The book is available in (please click):
• English • Indonesian • Hindi
Table of Contents:
Preface – page 1
Introduction – page 2
Pre-Islamic Era – page 3
The Early Life of Muhammad – page 6
Muhammad Married Khadija – page 10
The Black Stone - page 11
The Influences of Major Religions in Islam – page 14
The Worship of Al-Uzza by Muhammad – page 16
The Nightmare in Hira Cave – page 18
The Test of Khadija – page 22
The First Muslims – page 24
The Conflicts with the Quraysh – page 27
The First Blood in Islam – page 28
The Three Questions – page 33
The First Migration – page 40
The Boycott – page 41
The Satanic Verses – page 42
The Deaths of Khadija and Abû Talib – page 45
The Origin of Pedophilia in Islam – page 47
The Trip to Ta’if – page 50
The Isra Mi’raj – page 52
The Ansars – page 55
The Migration to Medina – page 56
The Killing of Umm Qirfa – page 58
(CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS)
The Killing of the Bajilis – page 63
The Sources - page 67
• English • Indonesian • Hindi
Table of Contents:
Preface – page 1
Introduction – page 2
Pre-Islamic Era – page 3
The Early Life of Muhammad – page 6
Muhammad Married Khadija – page 10
The Black Stone - page 11
The Influences of Major Religions in Islam – page 14
The Worship of Al-Uzza by Muhammad – page 16
The Nightmare in Hira Cave – page 18
The Test of Khadija – page 22
The First Muslims – page 24
The Conflicts with the Quraysh – page 27
The First Blood in Islam – page 28
The Three Questions – page 33
The First Migration – page 40
The Boycott – page 41
The Satanic Verses – page 42
The Deaths of Khadija and Abû Talib – page 45
The Origin of Pedophilia in Islam – page 47
The Trip to Ta’if – page 50
The Isra Mi’raj – page 52
The Ansars – page 55
The Migration to Medina – page 56
The Killing of Umm Qirfa – page 58
(CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATIONS)
The Killing of the Bajilis – page 63
The Sources - page 67
Preface from Ali Sina
Muslims are devout believers. They will readily sacrifice their own lives for their faith, but few of them read the Quran to understand it. They recite it in Arabic, a language that a great majority of them do not know, for its alleged reward. But they do not read to understand its meaning.
Great emphasis is made in reciting the Quran correctly and memorizing it, but even those who have memorized it hardly understand it.
One reason for this lack of understanding is that for centuries knowledge has been the domain of the ulama, religiously learned elite. Ordinary Muslims are called ummi (unlettered).
But even now that most Muslims can read, they generally don’t read the Quran. Reading the Quran is a real chore.
Even though the Quran is hardly read, fewer Muslims read the hadith and the biographies of their prophet. As the result he is unknown to a vast majority of them.
A few years ago a Pakistani teacher told his students that Muhammad’s parents were not Muslims. The students reported that to their imam who was so ignorant that thought the teacher had insulted Muhammad and instigated to put the poor man in prison. As often is the case in Pakistan, hundreds of Muslims rallied and demanded his execution. It is shocking how little Muslims know about their own prophet.
This book is entirely factual. It depicts the biography of Muhammad from his birth to his migration to Medina, and highlights the salient points of his life. It can help both Muslims and non-Muslims to understand a man who without a doubt was the most influential person in history.
The author uses the pen name Ibn Abi Sarh. Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh was a scribe of Muhammad. Being more learned than his prophet he would often suggest rewording some of the verses and corrected his mistakes. The Prophet accepted the corrections and instructed him to change what were allegedly Allah’s revelations.
Ibn Abi Sarh realized that the Quran is not the word of God. Fearing for his life, at the first opportunity he escaped from Medina and once in the safety of Mecca he told everyone what he had witnessed.
Fourteen centuries later, the author of this book is doing the same. He has read the biography of Muhammad, has learned what the majority of Muslims don’t know and through exquisitely drawn illustrations, he is revealing to the world the truth.
To correctly understand Islam we have to read the biography of its author. These books are translated into other languages and are readily available for those who want to know the facts.
This illustrated biography is easy to read and it is entirely based on authentic traditions narrated by the companions of Muhammad and recorded by trustworthy Islamic historians. I hope Muslims and non-Muslims read it and that it will whet their appetite to investigate further and learn more about Islam.
Ali Sina is the Author of “Understanding Muhammad: A Psychobiography of Allah’s Prophet.” He is also the founder of Faithfreedom.org a site that has helped thousands of Muslims to find the truth about their faith.
Book Reviews
By The Publishing Guru "Todd Rutherford" (Bixby, Oklahoma)
This review is from: Biography of the Prophet Muhammad - Illustrated - Vol. 1 (Hardcover)
Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh's Biography of the Prophet Muhammad - Illustrated is an aesthetically appealing and easy to comprehend biography that unearths the real history of the legendary Prophet Muhammad. While there are many scriptures of Islam (e.g., Qur'an, Hadith, Siras, etc.); examining them either requires extensive amounts of time, or they are often too complex and sometimes prone to misconceptions. Abi Sarh addresses these issues in order to make the history of Islam easier to understand for Muslim youth, educators, and anyone interested in learning more about the lore of the Prophet Muhammad.
While this text touches on extremely sensitive global and national topics of terrorism, Biography of the Prophet Muhammad - Illustrated is thoroughly educational. Following the September 11th attacks, there has been a constant dichotomy facing Islam and its followers. For example, some Muslims state that Islam is a peaceful religion, yet there continues to be bloodshed in the name of Islam and jihad.
Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh's purpose in writing this book is three-fold: "First, because there is so much persecution and suffering in the name of Islam, the second reason is because there is no other illustrator who dares to create a biography of Muhammad," and finally, "this illustrated book will help people to understand Islam quickly, accurately, and without spending too much time reading the whole Islamic main literatures that are hard to understand." Essentially, the author is trying to portray Islam as it was perceived through the unfiltered eyes of the Prophet Muhammad.
The book is fascinating because of the creativity that Abdullah utilizes in developing the structure of the text. Despite dealing with extremely sensitive religious and cultural issues, Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh's illustrations and animations put readers at ease. At the same time, the text has a format similar to a comic book, which is less intimidating for readers. While there is nothing comic about the topic of Islam, terror, and mainly the Prophet Muhammad, it is more probable that younger generations will be more inclined to read something formatted thusly, rather than dense, time-consuming scriptures that can seem rather daunting and difficult to understand.
This account of the life of the Prophet Muhammad begins with the death of his father, Abdullah--while Muhammad is still in the womb. Overcome with depression, his mother Amina gives Muhammad to Halimah, who nursed him for the first five years of his life, before returning him to his mother out of fear that his constant seizures were a sign of demonic possession.
Throughout the illustrations, the author weaves scripture from the Qur'an. When the Bajilis steal Muhammad's camels, he refers to the Qur'an 5.33: "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land; that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter."
Overall, Abdullah ibn Abi Sarh's Biography of the Prophet Muhammad - Illustrated is a thought-provoking book, and an ideal introduction to further studies or research into Islam and the Muslim culture. Simply formatted, this is a must read for all, particularly for Muslims, educators, historians, and anyone interested in learning about the legendary figure of Islam, Prophet Muhammad.
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from: zainab.bhatterjee@yahoo.com
I am mesmerized by the quality of the illustration. I thought this book contains the usual belittling and mocking exercise of Islam, especially with an endorsement by somebody like Ali Sina, somebody who cannot get more anti-Islamic. I was pleasantly surprised that it describes events exactly as dictated by the Koran and the many ahadith without taking sides, although the writer does present some valid questions. For somebody like me, already familiar with the subject, it is a useful condensed version which help to bring out the key issues impacting us today. For those not familiar with the subject, the book undoubtedly presents a summary of events which can help to dispel the propagandized or over-romanticized version of Islam. Considering that this book is the first of its kind, even perhaps the first in Islamic history, I would recommend this highly. Not least, before an imam issued the usual fatwa and the book might fly off the shelves. Get your hands on it while you can. This might even be more explosive than Salman Rushdie's.
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from Abul Kasem (islam-watch.org)
January 6, 2011
One of the fundamental sources of Islam is the biography of Muhammad or Sirah. Unlike other biblical prophets, Muhammad’s biography is quite reliable, because during his days writing was widely practiced and there were many companions of Muhammad who were scribes. Along with the Qur'an these scribes had also recorded various aspects of Muhammad’s life. Thus, there are many narrations where we may find descriptions of Muhammad’s various stages of progress.
However, none of these scribes had drawn any pictures or graphic descriptions of Muhammad’s life. Though rich in verbal and written narration of Muhammad’s life, these narrations lack the animated imagery of Muhammad and his contemporary society. Readers may not find any book on Islam that vividly portrays in drawings or sketches of the images of many of Islam’s stalwarts in Muhammad’s time.
Biography of the Prophet Muhammad—Illustrated Volume 1 authored by ‘Abdullah Ibn Sa’d Ibn Sarh fills the above need. Needless to say, the author’s name is a pen name—simply because the use of a real name would gravely endanger the life of the author. In Islam, depiction of any images of Muhammad in any form is a serious offence that may result in the assassination of the author or the artist. ‘Abdullah Ibn Sarh, by the way, was one of Muhammad’s scribes who used to write the Qur’anic verses as dictated by Muhammad, that he claimed to be Allah’s revelation to him. But when ‘Abdullah Ibn Sa’d Ibn Sarh realised that the verse dictated were actually Muhammad’s own words and not from Allah, ‘Abdullah quietly left Muhammad, returned to Mecca, and abandoned Islam. When Muhammad conquered Mecca, he caught ‘Abdullah and ordered his execution. But upon plea from Uthman, who later became Islam’s third Caliph, Muhammad spared ‘Abdullah’s life. Though pseudonymous, the author of the illustrated biography of Muhammad has demonstrated considerable courage to tell the truth in an animated way. This book may be one of the rarest creations where the readers may catch a glimpse of what might have been Muhammad’s time and life. We get quite a vivid picture of what could have been the then Arab society. In this respect the illustrator has done a magnificent job. The stories narrated in extraordinary vibrant colour, eloquence, and clarity has been meticulously sourced from the most authentic sources of Islam. The bibliography and notes are in detail and easily available to anyone who may want to verify, leaving no doubt about the reliability of the narrations depicted in pictorial forms. The language is simple, fluid, and precise, thus making it easy for the children to comprehend the foundation of Islam and its Prophet. The illustrations of Muhammad’s cruelty on his adversities are truly unforgettable—especially the dismemberment of Umm Qirfa and the Uki tribe thieves.
Today, Islam has become a mortal danger to the civilised world. The Islamists want to destroy the civilisation that we know of, and replace it with their brand of Islamic Civilisation. They care very little about human lives or its sanctity. These Islamists are simply following the examples of Muhammad’s actions. The current infidel world spends billions of dollars to confront this menace. But, at the same time these infidel countries also cuddle Islam through political correctness. Thus, any depiction of Islam in an unfavourable manner is vehemently rejected even by the infidel governments. Thus, the world is kept in dark about the reality of Islam—people are lulled by their governments through political correctness, with the dose that Islam is peaceful. The best way to eradicate the Islamic menace is to tell the truth—that Islam is false, barbaric and imperialistic. This illustrated biography of Muhammad tells the truth about Islam in absolute clarity and vividness.
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from Trinitarianism (USA)
The virtues of this book are many, but its historic feat is to be the first illustrated life of Muhammad. And luckily for us it comes in English. Other languages must suffice with the electronic version for now.
One can tell a good amount of research went into this book. While it is very informative, the story line and pictures transition smoothly and logically, making it an easy read.
Some might say it has a comic book format, for lack of better terminology, but graphic novels are becoming more common, and this would be a graphic history with footnotes, a format quite suited to informing the reader of early Islam's graphic violence. With so much misinformation out there, and with Muslims and Islam no longer just on the other side of the wide ocean, this book comes at a good time to help set the record straight about Islam.
One Amazon commentator gave the book only four stars, but would have given it five stars if the background weren't so dark in places. The online electronic version of the book shows the original is lighter colored and brighter, and the next printing will no doubt address that technical printing glitch. Anyway, considering how inexpensively priced the book is, and how much thought and talent it took to prepare, it deserves nothing less than five stars, and it deserves to be in your hands, and in your library now.
Please donate so I can continue producing educated Islamic comic strips.