The Messenger is a retelling of the life of the prophet Mohammad. After Mohammad's death, his right hand and chronicle writer Sa'eed wonders who the prophet really was. Through testimonies of his peers he reconstructs the life of Mohammad, the messenger, from his birth to his death. Kader Abdolah portrays Mohammad as a human being, a man with dreams. The reader is granted a very contemporary and vivid image of the period in which Mohammad lived, how he wanted to save Mecca from moral decay and how he developed from a prophet into a powerful leader.