Isn't that kind of where the whole religious subtext plays in, though? The character is put in many situations where he should conceivably be killed, but each time divine intervention seems to come into play and he survives miraculously unscathed (the deer scene, the shootout in the van etc.). That kind of plays into Malik being some sort of spiritual figure -- a prophet, one could say

-- and seems to give his rise to power some sort of divine subtext. I thought it was an interesting way to go with the material, and certainly not something I've seen in a lot of crime films.