Muhammad

by Demi, Demi (Illustrator)

Overview

Muhammad
is
the messenger of Islam.

Born in Mecca in the year 570, Muhammad grew into a sensitive and thoughtful man who believed deeply in the worship of one true god.
In his fortieth year, Muhammad experienced a revelation from the angel Gabriel that he, Muhammad, was the messenger of God. Over the next twenty-three years, he received many such revelations, all of which were written down by scribes at the time of revelation to become the Koran, the sacred scripture of Islam, a religion that is practiced by nearly one-quarter of the world's population and holds as its most sacred tenet that there is no god but God.
Through a clear text and stunning illustrations based upon those of traditional Islamic expression, the award-winning artist Demi here introduces the remarkable life of the Prophet Muhammad for young readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689852640
Publisher:	Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication date:	07/01/2003
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	1,070,993
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Demi is the award-winning creator of numerous books for children, including The Empty Pot; Buddha; The Dalai Lama; The Legend of Saint Nicholas; Gandhi, which was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book and received an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award; and Muhammad, which was named a Kirkus Reviews Editors’ Choice selection, a Booklist Editors’ Choice selection, one of the Booklist Top Ten Religion Books for Youth, and a Book Links “Lasting Connections” selection, and was cited in a Publishers Weekly starred review as a “timely, exceptionally handsome biography [that] serves as an excellent introduction to Islam.” Demi lives in Carnation, Washington.

Demi is the award-winning creator of numerous books for children, including The Empty Pot; Buddha; The Dalai Lama; The Legend of Saint Nicholas; Gandhi, which was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book and received an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award; and Muhammad, which was named a Kirkus Reviews Editors’ Choice selection, a Booklist Editors’ Choice selection, one of the Booklist Top Ten Religion Books for Youth, and a Book Links “Lasting Connections” selection, and was cited in a Publishers Weekly starred review as a “timely, exceptionally handsome biography [that] serves as an excellent introduction to Islam.” Demi lives in Carnation, Washington.

Read an Excerpt

Muhammad

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By Demi

McElderry Books

Copyright © 2003 Demi All right reserved. ISBN: 0-689-85264-9

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Chapter One

Muhammad knew the path before him would be hard, but its direction was clear. Muhammad continued to share the words of the Koran, and over time more and more people joined the Prophet. People accepted Islam because Muhammad taught God's words that said that all men and women, black and white, rich and poor, must be treated with dignity and respect.

Some of the nobles balked at the idea of treating the weak and unprotected with justice. They challenged Muhammad to produce miracles if he was a real prophet. "I am only a human being like yourselves," he said. "My miracle is the Koran."

Umar, a fierce and feared tribal leader, charged through the streets of Mecca with his sword drawn, looking for Muhammad. People retreated in alarm, but one man approached Umar, telling him to go to his sister's house before trying to kill Muhammad. As soon as he entered his sister's house, Umar heard verses from the Koran being recited. As he listened, his heart softened and the fearless warrior began to cry. He found Muhammad and accepted Islam.

The Quraysh leaders continued their efforts to crush Islam by threats, stonings, beatings, and all forms of persecution. They even plotted against Muhammad's life.

In the year 622 Muhammad received a message from God to leave Mecca and journey to Yathrib, which was renamed Medina, where Islam would bewelcomed. Muhammad and his followers began their great flight, or Hijra, at night, leaving Mecca on camels, on horses, and by foot. The Quraysh learned of the Hijra and set soldiers upon Muhammad with swords. Protected by God from being seen and heard, Muhammad managed to escape unharmed.

Later that night Muhammad and his friend Abu Bakr hid in a cave. God caused a spider's web to be spun over the entrance to the cave and a dove to make a nest near the cave opening. When they saw the unbroken spider's web and the dove on her nest, the Quraysh soldiers turned away from the cave. Though they searched far and wide, the soldiers could not find Muhammad and Abu Bakr and thus they were saved.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Muhammad by Demi
Copyright © 2003 by Demi
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Editorial Reviews

Demi (Gandhi; Buddha) presents a resonant, splendidly illustrated portrait of the "Messenger of Islam," to whom, according to Muslim belief, the angel Gabriel revealed the sacred words that became the Koran. The well-researched narrative opens with a chronicle of the kind, charismatic Muhammad's early years, leading up to his first encounter with Gabriel and his subsequent role as the primary "voice of Islam" proclaiming "the message of God, preaching the existence of only one God, the importance of equality for all people, and the necessity of freedom of thought and speech." Graceful text brings various Islamic religious and cultural traditions into clear focus and makes accessible the somewhat complex chronology of the Prophet's peripatetic life. Incorporating her signature meticulous detail, accents of brilliant color, intriguing background patterns and gold-leaf flourishes, Demi's art is rendered in the two-dimensional style of the Persian miniature. As amplified in a cogent foreword by scholar Laleh Bakhtiar, the illustrations honor Islamic tradition in that they do not contain any actual pictures of Muhammad himself; instead they creatively depict his image as a flat figure silhouetted in gold leaf. An Arabic symbol, identified as a "traditional form of benediction," follows each mention of Muhammad's name. This timely, exceptionally handsome biography serves as an excellent introduction to Islam. Ages 7-10. (July) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

A delicately illustrated presentation of the events that shaped Muhammad's life and his prophecies, complete with passages from the Koran. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Aside from a scattering of devotional and limited-distribution titles, this lusciously illustrated, deeply respectful account is the first full life of Muhammad in English for younger readers. Tracing her subject's ascent from brilliant youth to venerated religious and political leader, Demi follows Muslim tradition by never depicting him directly; instead, she notes his location with a golden silhouette, placed with growing groups of followers and multi-winged angels in Persian-miniature-style gardens and cityscapes. Along with his historical career, meeting with the angel Gabriel and journey to Heaven, she also summarizes his teachings, tucks in passages from the Koran, and closes with a homily on the Muslim view of God as All-Compassionate and All-Merciful. Despite occasional awkward turns of phrase, this powerful portrait, as timely as it is essential, brilliantly illuminates the origins and spiritual foundations of one of the world's most widely-held religions. (map, source list) (Picture book/biography. 8-10)

Kirkus Reviews