In a haunting scene from the first Star Wars film, Luke expresses his desire to fight the Empire through his training as a pilot, a desire prohibited by his uncle. The young Skywalker walks outside and, in an iconic shot, looks out at the desert at two suns in the distance. In Shi’a thought, the sighting of two moons symbolizes the coming of the Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam, who will restore the world as it should be—a place of justice and peace. Luke is not the Mahdi, but another character holds an uncanny similarity to this religious figure—Ben Kenobi. Like the Mahdi, he disappears, but he materializes again and displays incredible powers. In the end, before disappearing into the air, Kenobi reminds Vader that striking him down will only make his power stronger. Like the Mahdi, he gives messages to his deputies (R2D2, Luke, and others) and sets in motion a series of conflicts that eventually ends in the restoration of justice. Clearly, Lucas incorporated Islamic elements into several of his storylines.

XREF: Connects Star Wars narrative to Islamic religious eschatology, paralleling Lucas's known borrowing from diverse religious traditions like Joseph Campbell's hero's journey and Buddhist themes.

Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imag…, loc. 610