Tag Archives: kaaba

Mar2

The Swallows of the Cube House by Sana Kamyar illustrated by Azam Vazehi

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The Swallows of the Cube House by Sana Kamyar illustrated by Azam Vazehi

With vibes of a folktale or myth, the imaginative story of how the swallows took up residence at the Kaaba is a sweet story with beautiful illustrations.  How the story actually reads though, is a bit awkward for me.  Told from the personified perspective of a swallow, it seemed a little odd that the names of the birds: Redbreast, Skytail, Whitewing, did not start appearing until page 12, the Kaaba is never named, and there really isn’t any religion articulated. The language is lyrical, which conveys the emotions of some of the worshippers that the swallows see, but also leaves it all so very vague.  The birds giggle and laugh (yes the word giggle appears frequently), happy that they found a new home that is like the mountains, the beach, and cities, this, along with kids playing, are the main takeaways, not even hinting that the Kaaba is a place that has everything to fill one’s heart or that the acts are being done in worship to Allah swt.  The culmination of it I felt needed to be stronger, why the swallows too are circling the house of Allah, swt, but it once again is so vague, and the final page breaking the fourth wall, unfortunately just seems unnecessary, it could have been done better with informative backmatter.

The book starts with a swallow telling the reader that, “One day it finally happened.”  Not sure what it is, the story then tells how the swallows fly from location to location liking certain aspects of the mountains and coast and forest and cities, and how being in one place though, makes them miss the other places.  They come to the “cube house” and all there needs are met by the sounds, the tears, the giggles, the playing of children, etc. and so they stay.

I could see the book being a decent starting point for discussion if it crossed in to talking about how animals worship the creator, or if it gave any backmatter about swallows and their environmental or migratory tendencies, so that readers could appreciate them settling in Makkah, or even if it talked about the parts of hajj or umrah, but as just a story imaging why they settled where they did, to me feels a little short.  That it is based on a real flock of birds is amazing and I just don’t think the text gets readers to truly appreciate it, and the illustrations, while wonderful, can’t do it all on their own.

 

Sep20

I went for Hajj by Na’ima B. Robert illustrated by Paula Pang

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I went for Hajj by Na’ima B. Robert illustrated by Paula Pang

hajj

Before I review this delightful book, I would like to make a public service announcement of sorts.  It is not Hajj season, not even close.  I pre-ordered this book on June 23 from Amazon, I should have/was supposed to have it before Hajj in the middle of July.  I got it TODAY! When I realized that the US publication date was delayed for a book already published in the UK, I reached out to Kube Publishing and they suggested trying “an independent bookseller such as IslamicBookstore.com or CrescentMoonStore.com.”  I know this.  Noura is a dear friend, but I messed up.  Please don’t do the same.  SUPPORT LOCAL BOOKSELLERS! I’m sorry, lesson learned.

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Now back to the book that already feels like a classic staple that needs to be on every Muslim families book shelf, and in every public learning space for non Muslims to enjoy and benefit from as well.   The 31 page “inspirational, semi-fictional narrative” is perfect for ages two to seven as it mimics the beloved Eric Carle and Bill Martin, Jr. classic, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? but framed around Hajj and what is seen, done, and heard.  Each two page spread begins with, “Hajji, hajji…”.

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The book starts with a detailed Note to Parents and Teachers that explains the points to highlight, and discuss with children.  The story is then organized by the steps of hajj in broad strokes and illustrated with both charm and detail that will hold readers and listeners attention.

Hajji, hajji what did you wear?

I wore two white sheets

And my shoulder was bare.

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The book starts with the little boy narrator on the plane looking down on the clouds and sea. He then puts on his two sheets, hears the call to prayer,  sees the black stone and the station of Ibrahim before he makes his seven tawaafs, runs between safa and marwa and heads to Mina. He prays at Arafat like the Prophet (saw) did, and falls asleep in the cold night desert air.  He sees stones being thrown and eats meat on Eid before getting his head shaved.  The book concludes with a glossary.

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The book is well done and is a great mix of information and entertainment, alhumdulillah.

Jul13

Eid al-Adha: Festivals Around the World by Grace Jones

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Eid al-Adha: Festivals Around the World by Grace Jones

nonfic eid

I had hoped to go through all the recently published non fiction hajj and Eid al-Adha books at my local library, the same way I went through the Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr ones to check for errors and accuracy, but they really didn’t have many, and those that they did have were not published in the last few years.  I did find this book from 2017 and because it has some errors: saying Eid is in September every year, not mentioning all the parts of Hajj, which is ok, but overly stressing the stoning at the jamarat, pronouncing Hajj as Harj, etc.,  I thought to share it with you all, so that you too can contact the publisher and your local library and/or bookstore to see about pulling it if you are so inclined (booklifepublishing.com)

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The 24 page non fiction book is a large 9.5×12 horizontal layout with beautiful pictures of diverse Muslims worshipping and celebrating.  A little cartoon character, Noor, guides you to word pronunciation with a glossary at the end.img_2346The book starts out with a two page spread defining what a festival is.  The next two pages define Islam.   Page 8 then states that “Eid al-Adha is a festival celebrated by Muslims in September of every year.”  And page 9 of the book says we throw pebbles at a wall, not that we throw pebbles at three representative pillars.  It also says that Eid is celebrated for two to four days depending on the country.  Religiously, it should say it is a three day holiday.

img_2347It then tells the Story of Eid al-Adha aka Ibrahim (as) being to told to sacrifice his son.  I’m not sure why the book doesn’t says that Muslim’s consider Ibrahim a Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and instead call him a wise man.  Indeed he was, but it seems very awkward to not mention how Muslims regard him, and seems to go out of its way to not say he is a prophet in Islam.

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The next section is about Hajj which tells that it is performed in the last month of the Islamic year and that we walk around the kaaba seven times.  No other info is given, but in the next section it again mentions the throwing of pebbles,  really dismissing any other steps and making the sacrifice and stoning rituals seem to be the whole of Hajj which is incredibly misleading and erroneous.

The book shows that those not at Hajj, pray in congregation wearing new clothes, give and receive gifts and giving charity.  In the section about Festive Food it only Buriyani from India is featured, it seems random.  It should have been stronger that one third of the sacrifice goes to the poor, one third to friends and family, and one can be kept for oneself.  This would show that meat is the highlighted festival foods in any culture celebrating.  On the “Noor Says” page at the end, it has Hajj pronounced as “harj” which is wrong, it is Hajj, or possibly hadj.

My standards have dropped considerably, and would sadly not consider much of this major.  But, it does provide another example of how involved and aware we need to be in our representation in mainstream nonfiction publications.