Salam, readers!
Some might find the movie "The Message" hard to understand. At the same time, "Muhammad: The Last Prophet," while a great cartoon, is meant for younger audiences and moves way too quickly through the events. Some books about Islam's rise are way too scholarly and complicated for the average reader, but the ones meant for children are too simple and leave out the gravity of the struggles Muslims went through simply because of their beliefs.
The goal of this book is to novelize the full story of Islam for an older audience while still remaining as an entertaining source of knowledge. With that being said, let's get to know some terminology that will repeatedly show up:
(SAW) Comes after the name of Prophet Muhammad to show respect. "SAW" stands for "Sallalhu Alayhi wa Salam" meaning "Peace and Blessings unto him."
(AS) Comes after the names of other prophets and archangels. AS" stands for "Alayhi Salam" meaning "Peace be unto him."
(R) Comes after the name of a male "sahaba" which is the equivalent to Jesus's apostles. "R" stands for "Radi Allahu Anhu" meaning "May Allah be pleased with him"
(Ra) After the name of a female sahaba. "Radi Allahu Anha" means "May Allah be pleased with her"
For the sake of storytelling, (r) and (ra) will not be used for characters until they are officially Muslims.
Abu al-Hakam will be referred to as "Abu Jahal" in narratives and dialogue between the Muslims. The reason is because "al-Hakam" is an attribute of God meaning "The High Judge." Abu Jahal is a nickname Muslims gave him so they don't call him by one of God's names. Abu Jahal translates to "Father Ignorance" and you'll soon see why.
