Bedtime: Upgraded

Assalamu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

It has been a long time. Alhamdulillah. It is a well known fact that, when one is blessed to be pregnant, her circumference is inversely proportional to her levels of energy. Hence, bedtime had become somewhat rushed and “utilitarian” around here … But not anymore!

Alhmadulillah we gave our bedtime a makeover with the stories of the prophets as summarized at the end of most chapters in the wonderful book “Fasting from Alif to Yaa“, compiled by my teacher Umm Mujaahid Khadijah bint Lacina al-Amrikiyah (may Allah preserve her).

(Amazon sells it, but – if you can – do support a Muslim’s business and/or get it straight from the author HERE, Insha’Allah)

We have now gone through this book for 3 Ramadaans in Umm Mujaahid’s lessons and, although it is still a long time before the next Ramadaan comes along, this book is a must have even just for the stories of the prophet the whole family can benefit from, masha’Allah.

I don’t know about you, but I am forever hunting for good Islamic books I can use with my children; and by good I mean from authentic sources, without some crazy concepts in them, without haram images to have to sort out, written with care not only with regards to the English language, but especially to the contents of those story (i.e. you want to be careful what you say about a prophet and his story).  Books like these for children are hard to come by but, once again, I am questioning whether we really need them when we can adapt books written for adults  by adding some explanations and adjusting the vocabulary so that your 4 year old will get it.

Umm Mujaahid uses plenty of ayaat and if there is one thing I have learned about her is that she is very precise and cautious in the way she speaks – masha’Allah. She included plenty of comments to help a child reflect and relate to what is being narrated, as well as listing points of benefit and suggesting related activities.

Alhamdulillah for a better quality bedtime reading!