The Messenger: A Tale Retold (2008) by Kader Abdolah as a Polemic Biography of Prophet Muḥammad

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article offers an analysis of the novel De boodschapper [‘The messenger’], a fictional biography of the prophet Muḥammad, by the Dutch author of Iranian origin, Kader Abdolah. The book, published in 2008 along with an adapted translation of the Quran, is a variation on the sīrah, a genre devoted to telling Muḥammad’s life story. Although Abdolah declares that his project aims at promoting mutual understanding between Dutch and Muslim culture underscoring his appreciation for the Prophet, his presentation of Muḥammad is not only secularized, but also strikingly negative. This article argues that the novel can in fact be regarded as an example of polemic biography, a type of Western anti-Islamic discourse, aimed at discrediting Muḥammad as a prophet. The major tropes of this literary tradition will be analysed here as used in Abdolah’s rendering of the Prophet’s life story.