We live at a time when the American public’s reaction to Islam can often be polarized and reflexive, a time with a desperate need for thoughtful information on this great religion and on its founder. Arguably, the biography of Islam’s prophet Muhammad has already been written. For Muslims, it is known as the hadith, a sacred collection of sayings and examples from the life of Muhammad. While the hadith are not as revered as the holy Qur’an, they hold a special place in Islamic culture. For example, in instances where proof of Islam’s reverence for women is sought, some will quote Hadith 1275 of Sunan Al-Tirmidhi (“Paradise is at the feet of mothers.”) or the section of Sahih al-Bukhari that says one’s mother is twice worthy of a child’s company before one’s father.
Now pause for a moment.
Think about what you just read.
Why were you inclined to believe what you just read? Assuming you didn’t have knowledge on hadith already, you likely accepted what the first paragraph said it was, right? It sounded convincing. It sounded authoritative. And, best yet, it was accompanied by specific quotations and citations. You have to admit, you’re inclined to believe all of it, you’re willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, because you assume that someone who is able to employ such examples means to use them sincerely.
The author of the graphic novel Biography of the Prophet Muhammad Illustrated – Volume 1 abuses that assumption made by readers. Going under the pen name ‘Abdullah Ibn Sa’d Ibn Abi Sarh, the author expects readers to give him (or her?) the benefit of the doubt that his quotations of the holy Qur’an, of the hadith, and of other Islamic sources are legitimate. At the same time, the pseudonymous writer gives no such benefit of the doubt to Muhammad himself, each time finding the ugliest possible interpretation of events in Muhammad’s life. Muhammad had no genuine affection for his wife Khadijah, claims Ibn Abi Sarh; he was only in it for her money. Further, slaves were drawn to early Islam not because of any earnest belief in its ethos but because it would help them overthrow their masters. And, Muhammad wasn’t visited by divine revelation; he was just an epileptic with delusions of grandeur.
Viewing Muhammad in this way—as a lost soul passing off his epilepsy as false prophesy—is not just the mission of the Biography, but it is the book’s self-inflicted Achilles Heel. Ibn Abi Sarh, whoever he or she is, says that this book is meant to show “the real face of Islam”: namely that the Prophet Muhammad was not a Prophet. This might short-circuit any of the famous prohibitions about visually depicting Muhammad (which would likely be a central concern for a graphic novel attempting such a biography), but it creates a much larger problem. The cover says The Biography of the Prophet Muhammad, but according to the contents inside, Muhammad is no prophet. The book goes from biography to conspiracy theory. And its citations weaken from circumstantial evidence to self-consuming quicksand. Why quote from the Qur’an for support if you also claim that it is entirely bogus?
Others have tried, to various degrees of success, to tell the story of Muhammad’s life from both outside and inside the Muslim faith. They include Deepak Chopra, religious historian Karen Armstrong, or President of the Islamic Foundation of North America Yahiya Emerick. Each of these chronicles at least acknowledges the historic importance of Muhammad and the distinct culture impact of the words he professed. Similar studies on the “historical Jesus” have also been written and lend their own value to better understanding the era in which each man lived. Whether men, prophets, or messiahs, figures like Muhammad and Jesus have profoundly shaped the modern world, inspiring billions and, in turn, earning a debt of respect for their places in human history.
Ibn Abi Sarh is not interested in showing any respect for Muhammad, even the modicum accorded to a leader of the opposition or the indicted in court. The Biography lacks the narrative equivalent of “good sportsmanship,” making any claims it sputters all the less credible. It is disappointing but unsurprising that its web site as well as its preface are rooted in www.FaithFreedom.org, where “Ex-Muslims reveal Islam and Islamic threat.” The implication becomes that one has to lack compassion and has to make sweeping allegations in order to be an ex-Muslim. The site and the Biography end up making their target look all the better because, well, who would want such intolerance for others in their group?
Maybe comic book and graphic novel readers will one day have a biography of the Prophet Muhammad created for an English-language, multicultural audience that treats the subject matter with nuance: Respect accorded, questions raised, praise given, criticism noted. Perhaps the visual illustrations of Muhammad in such a thoughtful and deft book will become a secondary issue behind how the work manages to bridge interreligious divides. Quotes and footnotes won’t themselves be necessary: honesty to oneself, to one’s topic, and to one’s audience is.
It can be done. But the Biography of the Prophet Muhammad Illustrated – Volume 1 is not the book to do it. It’s Islamophobia masquerading as insider knowledge. Whether created by a Muslim, an ex-Muslim, a Christian, a Jew, an Agnostic, an Atheist, or another manner of believer, it’s written in bad faith.
A. David Lewis is the co-editor of Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels (Continuum) as well as both author of The Lone and Level Sands (where the Pharaoh is a protagonist) and co-author of Some New Kind of Slaughter (where Noah is a drunk). Lewis is also an Editorial Board Member of The International Journal of Comic Art and Special Curator for the Harvard University Center for Middle Eastern Studies Outreach Center.
