Watch
Our clips,
in words
Every clip we have made, with its full transcript and a description of what is on screen. Free for schools to show.
Watch · Transcripts
Next: What is DNA? →How big is everything?
75 seconds · Footage: zoom into the Milky Way, ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Martel, Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, DSS, E. Slawik, N. Risinger, D. de Martin, N. Bartmann, M. Zamani, CC BY 4.0; Hubble zoom-out, NASA Goddard / Michael McClare, Jake Dean (public domain); Hubble Ultra Deep Field zoom, NASA, ESA, G. Bacon and M. Estacion (STScI), CC BY 4.0; JADES fly-through, visualisation C. Nieves, F. Summers, A. Pagan, G. Bacon (STScI), science JADES Team, K. Hainline (University of Arizona), ESA/Webb, CC BY 4.0. Scripture: JPS 1917 (public domain), World English Bible (public domain).
Transcript. How big is everything? Hubble: a telescope the size of a bus, about 500 km above us. Pull back. Our whole world. Everyone who has ever lived. Pull back more. Earth becomes a dot. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” (Psalm 19:2, 19:1 in most English Bibles, Hebrew Bible, JPS 1917.) One galaxy. Ours holds a few hundred billion stars. “His invisible things… are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made.” (Romans 1:20, New Testament, World English Bible.) Pull back again. The galaxy shrinks to a speck. Now aim Hubble at a dark patch of sky a tenth the width of the full Moon. Almost every dot is a galaxy. About 10,000 of them. God built the sky with strength, and makes it vast. (Qur'an 51:47, in brief.) Look up tonight. What do you see? whoisallah.org.uk/science
What you see. The Hubble Space Telescope above Earth; the camera pulls back until Earth is a dot, then a zoom through the stars of the Milky Way, then a zoom into a tiny patch of sky packed with thousands of galaxies, and a flight through Webb telescope galaxies. Lines from the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Qur'an about the heavens appear in turn.
One word
60 seconds · Footage: NASA (Earth in 4K from the International Space Station, NASA Johnson Space Center; Hubble zoom-out by NASA Goddard / Michael McClare, Jake Dean), public domain. Arabic Bible text: Van Dyck translation (1865), public domain.
Transcript. One word. Said every day in Arabic, by people of three faiths. It means God. Allah. Muslims pray to Allah. Arabic-speaking Christians pray to Allah too. Their Bible begins: “In the beginning Allah created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1, Arabic Bible, Van Dyck, 1865.) A thousand years ago, a great rabbi wrote Allah in his Arabic Torah. (Saadia Gaon, 882 to 942, Tafsīr.) In Malta, Catholics say Alla. (Maltese, a language that grew from Arabic.) Different faiths. Different prayers. One word for the One God. One word for the God of Abraham, understood in each faith's own way. Who is Allah? whoisallah.org.uk/word
What you see. Night views of Earth from the International Space Station, city lights and a glowing band of air on the horizon, then a pull-back from Earth into a field of distant galaxies. Short lines of text explain that Allah is the Arabic word for God, used by Muslims, Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews.
The Merciful
60 seconds · Footage: NASA, Earth in 4K from the International Space Station, NASA Johnson Space Center; spinning Earth (Blue Marble), NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio; Earthrise over the Moon from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data, NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio (all public domain). Scripture: JPS 1917 and World English Bible (public domain); Qur'an: Pickthall (1930); hadith in our own words.
Transcript. One of the Names Muslims call God by: The Merciful. In Arabic it sounds like this: ar-Raḥmān, and is written like this: الرحمن. Its root, r-ḥ-m, also gives the word for womb. The Prophet Muhammad taught that God named the womb from His Name, the Merciful. (Hadith qudsi: Sunan Abī Dāwūd 1694; Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 1907, in our own words.) “The LORD, the LORD, God, merciful and gracious…” (Exodus 34:6, Hebrew Bible, JPS 1917.) In Hebrew: raḥum. The same root. “Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is also merciful.” (Luke 6:36, New Testament, World English Bible.) God's mercy reaches everything. (Qur'an 7:156, Pickthall (1930).) The Merciful, ar-Raḥmān. Name 1 of 99. whoisallah.org.uk/names
What you see. Night views of Earth from the International Space Station, the whole Earth turning in space, and Earth rising over the grey horizon of the Moon. Text introduces the Name 'The Merciful' in English, then its sound, ar-Rahman, then its Arabic letters, with lines on mercy from the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Qur'an.
Abrahamic
60 seconds · Footage: Earth in 4K from the International Space Station, NASA Johnson Space Center (public domain); Hubble zoom-out, NASA Goddard / Michael McClare, Jake Dean (public domain). Scripture: JPS 1917 and World English Bible (public domain); Qur'an in our own words.
Transcript. Abrahamic. Jews, Christians and Muslims all look back to one man. Abraham. “for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee.” (Genesis 17:5, Hebrew Bible, JPS 1917.) One title runs through all three: the friend of God. “The seed of Abraham My friend” (Isaiah 41:8, Hebrew Bible, JPS 1917.) “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. (James 2:23, New Testament, World English Bible.) God took Abraham as a close friend. (Qur'an 4:125, Pickthall (1930).) Christians and Muslims alone are more than half the world. (Pew Research Center, 2025 (2020 figures).) So we say ‘Abrahamic’: one family name that leaves no one out. Shared prayer, fasting, giving. Understood differently. Three faiths. One father. whoisallah.org.uk/stories/abraham
What you see. Night views of Earth and the northern lights from space, then a long zoom out from Earth into space. Text: Jews, Christians and Muslims all look back to one man, Abraham. Genesis calls him the father of a multitude of nations. One title runs through all three scriptures: the friend of God, in Isaiah, the Letter of James and the Qur'an. Christians and Muslims alone are more than half the world. So we say Abrahamic, one family name that leaves no one out.
Stranger than science fiction
30 seconds · Footage: ESA/Hubble and ESA/Webb (CC BY 4.0); audio removed.
Transcript. Warp drives. Time machines. Other dimensions. We love science fiction. But someone wrote the laws that science fiction bends. Gravity. Light. Time. The same in every galaxy. The One behind all of it is more sci-fi than anything we could imagine. Who is Allah? whoisallah.org.uk/thanks/one-order
What you see. Plain dark cards, then a zoom into the Hubble Ultra Deep Field and a fly-through of distant galaxies, with short lines of text.
Count the gifts
30 seconds · Footage: Earth in 4K from the International Space Station, NASA Johnson Space Center (public domain); spinning Earth (Blue Marble), NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio (public domain). Scripture: Qur'an in our own words.
Transcript. Count the gifts. Your heart beats without being asked. Your lungs fill without being told. In 30 seconds, a resting heart beats about 30 to 50 times. (Adults at rest: 60–100 beats a minute (Mayo Clinic).) You breathe about 6 to 8 times. (Adults at rest: 12–16 breaths a minute (Johns Hopkins Medicine).) Try to count God's gifts. You could never number them. (Qur'an 14:34, in brief.) Keep counting. whoisallah.org.uk/thanks
What you see. Night views of Earth and the northern lights from space and the whole Earth turning in space. Text: your heart beats without being asked, your lungs fill without being told. In 30 seconds a resting heart beats about 30 to 50 times and you breathe about 6 to 8 times. Try to count God's gifts: you could never number them. Keep counting.
Fasting, side by side
60 seconds · Footage: Earth in 4K from the International Space Station, NASA Johnson Space Center (public domain). Scripture: JPS 1917 and World English Bible (public domain); Qur'an in our own words. Guru Granth Sahib in our own rendering.
Transcript. Fasting, side by side. Many faiths ask people to go without, for God. Yom Kippur: 25 hours, no food or drink. Lent: 40 days before Easter. Ramadan: 29 or 30 days, dawn to sunset. Bahá'ís: 19 days each March. Hindus keep vrat. Jains, Paryushana. Many Buddhist monks and nuns eat nothing after midday. “Turn ye unto Me with all your heart, and with fasting” (Joel 2:12, Hebrew Bible, JPS 1917.) “when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face” (Matthew 6:17, New Testament, World English Bible.) Fasting is prescribed for you, as it was for those before you. (Qur'an 2:183, in brief.) The Sikh Gurus taught: the truest fast is truth itself. (Guru Granth Sahib, ang 1245 (in brief).) Different reasons. Side by side. whoisallah.org.uk/common/fasting
What you see. Night views of Earth and the northern lights from space and plain dark cards listing fasts: Yom Kippur, 25 hours with no food or drink; Lent, 40 days before Easter; Ramadan, 29 or 30 days from dawn to sunset; the Bahá'í fast of 19 days each March; Hindu vrat; Jain Paryushana; Buddhist monks and nuns who eat nothing after midday. Lines on fasting from Joel, Matthew and the Qur'an, and the Sikh teaching that the truest fast is truth.
If there is a God, why…?
60 seconds · Footage: Earth in 4K from the International Space Station, NASA Johnson Space Center (public domain); Earthrise over the Moon from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data, NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio, NASA (public domain). Scripture: JPS 1917 and World English Bible (public domain); Qur'an in our own words.
Transcript. If there is a God, why…? Why war? Why disease? Why earthquakes and floods? These are fair questions. Every faith has wrestled with them. Job lost everything, and asked God why. “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (Job 38:4, Hebrew Bible, JPS 1917.) “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 21:4, New Testament, World English Bible.) With every hardship comes ease. (Qur'an 94:5–6, in brief.) Many thoughtful people find no answer that satisfies them. Some leave faith over it. Some find their faith there. We won't pretend it's easy. We'll look at it, head on. The hard questions whoisallah.org.uk/questions/suffering
What you see. Dark cards asking: if there is a God, why war, why disease, why earthquakes and floods? Night views of Earth, then Earth rising over the grey horizon of the Moon. Lines from Job, Revelation and the Qur'an. Text admits many people find no answer that satisfies them; some leave faith over it, some find their faith there. Ends: the hard questions.
One order
60 seconds · Footage: zoom into the Milky Way, ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Martel, Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, DSS, E. Slawik, N. Risinger, D. de Martin, N. Bartmann, M. Zamani, CC BY 4.0; Hubble Ultra Deep Field zoom, NASA, ESA, G. Bacon and M. Estacion (STScI), CC BY 4.0; JADES fly-through, visualisation C. Nieves, F. Summers, A. Pagan, G. Bacon (STScI), science JADES Team, K. Hainline (University of Arizona), ESA/Webb, CC BY 4.0. Scripture: JPS 1917 and World English Bible (public domain); Qur'an in our own words.
Transcript. One order. Look at the farthest galaxies we can see. Some shine from when the universe was just 800 million years old. (ESA/Hubble, Hubble Ultra Deep Field.) Their light carries the fingerprints of atoms we know on Earth. (NASA, Spectroscopy 101.) Same laws, everywhere we look. Steady for billions of years. Even evolution needed steady laws and vast time. A sceptic says: that's just how nature is. A believer asks: why is it so? “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4, Hebrew Bible, JPS 1917.) “one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all” (Ephesians 4:6, New Testament, World English Bible.) Say: He is God, the One. God, on whom all depend. قل هو الله أحد (Qur'an 112:1–2, al-Ikhlāṣ, in brief.) He has no parent and no child. Nothing is like Him. (Qur'an 112:3–4, in brief.) One order. One Maker? whoisallah.org.uk/thanks
What you see. A zoom into the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, a fly-through of thousands of distant galaxies from the Webb telescope, and a zoom through the stars of the Milky Way. Text: the farthest galaxies shine from when the universe was young, yet their light carries the fingerprints of atoms we know on Earth: same laws everywhere. A sceptic and a believer each respond. Then lines on the One God from Deuteronomy, Ephesians and the Qur'an's chapter al-Ikhlas, with its first line in Arabic.
One word (15 s cut)
15 seconds · Footage: Earth in 4K from the International Space Station, NASA Johnson Space Center (public domain); Hubble zoom-out, NASA Goddard / Michael McClare, Jake Dean (public domain).
Transcript. One word. Said every day in Arabic, by people of three faiths. It means God. Allah · الله Who is Allah? whoisallah.org.uk/word
What you see. Night views of Earth from the International Space Station, then a deep view of space. Text: One word. Said every day in Arabic, by people of three faiths. It means God. Allah. Who is Allah?
Thank you
30 seconds · Footage: spinning Earth (Blue Marble), NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio (public domain); Earth in 4K from the International Space Station, NASA Johnson Space Center (public domain). Scripture: JPS 1917 (public domain); Qur'an in our own words.
Transcript. Someone holds a door open. You say thank you. So who gave you eyes, ears and a mind? The earth. Fruit. Clouds. The sky. “I will give thanks unto Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14, Hebrew Bible, JPS 1917.) God gave you hearing, sight and hearts, so that you might give thanks. (Qur'an 16:78, in brief.) Who do we thank? whoisallah.org.uk/thanks
What you see. Dark cards: someone holds a door open; you say thank you. Then the whole Earth turning in space and night views of Earth from space, asking who gave us eyes, ears, a mind, the earth, fruit, clouds and sky, with a line of thanks from the Psalms and one from the Qur'an. Ends: Who do we thank?
The formula
15 seconds · Typographic cards on a plain dark ground.
Transcript. I exist. I recognise who gave me something special. I give thanks. Worship is how people say it. whoisallah.org.uk/thanks
What you see. Plain dark cards with large type, one line at a time: I exist. I recognise who gave me something special. I give thanks. Worship is how people say it.
The Merciful (15 s cut)
15 seconds · Footage: Earth in 4K from the International Space Station, NASA Johnson Space Center (public domain). Scripture: Qur'an in our own words.
Transcript. One of the Names Muslims call God by: The Merciful God's mercy reaches everything. (Qur'an 7:156, in brief.) The Merciful · ar-Raḥmān Name 1 of 99 whoisallah.org.uk/names
What you see. Night views of Earth from the International Space Station. Text introduces one of the Names Muslims call God by, The Merciful, with the line 'God's mercy reaches everything' from the Qur'an, then ar-Rahman, Name 1 of 99.
What if gravity were a little stronger?
15 seconds · Footage: orbit animation made in code by Who is Allah?.
Transcript. What if gravity were a little stronger? Stars would form smaller and burn out sooner. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 'Fine-Tuning'.) Less time for planets. Less time for life. Yet here we are. whoisallah.org.uk/thanks/what-if
What you see. Planets moving on steady orbits around a glowing sun. Text asks what would happen if gravity were a little stronger: stars would form smaller and burn out sooner, leaving less time for planets and life. Yet here we are.
What if there were no Moon?
30 seconds · Footage: Earthrise over the Moon from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data, NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio, NASA (public domain); Earth in 4K from the International Space Station, NASA Johnson Space Center (public domain). Scripture: JPS 1917 (public domain).
Transcript. What if there were no Moon? Tides would shrink. The Sun's pull on the sea is about half the Moon's. (NOAA Ocean Service.) The Moon helps steady Earth's tilt, and with it, our seasons. (Laskar et al., Nature (1993).) Some scientists think a moonless Earth would wobble less than once feared. (Lissauer, Barnes & Chambers (NASA Ames, 2013).) “Who appointedst the moon for seasons; the sun knoweth his going down.” (Psalm 104:19, Hebrew Bible, JPS 1917.) Look for it tonight. whoisallah.org.uk/thanks/what-if
What you see. Earth rising over the grey horizon of the Moon; then night views of Earth from space. Text: what if there were no Moon? Tides would shrink; the Sun's pull on the sea is about half the Moon's. The Moon helps steady Earth's tilt and our seasons, though some scientists think a moonless Earth would wobble less than once feared. A line from Psalm 104. Ends: Look for it tonight.
What if there were no trees?
30 seconds · Footage: spinning Earth (Blue Marble), NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio (public domain); Earth in 4K from the International Space Station, NASA Johnson Space Center (public domain). Scripture: JPS 1917 (public domain).
Transcript. What if there were no trees? Earth has about 3 trillion of them. (Crowther et al., Nature (2015).) Forests are home to 8 in 10 amphibian species and 3 in 4 bird species. (FAO, State of the World's Forests 2020.) About half our oxygen comes from the ocean. Most of the rest, from plants on land. (NOAA Ocean Service.) “The trees of the LORD… which He hath planted” (Psalm 104:16, Hebrew Bible, JPS 1917.) What else do we take for granted? whoisallah.org.uk/thanks/what-if
What you see. The whole Earth turning in space, clouds over forests and oceans, then night views of Earth from space. Text: what if there were no trees? Earth has about 3 trillion; forests are home to most amphibian and bird species; about half our oxygen comes from the ocean and most of the rest from plants on land. A line on trees from Psalm 104. Ends: What else do we take for granted?
Who is Allah? in 15 seconds
15 seconds · Footage: Earth in 4K from the International Space Station, NASA Johnson Space Center (public domain).
Transcript. Who is Allah? Allah is the Arabic word for God. الله Arabic-speaking Christians pray to Allah too. The One God of Abraham. whoisallah.org.uk
What you see. Night views of Earth from the International Space Station, city lights under a glowing horizon. Text: Who is Allah? Allah is the Arabic word for God. Arabic-speaking Christians pray to Allah too. The One God of Abraham.
Why worship?
30 seconds · Footage: Earth in 4K from the International Space Station, NASA Johnson Space Center (public domain). Scripture: JPS 1917 and World English Bible (public domain); Qur'an in our own words.
Transcript. Why do people worship? Across the world, people bow, sing, fast and give. Strip it back, and much of it is one word: thank you. “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving” (Psalm 100:4, Hebrew Bible, JPS 1917.) “In everything give thanks…” (1 Thessalonians 5:18, New Testament, World English Bible.) All praise is God's, Lord of all the worlds. (Qur'an 1:2, in brief.) Worship: how people say thank you. whoisallah.org.uk/thanks
What you see. Night views of Earth and the northern lights from space. Text: why do people worship? Across the world people bow, sing, fast and give; strip it back and much of it is one word, thank you. Lines of thanks from the Psalms, the New Testament and the opening of the Qur'an.