novel tells the story of an offworlder, Paul Atreides, whose family rules the eponymous planet under the aegis of the interstellar Padishah Emperor. Dune is the only source of spice, a drug vital to interstellar travel and to the Indigenous Fremen. Paul, exploiting a myth proselytized to the Fremen, leads them in a jihad against the empire. Herbert’s editors initially asked him to tone down the “Muslim flavor” of his book. The latest adaptation, directed by Denis Villeneuve, does just that. “Dune” is a multilaye