Pandemic Realities
For over 2 years we’ve all been on an emotional, psychological, and physically draining journey since the beginning days of the Pandemic. As the world tries to find that delicate balance of health and safety precautions, we can certainly say that while there are protective strategies available to many of us, so many viral mutations continue to evolve and affect us all in different regions of the world. Many of us wondered in those early moments, to vax or not vax? Which vaccine should we take? To mask or not to mask? How many layers, what materials, N95? Washing hands and sanitizing all surfaces. In North America, there is still a great deal of uncertainty as to what can and should be done and the best advice, we are now being given by our health authorities is to err on the side of caution as we all try to get back to a normal way of life. Many restrictions have been lifted in so many parts of the world and many restrictions are still in effect as different regions try to preserve their national and local populations life and livelihood.
Struggle, loss, scarcity, and frustration affected us all with conflicting information being spread on the various vaccines mandated around the world. No matter who you are or where you live, we’ve all been affected in ways that have just totally exhausted us all. But we only have one timeline and despite all of the hardships of the world, what a wonderful time it is to actually be alive. The alternative to hope is despair and we choose to be hopeful and grateful as creators.
The frustrations of life as we know it are not unique to humanity. Plagues have been with us since human beings were able to record these events and we can certainly trace accounts of plagues back several thousands of years. Many religious texts and scriptures speak of terrible diseases and the early Islamic societies certainly faced their fair share of disease, plague, famine, and perpetual war as knowledge of medicine evolved. The Madani Chronicles series of comics portray many of the early struggles that Muslims faced. Several lessons can be derived from each issue and in every episode that we’ve created, we’ve attempted to chronologically portray the divine revelations and prophetic wisdom that were revealed to provide guidance to the early Muslims. The Sahabah encountered several challenges in order to overcome the greatest of difficulties that they faced during their prescribed time in history.
The issues that the early Muslims had and that we’ve portrayed in our narratives are meant to provide an authentic historical reference for anyone who wishes to learn about the rise of an Islamic Golden Age during the final years of Prophet Muhammad’s (saw) life. We began our journey with the first miraculous event and first military victory of Muslims known as the Battle of Badr to show how and why fighting actually occurred and how over time even the bitterest of enemies of the Muslims would come to realize that the message of Islam was true. As the world is now faced with even more crises as a war has erupted in Europe, we believe that there is great wisdom to be acquired in each of our comics. We’ve aspired to bring you the guidance and wisdom that was actually provided to the ongoing humanitarian crisis and struggles of the early Muslims who needed to summon an internal faith when the darkest moments of fear had come upon them.
While each narrative portrays an evolution of strategy and wisdom as only a prophet of Allah (swt) can be granted, we also focused on the very human side of conflict and struggle that was used to combat the ongoing threats, issues, and social crises of the day faced by the early Muslims. The Sahabah were required to keep their faith strong. A great deal of effort, incredible amounts of work, and extreme hardship were endured as Islam and the Muslim Ummah began to grow and spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula. The unlikeliest of leaders and allies would emerge and we’ve tried to help guide our readers through the journey and struggles that presented themselves in real-time. Many valuable lessons are documented and derived from authentic hadith and divine Quranic revelations that occurred during this short period of history that we sincerely believe all human beings can benefit from.
As we reflect on what is the first Ramadan in several years in which Muslims and all people of faith are able to re-congregate in their respective institutions of worship without population restrictions, we understand that the past few years were difficult times for those of faith. We understand that whoever you are and wherever you reside, it has not been an easy time for you and for us as everyone one of us knows of someone who has been affected psychologically and physically by this Pandemic. We’ve all had to try to become better people over the past few years with so many of us witnessing what can be deemed as the worst of humanity during these years of crisis in our own communities and via social media channels that we all consume information from, especially during those early days of Pandemic uncertainty.
Our team is always hopeful and we are grateful that during these incredible past few years we were tasked with working on this invaluable project called the Madani Chronicles. Learning about the struggles of others has helped us to keep calm and to carry on with hope and optimism through these years of uncertainty. As we’ve learned we’d like to encourage you to level up your knowledge on anything good, especially during this final stretch of Ramadan 2022. We are entering into a period of very good days and nights and we all need to be role models for others no matter what our current responsibilities are.
We hope the doors of learning about some great people who lived during a spectacular time in history are now easier for you to open and we sincerely hope that you decide to acquire a comic, two, or all 13 episodes, as the knowledge within may help you to find some inspiration and inner peace. The struggles we face today are not unique and we believe that we are in fact living in one of the greatest periods of human civilization. Despite all of the current hardships humanity is facing we encourage you to take a moment to reflect on all of the wisdom you have gained over the past few years and to make your next moments and days count.
No matter how tough life can be we all know there is always someone out there with a greater struggle than your own and we believe that our comic series will truly help you to learn how to cope with some of the hardships that you may be facing. Many of us had very limited or little knowledge of the early history of the first Muslims as this was not material that we were ever taught living and being educated in western lands. Our diversity and our respect for each other have increased and we’ve come to appreciate the knowledge we’ve been taught as we wrap up our final productions of the Madani Chronicles.
From Episode 0 to Episode 12, we’ve tried our best to bring this knowledge to you in an easy to read and understand format and we sincerely hope that you will also attempt to gain wisdom from each issue that we’ve created. This summer we wrap up or 2D comic effort and by the time it is all over we think that you will have a new appreciation for the content and subject matter if you decide to give us a chance.
We were fortunate to have our resident scholar and director of Islamic Oversight guide us on production Kelvin Ali who left us with these final words as we wrapped up our final production assignments.
“It’s been an awesome experience working with all of you and while we will move on to other areas and teams in life and in this industry, I want to share one final wisdom as we produce Episode 12. The greatest loss of all human beings was the loss of Prophet Muhammad (saw). Allah (swt) tells us that there will be no new revelation or another prophet that He will send to us with any new religious legislation, so cherish what you’ve been taught. Divine wisdom for all mankind has been revealed for us to follow in the Quran and you have helped to make this more accessible and educational for everyone on the planet. Congratulations and May you all be blessed for your sincere hard work and effort. Continue to read, learn, and always try to have an open heart when it comes to knowledge. One day you might find yourself falling in love with Prophet Muhammad (saw) as I did over my 2+ decades of non-stop learning, I sincerely hope you do because ‘you will be with the ones you love’ in the afterlife. I pray Allah (swt) will allow even greater wisdom to enter your hearts and to cleanse your mind and repair your soul. It’s ok to feel broken at times, we all have struggled and we have all felt so much pain over the past few years and Insh’Allah for every moment you have spent on this work and IP, I make du’a for you to have your contributions serve as a witness for you and also for you all to be increased in every area of your life. Thank you, it has been an honour to do this with and for you all.”
We hope that you and your family are experiencing the best of health and that you have made it through these years of hardship. We are routing for you to be successful and we hope our comics can help you to have greater patience, understanding, and tolerance for life.
Do you have a story you’d like to share about the Pandemic? Why not join the clan to share with our awesome community!
To learn more about the Beyond Badr and the Madani Chronicles, please visit us at https://www.beyondbadr.com/ . Why not subscribe to our monthly newsletter and accept some Amazing digital gifts just for joining us on our journey with this awesome brand that we are so fortunate to have been a part of, especially during our personal times of hardship and crisis during the Pandemic.
Your friends,
Beyond Badr Dev Team!