The Muslim Who Conquered the World

It’s not easy dismissing values taught from an early age to fulfil your dreams. That’s what makes those with courage and creativity special.

Naif al-Mutawa, a Kuwaiti psychologist who has two doctorates found himself tormented.

His heart was telling him to go back to writing children’s books, while his mind was saying – will you dismiss all the years of education? For what?

Well, okay, perhaps yes, but then it would have to be something really big, Naif thought. Something like … Pokemon!

But God would be disappointed in me, the God who has 99 attributes or names, including tolerance, he thought.

Then an idea popped into his head – he will make a comic strip with heroes with 99 attributes!

Naif used all his knowledge and experience to create ‘The 99’, a series of comic strips with 99 heroes, each one of whom has a godly trait.

I wanted to create something that would become a classic, Mutawa said. Either it will be Spiderman or nothing, he thought.

The story is based on 99 jewels imbued with wisdom and the knowledge of the famous Baghdad library Dar al-Hikma, which, after an explosion of the dome of which they were part, became scattered all over the world. The jewels find people who, after mystically bonding with them, become superheroes.

In order to make his idea come to life, Mutawa contacted his former studio colleagues and business partners and managed to collect seven million dollars to found the Teshkeel media group.

He surrounded himself with the best people in the industry, including screen players and artists from Marvel and DC Comics and started the realisation of “a modern story with ancient Islamic architecture”.

Ever since November 2006, when the comic appeared on news stands, The 99 gained many fans, as well as numerous criticisms from the Muslim world.

Mutawa admits that he did not seek advice from religious leaders, but he says about the criticism that we should not fight against globalisation. We should take part in it, putting out our ideas into the world, he said.

Although they admire him, many young fans misunderstand him.

There is no single right way to be a Muslim. There are 99 different ways, Naif al-Mutawa sent a message of peace.