My First

Quran
Storybook

The Best Treasured

Stories from the Quran

SANIYASNAIN KHAN
 Contents
1. In the Beginning 6 22. The Prophet Yunus Xj and the Big Fish 154
2. The First Man 18 23. The Treasure House l66
3. The Pride of Iblis 24 24. The Prophet Uzayr’s Donkey I74
4. Our World 34 25. Luqman’s Advice 182
5. Allah Made Them All 43 26. The Sleepers in the Cave19O
6. The First Prophet, the First Man ^2 27. An Old Man’s Prayer 198
7. The Two Brothers 62 28. The Story of Maryam 204
8. The Ark of Nuh Xj 72 29. The Prophet Isa Xj and the Miracle of the Feast 212
9. The Prophet Hud X_ and the Terrible Wind 82 30. The Story of Two Gardens 220
10. The Camel and the Evil People 88 31. The Kind Queen 228
11. The Prophet Ibrahim Xj 94 32. The Prophet Musa X; Runs Away 238
12. The Prophet Ibrahim’s Faith IOO 33. The Prophet Musa Xj and the Burning Bush 246
13. The Prophet Ibrahim X-i Travels to Arabia IO4 34. The King’s Magicians 2^0
14. The Great Sacrifice II4 35. The Cruel King Drowns 254
15. The Prophet Ibrahim’s Guests Il8 36. Allah Speaks to the Prophet Musa Xl 262
16. Building the Kabah 124 37. The Prophet Musa’s People Disobey Allah 266
17. The First Call to Hajj 128 38. A Brave Boy 27O
18. The Prophet Yusuf XjI and His Brothers 132 39. The Valley of Ants 28 O
19. The Prophet Yusuf Xj and the King’s Dream 136 40. The Queen of Saba 29O
20. The Prophet Shuayb Xj and the Earthquake I4O 41. The Prophet Sulayman Xj and the Jinn
21. The Most Patient Man 144 42. The Iron Wall 308
4 5
 In the Beginning
The Merciful Allah decided of making the world.
He said: “Be!” And the world was made.
**■
Allah wanted the world to be beautiful. He spread
r-T.V'?-. the earth like a carpet. Then he put mountains on

- ■ ■ it to hold it down.

A long, long time ago, there was nothing

but a great empty space.
There were no earth and no sky.
There were no sun and no moon.
There was no light anywhere.
Everything was covered with darkness.

6
Above the earth He made the sky. In the sky He put
two lights: the sun and the moon. And he told the sun
to shine in the day and the moon to shine at night.
Then Allah put stars in the night sky and told them
to shine brightly to help travellers find their way at
night. There are many stars in the sky. Yet each one is
different. Some are small and some are very big. Some
twinkle gently and some burn brightly. They are like
road signs that guide the travellers to the right place.

9
After that Allah divided
the dry land from the
seas. He covered the
land with greenery: big
trees, small bushes, and
colourful flowers. He
told the rain to water
the plants so that they
might grow.

10 11
After that He made all kinds of animals: camels, The world was beautiful. The earth was green.

horses, sheep and elephants. Then He made all kinds The sky was blue. And the seas were all shades of

of birds: high-flying eagles, beautiful peacocks and green and blue.

sweetly singing nightingales. And He filled the seas There were many different animals on earth,
with fish and other creatures. many different birds in the sky and many
different fish in the seas.
 Yet Allah wanted the world to be even more beautiful. They see to it that the whole world is running as it
Afti should: the wind blows where required, the clouds take
Allah made the angels. The angels obey Allah in
hor the rain to the right spots, the rains give water to the
everything. They are His messengers.
oft
They carry His commands to all corners of the world. fields and gardens.
SWf
wit

15
 Then out of flame of fire Allah created
jinn. Some jinn are good and some are
bad. Some of them are believers and
some unbelievers. Finally Allah decided
to make a human being.

He collected every kind of soil. He

mixed it like a potter’s clay. He molded
it into the shape of man and breathed
His spirit into it. He named the first
man Adam Then Allah made the
first woman and named her Hawwa, or
Eve.

Allah made the beautiful world.

And He gave it to man to live in.

16 17
 The First Man

The world is like a huge machine.

It runs all the time. It never stops.
In the beginning there was nothing. Then Allah
And it runs very smoothly.
said: “Be!” and the world was made.

■^7
Allah made angels. The angels are very powerful.
What do the angels do? The angels see to it that all the
commands of Allah are obeyed in every corner of the
world. The angels tell the winds when to blow. They
tell the clouds where to go. They tell the rain where to
rain. And they record everything that is happening in
the world.
L

When the world was already running beautifully,

Allah wanted to make a human being. So Allah
collected all kinds of soil: He took dry sand and moist
earth and sticky mud. He mixed them all like a potter’s
clay. He molded it into the shape of man.

Finally He breathed His spirit into it. He named the

first man Adam Then He made the first woman.
He called her Hawwa or Eve. Allah loved Adam Sj
and Hawwa. He gave them many gifts. He gave them
eyes to see the beautiful world. He gave them ears to
hear the birds sing. He gave them voice so that they
may talk to each other. And He gave them mind to
understand what is good and what is bad.

Allah wanted Adam and Hawwa to live on the earth.

There was one part of the earth, which was more
beautiful than the rest. It was called the Garden of
Paradise. Allah wanted Adam and Hawwa to live in
’ this beautiful garden.

22 23
 ^8^
The Pride of Iblis

Allah made Adam and Hawwa. Then He called the

angels and said that He had made a man. Who was The angels were very surprised. Men will spoil the
called Adam And He had made a woman. Who was earth. They will destroy it. They will fill it with evil and
called Hawwa or Eve, and He wanted them to live on fighting.
earth.

24
But Allah is All-Knowing and All-Wise. He knows all the
secrets of heavens and earth. He has made everything Allah called the angels. Then He asked the angels to
and knows the true name of every single thing He has tell Him the names of all things. But the angels did not
made. Therefore, Allah taught Adam X? the names of know the names of all the things.
all things.

26 27
The angels said to Allah: “We do not know the
names of the things You have never told us
their names. We know only what you taught
us. You are the All-Knowing and Wise.”
Then Allah called Adam and
asked him to tell the names.

Adam told all the names as Allah

had taught him.

Allah said to the angels: “Bow to

Adam.” All the angels bowed in
respect to Adam except Iblis
who was one of the jinn.

28
 “Give me respite till the Day of Judgement,” begged
Iblis. Iblis said, “I will tempt people to sin. And lead
them away from the right path.”

Allah said: “You can tempt people as much as you

want. True believers will never listen to you.

Allah asked Iblis: “Why don’t you bow to Adam? Why

don’t you obey me?” Iblis said: “I am better than Adam.
You made me of fire. But You made Adam of ordinary
<
day.”

Allah said: “Get away from here. I curse you till the Day
of Judgement!”

30 31
They will never get tempted. I will always Allah is the Best Guide.
guide them to do what is right. You will have He is the Protector.
no power over them.” He guides us to the straight path.
He never lets us go astray.

33
 Our World There are high mountains and deep valleys.
There are green forests and dry deserts.
There are lakes and rivers. Allah made them all.
Allah made the world. He made the land, the sky and
the seas. He made the land for us and it became our
home.

34 35
x.

Some people live in the cities. Some people live

in the villages. Some people live in tents in the
desert. The sea and the land meet on a beach. The
waves run up the beach again and again. They look
frightening and make lots of noise. But Allah does
not want us to be afraid. Allah controls the seas.

36 37
Sometimes there is a storm at sea.
High waves roll everywhere.
The ships and the boats get tossed around.
Allah looks after them.
They reach their port safely.

sky above our heads,

daytime the-'Sky is blue.
The sun shipds and gives us light.
At night the sky gets dark.
/
The moon shines and the stars twinkle.
F

39
 Allah has made the world for us.
We live here.
We play here.
We go to school.
Allah loves us and wants us to be happy.

Sometimes the wind brings the clouds. They cover

the sun and we cannot see it. When there are a lot of
clouds, it starts to rain. The rain washes the flowers
and the trees. The air becomes clean. Everything starts
shining: the houses, the streets and the cars.

40 41
 Allah Made Them All

Allah has made all the animals, birds, insects and fish.
He has made them all. Some fly. Some swim.
Some creep on their tummies. Some walk on two legs.
And some walk on four legs.
Allah has made fish. Some fish live in the lakes.
Some fish live in the rivers. And some live in the seas.

In the sea there are big whales. There are also

dangerous sharks and friendly dolphins. There are
strange looking octopuses and beautiful starfish. Allah
has taught them all how to swim in the sea.

45
Allah has made the birds. He made them all: the small Allah has made sheep. The sheep are covered with
sparrows and the huge eagles. All birds have wings. woolly coats.From their wool we make sweaters,
Some birds fly high in the sky. Allah has taught the mufflers and blankets. They keep us warm on cold days.
birds how to fly so high.

Allah has made cows and goats. They give us milk.

We drink milk and grow healthy
and strong. We make butter,
yogurt and cheese from milk.

46 47
 Allah has made bees. The bees fly from
flower to flower. Little by little, they
gather nectar from the flowers and make
it into honey. Honey is very tasty. It is a
good medicine for colds and coughs.

48
Allah has made horses and donkeys and camels.
They are strong. They help us carry heavy things from
Allah has made all the animals, birds,
place to place. In olden times there were no cars.
insects and fish. They all belong to
People would ride horses or donkeys. In the desert,
Allah. Allah is great.
even today, people travel on camels.
 >6* There were trees and flowers growing everywhere.
The First Prophet, the First Men There were beautiful rivers.
There was blue sky above.
But there were no people.

It happened one day, a long time ago. Allah looked at the land.

On that day, Allah made up His mind to make the He looked at the seas.

world.
He made the land, the seas and the sky.

52 53
Then he looked at the sky. He called her Hawwa (or Eve). Adam
The beautiful land looked empty. and Hawwa lived in a beautiful garden.
Allah took some clay and made a man. There were many fruit trees in the garden.
He called him Adam Allah also made a woman. When Adam and Hawwa were hungry
they would eat the tasty fruit.

54 55
In the middle of the garden there was one huge tree. It Allah told Adam and Hawwa not to go near this tree.
was different from other trees. Its fruit were bigger and Adam Xj and Hawwa were very happy in the garden.
They would pluck the fruit from the trees
and eat when hungry. But they never
touched the particular tree in the garden.

In the same garden there lived a Satan. The

Satan was very jealous of Adam and
Hawwa.

He wanted Allah to be angry with

Adam and Hawwa. He did not want
them to live happily in the beautiful
garden.

But Satan deceived them to do against

Allah’s orders by eating from a forbidden
tree. After eating the fruit from the tree
Adam and Hawwa became afraid.

They did not listen to Allah. They ate

the fruit from the tree. They would be
punished.

58
Allah was very angry. But He loved Adam iiu and
Hawwa. He did not want to punish them too much.
He ordered them to leave the garden and go down and
stay on earth.

The story of the Prophet Adam

have all been created by Allah, and that therefore,
we are all equal. We should, then, respect each and
every human being and never look down on others, or
insult people. After all, we are all the children of one
forefather-the Prophet Adam Xj.

60 61
 ^7^ Habil was a shepherd.
The Two Brothers Qabil was a farmer.

The Prophet Adam and his wife Hawwa had two sons.
The elder son was called Qabil (or Cain). The younger
son’s name was Habil (or Abel).

63
In olden times people used to offer sacrifices to Allah. Habil and Qabil wanted to offer a sacrifice to Allah.
They would put the best thing they had in a special Habil chose a sheep for Allah. Qabil brought his
place. If Allah were happy with them then He would best crops. The sheep and the crops were put on a
send fire from the sky. The fire would burn the offering. mountaintop.

64 65
Suddenly a bolt of lightning flashed. It burnt the
sheep offered by Habil. But it did not touch the
crops offered by Qabil. Allah had accepted the
sheep offered by Habil! He was happy with
But Allah did not accept the crops offered
Qabil! He began to fight with Habil. He shouted: “This is your
Habil loved Allah very much. He always had fear of Qabil’s face darkened with anger and his heart became
Allah in his heart. Habil said to Qabil: “You are not hardened: “No,” he cried. “I will kill you!” At this threat
afraid of Allah. How can Allah accept your sacrifice? from his elder brother, Habil did not shout back. He
Fear Allah and Allah will be happy witlyyou.” just said calmly: “Even if you raise your hand to kill
me, I will not fight back, for I fear Allah, the Lord of the
Worlds.” Qabil was jealous of his brother. He did not
listen to him. He began to fight with him and killed
him.
Then Qabil became ashamed. He started to cry. He
called out to Allah for help. Allah sent a black raven.
The raven scratched the ground and showed Qabil how
to bury his brother.

The moral of this story is that two believers should

never fight with each other. Even if one of them is bent
on fighting, the other one, like the gentle and obedient
Habil, should never fight back.

71
 The Ark of Nuh

At long time ago, there lived a very good man.

His name was the Prophet Nuh Xj. He loved Allah
very much and Allah loved him.
The Prophet Nuh Xj lived in a village.
There were many more people living
in the same village.

72 73
 This made Nuh very sad. In the end Nuh Xj prayed
Most of them did not love Allah and did not pray to
to Allah: “Allah, save the believers! And punish the
Him. Nuh Sj was a very patient man. Every day he
wicked people!”
would go from house to house and talk to people about
Allah. Nuh wanted all the people to love Allah and Allah wanted to punish wicked people with a flood.
pray to Him. But the people laughed at Nuh $5. But He wanted to save Nuh and the people who

74
 Soon the boat was ready. The next day it started to
rain. It looked as if the rain was never going to stop!
The village was getting flooded! Nuh put up a
ladder and climbed into the boat together with other
good people. After them climbed the animals.

All the animals were in pairs: goats, sheep, horses,

elephants and many others. Pairs of birds sat on the
deck of the boat: hens, ducks, sparrows, and eagles.

76
There were some people who did not want to come
with Nuh £uii. They did not come into the boat.

They said, “We are not scared of the rain!” They were
not scared of Allah. They all drowned in the flood.

There was water everywhere. No land could be seen.

Even the highest mountains were covered with water.
The boat with its passengers was carried by the waves.
It rolled to and fro and everybody was very afraid. But
Allah was watching over them.
Suddenly the rain stopped. The clouds moved away and
the sun began to shine. The water started to dry up.
The Prophet Nuh’s boat hit a dry mountaintop and
stayed there. Nuh saw the dry land. He told his people
to come down. They left the boat. The animals followed
them. Happy, they thanked Allah for keeping them safe.

Praise be to Allah, who takes care of His

In this way, Allah made the flood and
the Ark of Nuh ^5 a Sign and a
warning for future generations.

80
 9 The people of Iram were proud. They were proud of
The Prophet Hud and their city. They were proud of their gardens. They forgot
that Allah gave them everything. They forgot how to
the Terrible Wind
pray to Allah.

A long time ago in the land of Yemen, there was a city

called Iram. Iram was a very big city. The buildings
were huge. The gardens were very beautiful. The
people were very rich.

I l r

i 83
 But the people did not want to change.
There lived in the city of Iram a man called
They thought there was nothing wrong
Hud He was a prophet.
with them.
He loved Allah and prayed to Him.
Allah sent a terrible drought to punish them.
He wanted other people also to love
The wells went dry There was no water in the
Allah and pray to Him. But they did not
canals. The green fields turned yellow. The leaves
listen to him. They turned their backs
dried and fell from the trees. The flowers in the
on him. They were very proud and very
gardens drooped their heads. The animals cried
arrogant.
with thirst.
The Prophet Hud knew that Allah did
The Prophet Hud Sj again warned the people.
not like arrogant people. He knew that
He said: “Allah already punished you with
Allah would punish them if they did not
drought! Don’t be wicked! Allah will punish you
change. He knew that Allah would punish
more if you don’t listen!”
them if they did not become good.
But the people did not listen to him. In the end, Allah The lesson of the story is that one should remain

sent a terrible wind to punish them more. humble, even if one becomes successful. One should
give all the credit for one’s feats to the blessings of
The terrible wind came riding on a furious, dark cloud. Allah. In not doing so, one’s success could be ruined in
People saw the cloud coming nearer and nearer. They the same way as the great homes of the people of Ad
thought it was a rain cloud! Their pride made them were destroyed by the great storm sent by Allah.
blind! They did not see that it was a terrible wind
riding on a cloud.

They did not understand that they were in the wrong.

They did not own up that they were wicked! They
did not understand that Allah did not like their
wickedness!

The terrible wind blew for seven nights and eight days.
The trees fell down with their roots sticking ufTTj ’ -/
The houses were smashed. The gardens were rumed.
The men were dead. There was nothing left of the city!

Allah saved only the Prophet Hud So and the people

who listened to him. Allah always saves those who
believe in Him!

86 87
 •M f 0 M- Nobody believed men could make such beautiful
The Cornel and the Evil People houses. Among the tribe of Thamud there lived a
prophet of Allah. His name was
the Prophet Salih X?.
This is a story of what happened a long, long time ago.
In the land of Arabia there was a tribe called Thamud.
The tribe of Thamud were great builders. They built
many towns. Some towns were on the plains. And
some towns were in the rocky mountains.

There were beautiful palaces and castles in

the towns on the plains. Everybody admired them.
But the towns in the rocky mountains were even more
beautiful. The houses were cut out of the rocks of the
mountains. People from far away would come to look
at them.

88
The Prophet Salih often prayed to Allah. He thanked The people of Thamud became wicked and mean.
Allah for all the gifts Allah gave to the people. He They had many wells. But they did not let other
thanked Allah for the great skill of building houses. He people’s sheep and camels drink from the wells. They
also thanked Allah for teaching people how to make had many green, grassy meadows. But they did not let
houses in the rocky mountains. other people’s sheep and camels graze there.

The people of Thamud said to each other: Allah saw their wickedness.
“We are the smartest people on earth.” He said, “Let Me test them.”
“We know how to build beautiful palaces.” “If they fail the test, I will punish them.”
“We know how to cut houses out of the rocks.”
“We have learnt everything ourselves.”
“Why should we thank Allah for anything?”

90 91
To test them, Allah sent a beautiful she-camel. The They were also mean to the Prophet Salih

Prophet Salih told the people to be good to the she- They wanted him to leave their country. They even

camel. He told them to let her walk around. planned to kill him. Allah was very angry with them.
He sent a terrible storm against them.
He also told them to let her drink cool water and eat
fresh grass. But the people of Thamud were mean and An aweful cry! The houses were destroyed! The wicked

wicked. They wounded the she-camel of Allah and then people died under the ruins. Only the good people

killed her. were saved.

Allah tests all people.

He punishes the bad people.
And He helps the good people.
He saves them from all danger.

92 93
 The people in the Prophet Ibrahim’s village did not love
Allah. They did not bow to Him. They did not pray to
Him. Instead of praying to Allah, they prayed to stones
and statues. They even made a special room for them.

The Prophet Ibrahim hated the stone statues. He

A long time ago, in the small village of Ur, a boy was said to the people: “You must pray to Allah.” Nobody
born. His parents called him Ibrahim, or Abraham listened to him.
Ibrahim was a very good boy.
He loved Allah more than anything else in the world.
When he grew up, Allah made him a great prophet.
 The Prophet Ibrahim x? went to the room where the
One day all the village people went to the market.
stone statues were kept. He took a hammer and broke
The Prophet Ibrahim was alone. He thought: “There
them all except the biggest one, so that they might
is nobody in the village. I am alone. Now I can get rid
return to it and question. When the people came back
of all the stone statues. Then everybody will bow to
to the village, they were angry with the Prophet
Allah. And everybody will pray to Him.”
Ibrahim X?. They shouted at him. They held him by his
hands and legs and they threw him into a fire.

96 97
Allah loved the Prophet Ibrahim a lot.
How could Allah let wicked people harm Ibrahim!
Allah said to the fire: “Be cool and a means of safety for At first only a few people believed in what the Prophet
Ibrahim!” Ibrahim said. But slowly more and more people

The fire obeyed Allah and became cool and peaceful. joined in. Allah looks after people who love Him. He

It did not burn the Prophet Ibrahim at all. He was guides them in everything. He is always with them.

saved! The moral of the story is that faith in Allah is the only

After that the Prophet Ibrahim became bold. thing that can save a believer in this world and in the

He knew Allah was on his side. He told the people to world hereafter.

98
>
It was a dark night. The sky was dark. In the darkness,
The Prophet Ibrahirn'e Faith
Allah showed the Prophet Ibrahim a star in the sky. It

When the Prophet Ibrahim was a young boy, he twinkled with a bright light.

used to think a lot. He wanted to know who made the When the Prophet Ibrahim Sj saw the star, he shouted
world. He thought: “The Lord of the world made the with joy: “The star is so beautiful! This is my Lord!’ After
world. Let me find this Lord. He will be my Lord also.” some time the star went away. The Prophet Ibrahim Xi

Allah loved the Prophet Ibrahim X? very much. He was thought: “This star is not my Lord. My Lord can never go

his best friend. He wanted the Prophet Ibrahim to away like this!”

know everything properly. So he taught Ibrahim many

 In the morning the sun came out. It was shining
Then the beautiful moon appeared in the sky. The beautifully. The Prophet Ibrahim shouted: “See, it is so
Prophet Ibrahim shouted: “It is so beautiful! The beautiful! It is bigger! It must be my Lord!”
moon must be my Lord!” The morning light came and
the moon went away. The Prophet Ibrahim said: In the evening the sun too went away. The Prophet
“The moon is not my Lord. My Lord can never go away Ibrahim Xj said: “The sun is not my Lord. My Lord can
like this!” never go away like this!”

The Prophet Ibrahim looked around. He looked at the

trees. He looked at the flowers. He looked at the clouds.
Suddenly something happened. A new thought came to
the Prophet Ibrahim and he realized that Allah is the
Lord of everything. He made the world! He made the sky!
He made the sun, and the moon, and the stars! So the
Prophet Ibrahim said, “Allah is my Lord.”

Allah guided Ibrahim Allah showed Ibrahim ^5 who

was the true Lord of the World. Allah Himself is the Lord
of the World. He is our Lord. He takes care of us. He
never goes away and never leaves us alone.

103
 I8
The Prophet Ibrahim Travels to Arabia The Prophet Ibrahim Xj called his wife Hajrah and said:
“Get ready. We are going on a trip.”
One night the Prophet Ibrahim X? had a dream. In the
The next day, all of them rode on the camels and left the
dream Allah spoke to him. He said to Ibrahim “Pack
village.
your luggage. Take your camel. Tell your wife and son to
get ready. Then go to Arabia.”
The Prophet Ibrahim si and his family travelled for The heat was making everybody thirsty. But there was
many days. They climbed high mountains. They crossed no well. And they had no more water!
deep valleys. In the end they reached a great desert.
After a while they reached a little valley. The camels
There was nothing but sand in the desert. There were no stopped. The Prophet Ibrahim and Hajrah and little
shade-giving trees. There was nowhere to hide from the Ismail got down from the camels.
sun. There were no clouds in the sky.
The Prophet Ibrahim Xj said to Hajrah: “You stay here.
Keep Ismail with you. I have to go back.” The Prophet
Ibrahim turned around and went away.

106 107
Soon Hajrah and Ismail were alone.
Ismail started to cry. He was thirsty. She looked for water under stones, but
Hajrah put Ismail on the ground. there was no water there either. She ran
here and there. It was useless. There was
Then she went to look for a well. She could not
no water anywhere.
find any well. There were no wells in the valley!

109
Hajrah tried again. She ran between the hills. She Ismail was lying on the hot sand. He was crying.
looked again for water. She was very afraid for her He was kicking his legs in the sand. And then there
son. She did not know what to do. There was no water was a miracle! There was a hole in the sand near his
anywhere! feet. And there was water in the hole! Thanks be to
Allah!
She heard Ismail crying loudly. She ran back to him. She
was afraid something might have happened! She was Hajrah cried with joy. She took some water in her
afraid he was getting sick with the heat! hands and gave it to her son.

110
The water hole was really a spring.
It was later called Zamzam.
It never dried up.
It flows even today.

The moral of the story is that believers who, despite

their hardships, follow the path of Allah, will find
that Allah will help them in miraculous ways, just as
the child Ismail was saved by the miracle of the
Zamzam spring.

112 113
 14.^
The Great Sacrifice The next day, the Prophet Ibrahim called Ismail.
He said: “Ismail, I had a dream last night. Allah wants
me to sacrifice you.”
One night the Prophet Ibrahim had a dream.
Ismail was not afraid. He loved Allah very much.
He was ordered by Lord to sacrifice his son.
He also knew Allah was good. Allah never does anything
Allah talks to the prophets. But He does not talk as we to harm good people.
talk. When He wants prophets to do something, He
shows it to them in a dream. A dream is like an order
from Allah.

11 115
The Prophet Ibrahim and Ismail left Makkah. They
went to the valley of Mina. This was the place the
Prophet Ibrahim saw in his dream.

Ismail lay down on the ground. He closed his eyes.

His father stood next to him. He picked up the
knife. He was ready to obey Allah by sacrificing
his son!

At this moment the angel Jibril appeared. Allah In this way the little Ismail was saved. Ibrahim Su and
sent the angel Jibril with a ram to be sacrificed Ismail cried with joy. They thanked Allah and then the
instead. Prophet Ibrahim Sj sacrificed the ram.

Allah loves people who listen to Him.

He loves people who trust in Him.
He cares for them.

Allah was so pleased with the readiness of the Prophet

Ibrahim to sacrifice his beloved son, that He
commanded the believers to observe this day as Id al-
Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice.
 2151 The Prophet Ibrahim thought that they were
The Prophet Ibrahim's Guests strangers from another village. He rushed inside the
house. He brought food for them. The men did not
touch anything. They did not eat the food because they
The Prophet Ibrahim Xj was a great prophet. He lived a
were not human. They were really angels sent by Allah.
long, long time ago in the land of Palestine.

The Prophet Ibrahim '<2 wanted all people to know

about Allah. He preached the message of the one God
and told people to pray to Allah and thank Him for
everything they had.

People did not want to listen to the Prophet

Ibrahim They turned their backs and went away.
Only the Prophet Ibrahim’s wife and his nephew, Lut,
listened to him.

One day some men came to the village. They stopped

at the door of the Prophet Ibrahim’s house and said:
“Peace! Peace!”

The Prophet Ibrahim greeted them also: “And peace

be with you! ” ---------- ------- •—

118 119
 The Prophet Ibrahim became
afraid. But the angels said: “Don’t be
afraid. We have brought you good news.
The angels answered: “This is what
You will have a son. He will be very wise
Allah wants. Allah is wise, He knows
when he grows up.”
best.”
The Prophet Ibrahim’s wife was very old. She did not
The Prophet Ibrahim X? asked the angels: “Why did
believe in what the angels said.
you come? Do you have more work here?” The angels
She said: “I am too old to have a baby.” replied: “Allah sent us to punish wicked people. They
live in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. We are going
there.”

121
 The night came. Suddenly their towns were turned
The Prophet Ibrahim’s nephew, the Prophet Lut Xii, also upside down! It also began to rain. But it was not
lived in one these cities. The people of the cities were raining water!
really very wicked. Only the Prophet Lut and some
It was hot fire falling from the sky! All the wicked
of his family were good. The angels said to the Prophet
people died and nothing was left of the cities.
Lut Sui: “Run away at night and take your people with
you, as Allah told us to destroy the wicked cities.” This is how the angels sent by Allah destroyed the
wicked people. Only the good people were saved!
 One day, Allah ordered the Prophet Ibrahim to build
Building the Kabah the Kabah — the House of God.

The Prophets Ibrahim and Ismail climbed the hills.

They found big stones. They pushed the heavy stones
There was a dry, sandy valley in Arabia. Nothing grew
down and put them in one place. When they had lots
there. Nobody lived there. There was no water either
for man or animals. of stones, they started to build the House.

They made the walls. After that, they made the roof. It
Allah told the Prophet Ibrahim to leave Hajra and
Ismail there. Little Ismail was very thirsty and cried was a simple but beautiful house.

bitterly. He kicked the ground with his foot.

Suddenly water started to flow in the sand! This was

the spring of Zamzam. It gave water to the desert
valley. More people came and made houses there. This
is how Makkah was built.

125
All the time, while building the House of God, they
prayed: “Our Lord! Accept our work! Accept this House
we are making for You.”

They also prayed: “Make us good so that we always Let a great prophet be born in our family. Hear our
bow to Allah and pray to Him. Make our people good. prayers. You are the Most Merciful.”
Make our people love You and bow to you and pray to
You. Be merciful to our people. Make them turn away Allah listened to their prayer. Many, many years later, a

from anything bad and wicked. great prophet was born in Arabia. He was the Prophet
Muhammad There is no god but Allah and
Muhammad is His messenger.
 17 Allah ordered the Prophet Ibrahim sS: “Call people to
The First Call to Hajj come to the Kabah. Call people to Hajj. Call them to
pray together in the House of Allah.”

People in all corners of Arabia heard the call to Hajj.

Once the House of Allah was ready, Allah said to
They came to Makkah. Some came on foot.
Ibrahim: “Clean the Kabah. Make it clean and pure.
Then people can come and pray.” Some came riding swift camels. Some came alone and
some came with family and friends. Some came from
Allah also said: “This is my House. Do not keep
far, far away. They had to cross deep valleys and high
anything else here. Then people may pray to Me in
mountains and hot deserts.
peace. They should walk around Kabah. They should
pray standing. They should bow and prostrate
themselves in prayer.”

128
They were so tired that they could not stand. But they They must come and pray there. Allah also fixed the
all hurried to Makkah. They all wanted to pray in the days for Hajj, and ordered people to perform Hajj at
Kabah. They all came on Hajj. that time. And sacrifice a goat or other animal. This is
to remember how the Prophet Ibrahim and Ismail
Why were people called to Hajj? They were called to obeyed Him.
come to the Kabah. They were called to come to the
House of Allah. They were called to pray to Allah, who Once a year believers go on Hajj. They travel from all
made the world. They were called to bow to Allah, who over the world. They come in planes, in boats, in cars
was their Lord. The House of Allah is full of blessings. and buses. They all come to the Kabah in Makkah. They
It is full of guidance. That is why Allah ordered that All stand together and pray. Grown-ups and children, rich
men and women must go on Hajj at least once in their people and poor people, people from many countries:
all of them pray together. They are all brothers and
sisters in Islam. They are all servants of Allah and Allah
loves them all.

130
 wl8e The Prophet Yaqub did not like this idea. But he let
The Prophet Yusuf and His Brothers the Prophet Yusuf go with his elder brothers.

When they were a little away from the village, they got
hold of the Prophet Yusuf Xj . Then they threw him into
A long time ago, there a dry well.
lived an old man. His
name was Yaqub, or The Prophet Yusuf X^ landed at the bottom of the well.
Jacob Xs and he was a He looked up. He could see sky far above his head. He
prophet. The Prophet thought: “The well is very deep. I cannot climb that
Yaqub had twelve sons. He loved them all. But most high. What should I do?” He became very scared.

of all he loved his two youngest sons: the Prophet

Yusuf and Bin Yameen.

The elder brothers were jealous of Yusuf Sj. They

wanted their father to love them more. They planned
to get rid of Yusuf xt

One day Yaqub Xji was sitting in front of his tent. His
sons came to meet him. They said: “Let us take Yusuf
with us. He is quite big now. He can play and we will
look after the sheep.”

132 133
By chance a caravan was passing nearby. It was very They started to shout: “A boy! A boy!” Everybody

hot. Both men and camels were very thirsty. One man crowded around the well. They were very surprised.
spotted the well. He said to others: “Lets get some
They were going to Egypt and decided to take the
water from the well.”
Prophet Yusuf with them. They said: “We will sell
Some men came to the well. One of them took a bucket him in the market. Some rich man will surely buy
on a rope and dropped it into the well. him.” In Egypt they sold him to Aziz.

Then he pulled the bucket up. And what did they see? The Prophet Yusuf grew up in Egypt. It was many
There was a boy clinging to the bucket! years before he saw his brothers again. And many
jnjare years before he saw his father. But that is anoti

134
 The Prophet Yusuf Jeiun and The next day, the king called all the wise men. He told
them about his dream. He asked them: “What does this
the King's Dream dream mean? Why do the thin cows eat the fat cows?
Why do the green ears of corn turn yellow?” Nobody
Yusuf So was a prophet of Allah. Allah always
knew the answer.
gives special gifts to the prophets. He also gave the
Prophet Yusuf So a special gift. He taught Yusuf to One of the king’s servants knew the Prophet Yusuf
understand dreams. He knew that the Prophet Yusuf could understand
dreams. He told king about him. The king told him to
One day the king of Egypt had a strange dream.
call the Prophet Yusuf So.
This is what he saw: There were seven fat cows in a
field. Then came seven thin cows and they ate the The Prophet Yusuf So came to the palace. The king told
seven fat cows. After that, the king saw seven green him his dream. He asked him: “Do you know what this
ears of corn. Then these seven green ears of corn dream means?”
turned yellow.

136 137
 For seven years the harvests were very good. The
Prophet Yusuf saved all the extra wheat in the
granaries. When the drought came, the fields became
dry. No corn could grow on the dry land.

Then the Prophet Yusuf opened the granaries. He

gave wheat to the people. Nobody went hungry.

Allah looks after his people. He sends prophets to guide

them. People who listen to what the prophets
say are saved.
The Prophet Yusuf explained: “Seven fat cows
means seven years of prosperity. After seven years of
prosperity will come seven years of drought. Seven
green ears of corn turning yellow means the same
thing. After seven years of good harvests, there will be
seven years of bad harvests.”

The king was very pleased with the Prophet Yusuf .

He made him a minister. He was put in charge of the
king’s granaries.

138 139
 20 And they sold the beautiful foreign goods to people in
The Prophet Shuayb $ and other cities. The people of Madyan and Ayka were very
the Earthquake clever traders. They had big shops in the markets.

The shops were always crowded. They had many

A long, long time ago, there were two cities. They were camels to carry their goods to other places. They made
called Madyan and Ayka. Madyan and Ayka were on the lots of money. And they became very rich. Their riches
coast of the Red Sea. Many ships crossed the sea and made them proud. They forgot about Allah.
came there. In the ships came foreign merchants. They
They started to cheat in their shops. They asked high
brought beautiful things from other countries to sell
prices for their goods. They even used wrong weights
in the market. The people of Madyan and Ayka bought
and wrong measures.
the beautiful things. They loaded them on their camels.
Then they travelled with their camels across the desert. Allah did not like what they did. He sent the Prophet
Shuayb Sj to them. The Prophet Shuayb told them
not to cheat.

141 *
He said: “Weigh things properly! Measure things
properly! Give people what they pay for!” The leaders of
the people laughed at the Prophet Shuayb

They said: “We will do what we want. You are alone!

You are weak! Why should we listen to you! Leave the
city! And stop preaching or we will stone you! We don’t
want you to give us any advice!” Prophet Shuayb
<x>
said: “I do not want to argue with you, for that would
mean my doing what I forbid you to do. I am trying Then a terrible thing happened! Allah
only to reform you as far as I am able... In Him I have sent an earthquake. The earth trembled.
put my trust, and to Him I turn to say sorry The houses shook, the walls crumbled.
for whatever I have done wrong.” Stones from the walls and ceilings fell on
the sleeping people. They were crushed
Allah waited for the people to listen
to death. Only the Prophet Shuayb and
to the Prophet Shuayb He waited for them to stop
good people were saved.
cheating. But they did not bother
about what the Prophet Shuayb Allah dislikes cheating. He dislikes lying.
He loves people who do not cheat and do
not lie. He loves honest and truthful
people.

143
 >21 — ' $
»
The Most Patient 1 r
/ '

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/ I
rr\

rr i
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l~*
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• u

Z 1 h
A long time ago, in the land
of Syria, there lived a man.
His name was Ayyub, or Job. . if-

He loved Allah very much.

And Allah made him very wise.
And He made him a very rich man.
He was also a prophet.

The Prophet Ayyub had many fields.

He had many sheep. His house was very big. -0

There were many servants in the house.

•
144
 The village people said: “It is easy for Ayyub to love
Allah. It is easy for him to pray every day. He is rich
and he has a lot of time. We are poor. We don’t have
beautiful houses and fields.

<<•

And his children were very good. The Prophet

Ayyub Aldi knew that everything came from Allah. 4 .

He knew that Allah gave him fields, sheep and money.

He prayed to Allah, thanking Him for the gifts.

146 147
If Ayyub were poor like us, he would never love Allah One day, the Prophet Ayyub’s sheep got lost. The next
so much! He would not pray all the time!” day, all the water in the fields and gardens dried up.
The Prophet Ayyub became poor. His family
Allah wanted to show people that they were wrong, so
members died except his wife. The Prophet Ayyub
He tested the Prophet Ayyub Xj. He wanted to show
was left all alone. And then he got sick.
them that the Prophet Ayyub So would never stop
loving Him. So He put the Prophet Ayyub to the test.

148 149
 The Prophet Ayyub did not complain. He
did not stop praying to Allah. He knew Allah
would help him. He praised Allah: “I am
overcome by distress. But You are the Most
Merciful of all those that are merciful.”

Allah liked the Prophet Ayyub’s patience.

He said to Ayyub: “Strike your feet on the
ground.” And a spring gushed forth. Allah
commanded the Prophet Ayyub Sj to have
a bath with the spring water and he will be
healthy again.

150
 The Prophet Ayyub became well again. Allah
again gave him a big house. He gave him fields
and sheep. He gave him many children. He
made him even richer than before.

Because the Prophet Ayyub Ju had showed great

patience throughout the worst of disasters,
? Allah not only rewarded him with great bounty
in the Hereafter, but redoubled his former
prosperity in this world. He had a new family
of seven sons and three daughters. He lived to
the ripe old age of 93 and saw four generations.
He became so rich that it was said that “he was
rained upon with locusts of gold.”
 %22i? He was called Yunus, or Jonah And he was a
The Prophet Yunus and the Big Fish prophet of Allah. Allah sends prophets when He wants
to tell people something special. He sent the Prophet
This happened a long, long time ago. In the city of Yunus to teach people about Allah.
Nineveh there lived a man.
But the people did not listen to the Prophet Yunus So.
They laughed at him. The Prohpet Yunus So got very
angry with these people and moved away from the city
of Nineveh.

He went to the seashore. A ship was about to sail.

Without thinking twice, he jumped on board the ship.

■.
The ship was in the middle of the sea. Suddenly it
became dark and a strong wind began to blow. A
terrible storm tossed the ship to and fro. The sailors
and passengers got scared. They got hold of the
Prophet Yunus and threw him overboard.
 The Prophet Yunus tried to swim. But a big fish
came and swallowed him. Soon he found himself inside
its huge stomach. Frightened, he remembered Allah.
He prayed: “There is no god but You! Glory be to You!
I have done wrong.” And he realised that he should’nt
have run away from his people, as he had not done
what Allah wanted him to do!

160 161
Allah heard his prayer. He told the fish to take the
Prophet Yunus x? to the shore. In no time he found
himself on a sandy beach. The Prophet Yunus rested
on the beach. He drank some water from a spring. He
ate some juicy fruit from a tree. Then he returned to
his home town.
People gathered around the Prophet Yunus Jsij. He
called them to Allah and warned them of the Day
of Judgement. A most surprising thing happened!
Everybody began to listen to the Prophet Yunus
Everybody started to pray to Allah!

Allah helps us to be successful. But He does not like

us to leave the work halfway. With Allah’s help we
can finish every piece of work! He helps us with
everything!

The lesson in the story of the Prophet Yunus is

twofold. Firstly, the great duty to deliver the message
of Allah to others now falls on every Muslim. If we
ignore this duty and become desperate (as the Prophet
Yunus was at first), we will be found guilty of not
carrying out the task set for us by Allah.
 23
The Treasure House

A long time ago in the land of Egypt, there lived a tribe

known as the Children of Israel. Among them there
was a man called Qarun or Korah.

Allah made Qarun very rich. Qarun had a huge treasure

house full of gold and precious stones. The keys of the
treasure house were huge and heavy. Many strong men
were needed to pick them up and put them in the lock.

167
At that time a king called Firawn ruled Egypt.
He was a very cruel king. He hated the Children
of Israel. He was very mean and unkind to them.

Qarun began to work for the cruel king. Soon he

became his minister. Now he was not only rich
but also very important. He started to look down
upon his own people. Like Firawn, he was cruel
and unkind to them.

People said to Qarun: “You are rich. But you

should not be proud because you are rich. Allah
does not like proud people. He does not like
people who do not share things with others.”

Qarun said: “1 am clever and I am intelligent.

That’s why I am rich.”

168 169
 Then a terrible thing happened!
The earth opened up and swallowed Qarun!
It swallowed Qarun, and his riches, and his treasure
house together with its huge keys!

He did not fear Allah. He showed off his fine clothes,

his jewels, and his palace. Some people were impressed
with Qarun. They said: “Qarun is very lucky! We wish
we were as rich as him.”

But people who loved Allah said: “Allah knows best!

He knows what is best for us. And in the end it is the
prizes Allah gives that are the best.”

170 171
Seeing Qarun’s terrible end, people said: “Allah
gives much to whom He wants. And He gives little
to whom He pleases. Everything comes from Allah.
We were wicked! We wanted to be like Qarun!
But Allah is Most Merciful! He did not punish us!
We should be happy with what we have.”

This punishment of Qarun or Korah is a great

reminder to believers to be pleased with Allah
and thank Him, whether they be rich or poor.

...
 24
The Prophet Uzayr's Donkey

The Prophet Uzayr, or Ezra was a very pious man.

He had a donkey. Riding it, he would travel far and wide.
One day he was riding his donkey as usual. He looked
up and saw some ruins at the side of the road. It was Allah hears and sees everything. He heard what the
an old, ruined town! No one lived there. Prophet Uzayr said. In less than a moment, Allah

The Prophet Uzayr xJi said: “How can Allah remake the caused him and his donkey to die.

city? How can He again make it full of people? It is

totally dead!”
One hundred years passed. Allah brought the Prophet Allah said: “Look at your donkey. There are only bones
Uzayr back to life. He asked the Prophet Uzayr Sj: left. But look what I can do. I will put flesh on the
“Do you know how long you were dead?” bones. And I will make the donkey alive once again.”

Uzayr said: “A day, or part of a day.”

Allah said: “You were dead for one hundred years!”

.—

178 179
 He looked again at the food. He said: “Really, Allah has
The next moment, the Prophet Uzayr’s donkey stood in
power over all things!”
front of him. The Prophet Uzayr looked around. The
food and water he carried with him one hundred years Allah made all the things. He will remake them and
back were spread on the grass. give them life in the Hereafter. Allah has power over
all things. The story is told to reaffirm belief in the
He had a sip of the water. He put some food in his
Hereafter and life after death.
mouth. The water was fresh and the food was fresh!
The Prophet Uzayr Sj looked again at the donkey.

180 181
 2S One day Luqman called his son. This is what he
Luqman'e Advice
said to him: “Don’t bow before anybody but Allah.
Don’t serve anybody but Allah. It is a sin to bow to
A long time ago, there lived a very, very wise man.
other things. It is a sin to serve anybody but Allah.
His name was Luqman. He was wise, because Allah
Allah hates people who sin.”
made him wise.

Allah gave him wisdom and asked him to be thankful

to the Almighty, saying: “He that gives thanks to Allah
has much to gain, but if anyone denies Allah’s favours,
then Allah is self-sufficient and glorious...”

» .i ;*4

as. c A

182 183
Luqman told his son:
“Allah sees everything.
He hears everything.
He can see, even if something is
He can see in the darkness.
 He can see, things as small as a grain
of mustard seed. He can see mustard
seed, even if it is hidden inside a rock.

He can see it, if it is hidden on earth

or in heaven. Luqman advised his son:
“Don’t forget to pray. Be regular
in your prayers.”

“My son, be truthful and honest.

Don’t do things that are wrong.”

“My son, be patient. Be happy with

what Allah gives you. It is our duty to
accept what Allah gives us.”

“Do not look down on people.

Don’t be proud. Don’t boast.
Allah does not love proud people
and people who boast.”

“Be polite. Don’t speak loudly.

Aloud voice is harsh like
X '.-'

the braying of a donkey!”

186- 187
This is what wise Luqman told his son.
He told him how to behave, so that Allah
would be happy with him.
We want Allah to be happy with us.
We too must listen to Luqman’s advice.
 26 The king of the Roman Empire was called Decius
The Sleepers in the Cave
(Daqyanus). King Decius did not believe in the One God.

This is a true story. It happened a long, long time ago

in the lands of the Roman Empire. The followers of
the Prophet Isa (Jesus) spread his teachings far and
wide. They told people: “There is only One God. Believe
in Him.”
He was against anyone who believed in Him. He tried Allah guided them and they became true believers.
to put the followers of the Prophet Isa in jail. The The king came to know about the seven young men.
beautiful city of Ephesus in Turkey was a part of the He sent his soldiers to capture them. The soldiers
Roman Empire. Many people of Ephesus heard of the looked for them all over the town. But the young men
Prophet Isa Among them were seven young men managed to slip away. They left the town and ran into
of noble families. They heard what the Prophet Isa’s a nearby forest.
followers said about the One God.

fV/ 'X
As they ran for their lives, they prayed to Allah: They were very tired. They lay on the ground in the

“0 Lord! Show us Your Mercy and look after us!” cave to rest. Soon they fell asleep. Allah kept them

Suddenly they saw a cave in the forest. They went in asleep for some three hundred years. They did not

and looked around. They cried happily: “This is a perfect wake even once. They did not drink. They did not eat.
hiding place! Nobody can find us here!” And they did not make any sound. Only sometimes
they turned on their sides. Their dog Qitmir slept too,
stretching his legs across the entrance to the cave.

The cave was in a deep forest. Its entrance was always

in shade. Most people did not even notice it. And the
few, who noticed it, were frightened off by the darkness.
The sleeping men were completely safe.

194
When the right time came, Allah woke up the sleeping And he ran to tell the king. A curious crowd
men. They got up stiffly and stretched their legs. One surrounded the young man. People began to ask him
of them asked: “How long have we been here?” The all sorts of questions. Soon they found the truth: Seven
other answered: “Must have been here for a day or part young men had been asleep in the cave for hundreds
of a day.” years! They slept safely till the true faith spread
everywhere! A real miracle!
They felt hungry. One of them found a silver coin in his
pocket. He took it out and said: “Let’s get some food! There is no doubt that Allah protects people who
One of us can slip into town and buy something in the believe in Him and trust Him with their lives!
market.”
The story tell us that those
One of the young men walked to the town. He went who put their entire
into a shop. He got some food and paid the shopkeeper trust in Allah, will be
with the silver coin. The shopkeeper looked at the coin helped by Him from
with surprise. He thought: “This is a very ancient coin. unknown sources.
Where did this young man get it? Maybe he has found
a hidden treasure?”

197
 27 Besides, he was the high priest in the shrine of
An Old Man's Prayer Jerusalem. He was a very respectable man on every
count.

At that time a little girl, Maryam or Mary, was given

A long time ago, there lived in Jerusalem a prophet of
in service to Allah. She started to live in the shrine in
Allah. His name was the Prophet Zakariyya Allah
Jerusalem. As the Prophet Zakariyya was her uncle
loved him, for he was pious. Men loved him for he was
he became her guardian. He often visited Maryam in
wise and just. Thus the Prophet Zakariyya was loved
her little room. He noticed that she always had fresh
both by Allah and by men.
food and fresh water.

s’* "
The Prophet Zakariyya X? was surprised and asked:
“Maryam, from where do you get this food?”
“It is from Allah,” she answered, “Allah gives in plenty
to anyone He wishes.” Maryam’s simple words went
straight to the Prophet Zakariyya’s heart. He may have
thought: “Maryam’s faith in Allah is really great! Allah
gives in plenty to whom He wishes! I am an old man,
and my wife is old. And I don’t have a son. Let me pray to Allah to give
me a son.”

The Prophet Zakariyya prayed to Allah for a son:

“I am old. My bones are weak and my hair has turned
grey. You have always heard my prayer.”

Allah heard his prayer and said: “Zakariyya! We bring

you good news of a son, whose name will be Yahya.”

The Prophet Zakariyya $ asked Allah: “I am very old.

And my wife is also very old. How can we have a little
baby son?” Allah answered: “It is easy for Me. You too
were made by Me from nothing.”

201
The Prophet Zakariyya still could not believe his When a son was born to old Zakariyya, he was named
luck. He said to Allah: “Give me a sign.” Yahya. Allah loved Yahya. He gave Yahya wisdom and
made him His prophet.
Allah said: “This is the sign I give you: You will be
completely well, but for three days I will take away Allah loves the believers.
your speech and you will not be able to say a word.” He loves people who trust Him.
He listens to their prayers.
The Prophet Zakariyya was very happy. He came out
He helps them in wonderful ways.
of the shrine. He could not speak but, through signs, he
If He wishes, He gives people things,
told people to pray to Allah.
which might even seem impossible.
 ^28^
The Story of Maryam

Like all the stories told in the Qur’an, this is also a /

true story. It begins even before Maryam, or Mary,
was born.

Long long ago there lived a pious lady in

Jerusalem. Her name was Hannah and her
husband was Imran. She prayed to Allah for a
child and vow®d that the child would spend her
life serving Allah. Allah heard her prayers, and she
gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who was named
Maryam (Mary). When she gave birth to Maryam,
she felt sad and said: “0 my Lord! I have given
birth to a female.”

204
I
 One day he asked: “Maryam, how do you get fresh food
and fresh water?” Maryam simply answered: “It is from
Allah. He gives in plenty to whom He wishes.”

One day she was alone in her room. Suddenly an

unknown man who was actually an angel, appeared
before her. She became afraid. But the man said: “Do
not be afraid. I am Allah’s messenger. You will have
a holy son.” Maryam panicked. She asked the angel:
“How can I have a son?” The angel said: “Allah says,
For only a male child could do priestly work. It had ‘This is easy for Me. Your son will be a blessing for
always been so. But Allah graciously accepted the mankind. And he will be a sign from Allah. His name
girl-child and caused her to grow up in purity. When will be Isa ibn Maryam.’”
Maryam began serving Allah, (as promised by her
mother) the priests so admired her deep respect for
Allah, that every one of them felt it would be an
honour to be her guardian.

Sometimes her uncle would go and meet Maryam.

Every time he went to her little room, he saw that
there was fresh food.

206
 keep silence.” Maryam picked up little Isa and went
Maryam left Jerusalem. She walked till she reached a
to her own village. People asked her: “Whose baby is
faraway place. She was tired and hot. She saw a palm
this?” But she kept silent as Allah told her to.
tree. She sat in its shade. A stream was flowing nearby.
It was here, in the shade of a date palm and next to a
stream, that the Prophet Isa (Jesus) was born.

Maryam heard a voice: “Have some dates. Drink water.

Then take your baby and go back to your own people.
But do not speak. Keep silent. If people ask you why
you don’t speak, tell

208 209
Suddenly little Isa said: “I am the servant of Allah. People were amazed to hear the little baby speak.
He has given me the Book and made me a prophet But why should they be surprised? The Prophet Isa’s
His blessing is upon me wherever I go, and He has birth was a miracle. And Allah gave the Prophet Isa So
commanded me to be steadfast in prayer and give power to perform many miracles during his life.
alms to the poor as long as I shall live. He has made
The Qur’an says: “Such was Isa, son of Maryam.”
me kind and dutiful towards my mother. He has rid
He was a great prophet and he taught people how to
me of arrogance and wickedness. I was blessed on the
love Allah.
day I was born, and blessed I shall be on the day of my
death; and may peace be upon me on the day when I
shall be raised to life.”
 ■£.

29
The Prophet Isa So and
the Miracle of the feast

The story of the Prophet Isa is full of miracles. It

also begins with a miracle. Isa’s mother, Maryam, was
staying in Jerusalem, in the shrine of Allah. One day
an angel appeared before her. He said: “You will have a the Prophet Isa grew up, he performed
holy son.” And everything happened as the angel said many more miracles with the leave of Allah.
it would.
// He made little birds of clay and made them fly
Isa was just a tiny baby when he began to talk'Iike the like real birds. He made a blind man see again. He
grown-ups. He said to the people of the village: restored dead men to life. It was Allah who helped
“I am a servant of Allah. I am His Prophet.” Isa to perform all these miracles. Allah loved
him and looked after him.

The Prophet Isa had many disciples. They went

everywhere with the Prophet Isa They travelled
from village to village and from town to town.

213
In every village or town the Prophet Isa stopped for a One of the disciples said to the Prophet Isa “Isa, son
while to teach people about Allah. He told people how to of Maryam. Can your Lord send down to us from heaven
love Allah and pray to Him. a table spread with food?” The Prophet Isa did not like
his words. He said to him: “Fear Allah, if you are a true
One day the Prophet Isa was travelling with his
believer.”
disciples as usual. It was already evening. They were
tired and sat in the field. They were also hungry. But the disciples ignored his words. They insisted: “We
But they had no food with them. want to eat some food sent from heaven by Allah.”
The Prophet Isa said to Allah: “Send down to us from
heaven a table spread with food, that shall be for us a
festival, the first and last of us, and a sign from You. And
provide for us. You are the Best Provider.”

Allah said: “I am sending you a table spread with food.

But I will punish you if you do not believe Me after this.
I will punish you more than any man has
been punished ever before.”

216 217
 Isa was a prophet of Allah. He taught people how to
love Allah. But in the end, only a few people followed
the Prophet Isa Only some people saw the signs of
Allah. There were some wicked people who disliked the
Prophet Isa so much that they wanted to kill him.
But Allah saved him and took him up to heaven.
The wicked people thought they had killed the Prophet
Isa Xj but they had killed another man by mistake.

Allah looks after His messengers. He looked after the

Prophet Isa Su and saved him from his enemies. The
Prophet Isa continued his mission for several years,
but only a few answered his call. The Children of Israel
wanted to crucify him. But Allah saved him and they
crucified another man, who was made to appear
like him.

218 219
 30
The Story of Two Gordens

This is a story, which Allah tells us in the Qur’an. Once

upon a time there were two friends. One of them was
rich and the other poor. Both of them had gardens.

The ndi friend had a huge garden. On one side of the

garden there was a vineyard. Its grapes were bigger and
sweeter than any other grapes. On the other side of the
garden there was an orchard. It was full of date palms.
There were so many palms that it was impossible even to
count them without making a mistake. Between the two
gardens there was a field of corn.

220 221
Every time the two friends met, the rich friend used
to say: “I am richer than you. And my family is better
than yours.” The rich man loved his garden a lot. He
looked at his garden with lots of pride. He thought: “It
is a beautiful garden. It will be always full of fruit. It
will never be destroyed. Not even on the Last Day.

And when I die, I am sure I will have an even better

garden than this.” The poor friend heard what his rich
friend said. He was surprised by his pride. Once he
asked him: “Don’t you believe in Allah? Allah has made
you.
He gave you all you have. Why don’t you praise Allah? But if Allah so wills. He will give me a garden even

Why don’t you praise Him when you enter your better than yours. If Allah so wills, a storm might ruin

garden? Why don’t you say: ‘Everything happens as your garden. Or the streams might run dry. And there

Allah wills.’” Then the poor friend said: “I am poorer might be no water for your garden.”

225
The very next day a terrible thing happened. The rich He turned to Allah for help. It was too late to save his
man’s garden was destroyed. Bunches of ripe grapes garden, but not too late to save his soul. This story is
were ripped from the branches and fell to the ground. meant to teach believers never to speak proudly, but
The rich man looked at his ruined garden and cried: to say in all humility: “Whatever Allah has ordained
“I shouldn’t have been proud! Why didn’t I thank must surely come to pass: there is no power save with
Allah? Why wasn’t I grateful?” Allah.”
 <31 The soldiers of Firawn barged into the houses of the
The Kind Queen
Children of Israel. They searched the rooms. They killed
all the little boys they found. Mothers and fathers and
Once upon a time there lived in Egypt a tribe
sisters cried, but the soldiers had no mercy.
called the Children of Israel. The king of Egypt, the
cruel Firawn, hated the Children of Israel. He treated
them like slaves. One day he told his ministers: “Kill all
the newly born boys of the Children of Israel.”

228 229
 They were very afraid that the
soldiers might come and find him.
Yukabid could not sleep at night. She
was scared that Musa might cry and
the soldiers might hear him cry.

She did not know what to do. She

prayed to Allah for help. Allalh
advised her: “Take a chest. Put your
baby in the chest. Take the chest to
the bank of the river. Let the waves
carry it to safety.”

Musa’s mother put the little Musa in

a chest. Then together with Miriam
she took the chest to the river. There
There was a little house in the city. In it lived Imran they put the chest in the water. The
with his wife Yukabid, and their daughter Miriam. A waves immediately carried it away.
little boy had just been born there. They called him
Musa, or Moses.

230 231
233
Soon the waves brought the chest with the baby next The Queen was walking in the garden.
to a beautiful garden. It was the garden of the Queen. Suddenly, she saw a chest floating in the river.
The Queen was the wife of the cruel Firawn, but she She told her maids: “Go and fetch the chest.”
was not at all like her husband. She was good and The maids ran into the water and brought the
kind-hearted. chest. They put it in front of the Queen.

234 235
There was a beautiful baby sleeping in the chest!
She said: “It is a beautiful boy. I will take him to the
palace and look after him.” And she said to her maids:
“Find a nurse for the baby.” Miriam saw everything. She ran to the Queen
and said: “I know a good woman. She stays
nearby. She will be a good nurse for the baby.”

And she brought her mother to be Musa’s nurse

in the palace.

Allah restored Musa to his mother. He looked

after him and made him a prophet. Allah is the
Best Guide and Protector.

The story teaches us that we should be kind

and gentle towards others.

236 237
 j® 32 Firawn was a very cruel king. But his wife, the Queen
The Prophet Musa $ Runs Away
was very kind. She found Musa Xj when he was a little
baby. She was walking in the garden by the river. She
Musa Jiu was a great prophet of Allah. He was born in saw a chest in the water. In the chest there was a little
the land of Egypt. Allah looked after him from the day boy. This little boy was Musa
he was born. At that time a king called Firawn ruled
Egypt.

-o co

239
The Queen took him to the palace. She looked after The next day, Musa Jiu was again walking in the
Musa and loved him very much. market. He again saw two men fighting. One of them
was the same man whom he had defended the other
Musa grew up in the house of the Firawn. But he
day. The man again called on to Musa “Help me!”
loved Allah and prayed to Him. He also knew that his
Musa was about to run and help him. Then the
real family belonged to the tribe of the Children of
other man mocked him: “You killed a man yesterday.
Israel.
Are you going to kill me too?”
One day Musa was walking in the market. He saw
At this moment a friend ran to the Prophet Musa
two men fighting. One of them was an Egyptian. The
He said: “Firawn’s soldiers are looking for you. You
other was one of the Children of Israel. Suddenly, the
killed an Egyptian yesterday. Now they are going to
man who belonged to his own tribe called out: “Help
me!” Musa ran to help him. He hit the Egyptian and arrest you. Run away from the city.”

killed him.

Musa X? was very upset. He was sorry

that he had killed a man.
He prayed to Allah: “Forgive me!
I have killed a man.
This is a terrible thing.”

And Allah forgave him.

He is Forgiving and Merciful.

240 241
The Prophet Musa ran away. He left the city. Allah Soon he found a well. There were many men around
looked after him. And guided him to the land of the well. These were shepherds with their sheep
Madyan. The Prophet Musa left Egypt. He travelled and cattle. They were watering their animals before
for a long time. After many days, he reached the land returning home.
of Madyan. He was tired and thirsty. So he looked for a
A little distance from the well two girls were sitting.
They also had sheep with them. But they did not go
near the well. The Prophet Musa asked the girls:
“Why are you sitting far away from the well? Why are
you not taking your sheep to drink water from the
well?”
 The girls said: “Our father is very old. He cannot come We did not have to wait till the other shepherds went
with us. There are no young men in our house to away.” The father said: “Go and call the young man,
help us with our sheep. That is why we have to take I would like to pay for the work he has done.”
the sheep to the well ourselves. But we have to wait
our turn. We have to wait till the other shepherds go Musa came to the house. He had food with the girls’
) away.” father. And he began to stay with the family. He helped
them in their work. Later on he married one of the
The Prophet Musa Sj took pity on the two sisters. He sisters. But that is another story.
led their sheep to the well and made them drink water.
The girls were very happy. They took their sheep and
went home.

When the sisters came home early, their father asked:

“What happened? You came home very early!”

The sisters said: “A young man helped us to water our

sheep.

244 245
 38
The Prophet Musa and So he took his family and started to travel towards
Egypt. They travelled the whole day. They did not meet
the Burning Bush anybody on the way. It was already getting dark. They
were crossing a valley in the mountains.

After living in Madyan Suddenly, the Prophet Musa saw a fire high
for about ten years on the mountainside. He said: “Wait here. Let me go
the Prophet Musa or and get some burning brand from the fire.”
Moses 'Sj decided to
The Prophet Musa X? climbed the mountain. It was
go back to Egypt.
already dark. There was total silence. In the silence
he heard a voice: “Musa, I am your Lord. I have chosen
you. Listen to what I reveal to you. I am Allah. There is
no god but Me. Serve Me. Remember Me and pray to
Me.”

Then Allah ordered Musa Jiu: “Throw down your staff!”

Musa threw down his staff on the ground.
It turned into a big snake!

247
Again Allah spoke to Musa “Put your hand in your The Prophet Musa X? always obeyed Allah. He went
pocket. Now take it out. See, your hand is now shining to Egypt. He met Firawn and his ministers. But Firawn
like silver. But it is not harmed.” refused to believe in Allah! He refused to bow down to
Him! And Allah punished him! Both the cruel Firawn
Allah explained: “These are signs from Me. Show these
and his soldiers were drowned in the sea. The Prophet
signs to Firawn. And tell them of the power of Allah.”
Musa and his people were saved!
Allah commanded Musa Xj to go to Egypt and show
him the signs and warn him, so that he Allah guides people who believe in Him.

guidance. He protects them.

He saves them from any danger.

248 249
 At the same time there lived in Egypt a very cruel king.
The Kings Magicians He was called Firawn (or Pharaoh). He did not believe
in Allah.

The Prophet Musa was a great prophet of Allah. Allah gave Musa Sup two signs, and commanded

He lived in Egypt more than 4000 years ago. Allah him to go to Firawn with these signs and give him

looked after him from the day he was born. And He His message. Musa took his brother Harun with
him and went to the palace. Firawn was sitting on
chose Musa Xu to be His prophet.
his throne. His ministers and soldiers were standing
around him. Musa Xu took his staff. He threw it on the
ground. The staff turned into a huge snake! Then he
put his arm in his armpit. When he took out his arm,
it was shining bright! These were miracles of Allah.
These were the signs Allah gave to Musa Xu.

250
 But Allah said to the Prophet Musa “Throw down
your staff!” The Prophet Musa Xj threw down his staff
Firawn laughed at him. He mocked Musa and he and it turned into a big snake. It ate up all the snakes
mocked Allah. He said to Musa $5: “This is mere magic. of the magicians in a second!
Any of my magicians can do this.” And he called his
The magicians fell to the ground in front of the Prophet
magicians to come to the palace.
Musa Suf. They cried: “We believe in the Lord of Musa
and Harun!”
The magicians came to the palace.
Some had sticks in their hands. Firawn still did not believe in Allah. So finally Allah
Others were holding ropes. They threw punished Firawn. Firawn was
down the sticks and ropes. The sticks and drowned in the sea with all his
ropes fell to the ground and looked just like soldiers. But Musa and all his
snakes! The Prophet Musa looked at people were saved. In this way,
them and was frightened. Allah helps people who believe in
Him. He guides them through all
problems.

252
 x_r— ‘''S
One day Allah said to the Prophet
Musa “Travel by night with
My servants...”

The Cruel King Drowns

The Prophet Musa X? and his people lived in Egypt.

But the king of Egypt was very cruel and mean to
them. He did not believe in Allah. And he did not like
people who prayed to Allah. So he troubled the Prophet
Musa X? and his people day and night. He told his
ministers and soldiers: “Be rude to them!”

Musa was a prophet. He loved Allah and Allah loved

him too. Every time there was a problem, the Prophet
Musa Xdf asked Allah for help. And Allah told him what
to do.

254 255
 That is why the caravan did not move very fast.
In the morning they reached the shore of the sea.

It was then that they saw some people following them.

They were moving very fast! It was Firawn and his
soldiers! They had camels and horses and soon they
would catch up with them!

The Prophet Musa called his people and said:

“Pack your things and get ready. We are going away
from Egypt. But nobody must know about it. And
nobody should see us. We leave at night.”

They left at night. There were many of them. And

among them there were many women and children.
The women and children walked very slowly and got
tired very quickly.

256 257
Allah came to their help. He said to Musa
“Strike the sea with your rod!”

As soon as the rod touched the waves, a miracle

happened! The waters parted! The waves hung in
mid-air and did not fall down! The sandy bottom
could be seen! Allah made a path for them across
the sea!

258 259
 Musa Jut and his people hurried between the
walls of water. Firawn and his soldiers were right
behind. But as soon as Musa and his people
crossed the sea, the waves fell down. They fell
down on Firawn and his soldiers! All of them
drowned in the waves. None of them was saved.

Allah is Mighty and Powerful.

He helps those who love Him and pray to Him.
He saves those who trust Him.

260 261
One day, Allah commanded to the Prophet Musa
“Climb to the top and stay there for forty days.”

Musa climbed to the top of the mountain. He looked

around. He saw high mountains and deep valleys. He
saw green trees and colourful flowers. He saw the blue
sky with little white clouds. And he thought: “Praise be
to Allah for making such a beautiful world.”

The Prophet Musa’s heart filled with love for Allah.

He said to Allah: “My Lord! Show Yourself to me!
Let me look at you!”

263
 Musa looked at the far away mountain. When
Allah said to Musa “You cannot see me directly. Do Allah’s glory was manifested on the mountain.
you see that mountain? Keep on looking there. My light
will appear there. If the mountain does not crumble Immediately the mountain crumbled away! Musa too

you will be able to see Me!” fell down. When Musa Xj came back to his senses, he
cried to Allah: “Glory be to You!”

Allah commanded Musa SZji to give his message to

people, and take the Tablets with His Commandments.
Allah said, your people should follow my
commandments. Musa took the stone Tablets from
Allah. All the commandments of Allah were written on
them. This was the Torah.
Musa Xui took the Torah and went back to his people.

Allah guides people in all ages. At the time of

Musa He gave people the Torah. And to the Last
Prophet, the Prophet Muhammad #, Allah gave the
the best guidance for all time

265.
 Musa knew that Allah had just spoken to him. He
gave him the Tablets with His commandments. Musa
The Prophet Mueo'e People Disobey Allah
Xj wanted to tell this good news to his people. The
Prophet Musa hurried down the mountain slope. He
could see the tents of his people in the distance. In no
The Prophet Musa X? was time he reached the tents in which his people lived.
coming down the mountain.
And what did Musa see? In the empty space
He was very happy.
between the tents a big crowd had gathered. And in
the middle of the crowd there was a calf made of gold!
The people were bowing down to the golden calf!
Musa ^2? looked at the golden calf. He looked at his
people bowing to the calf. And he became very angry.
Musa put down the Tablets, which Allah had given
him. Then he called his brother Harun Ju.
He became very angry with him: “Why did you let on “Read what is written. These are His commandments.
people forget Allah?” Harun said: “The People did His commandments will guide us. Ask Allah to forgive
not listen to me. They almost killed me when I told you for your sins. Pray to Him.” And Allah forgave
them to remember Allah.” Musa Xji turned to Allah them. He said:
and prayed: “My Lord! Forgive my brother. Forgive me. “I punish whom I want. But I am Merciful to all.”
You are the Most Merciful.” Musa picked up the
Tablets and held them high. He showed the Tablets to Allah rewards those who love Him. And He punishes

his people. He told them that Allah had given these the wicked men. He also forgives those who
The Children or Israel lived in the beautiful, green land
of Canaan. But they became proud and forgot to pray
to Allah. So they fell on bad days.

270 271
 Enemies surrounded the land of
Canaan. They defeated the Children
of Israel and plundered their land.
Allah took pity on them. He sent
the Prophet Shamuel to teach
them to be good. The Children of
Israel had no leader. They did not
have a king to fight the enemies. So
the Prophet Shamuel chose Talut to
be their king.

Talut was a very good and wise

man. He gathered a huge army. And
he set out to fight the enemy.

King Talut and his army reached a

river. They saw their enemies on
the other bank waiting for them.
Their army was even bigger than
the army of king Talut!

72' 273
And a giant called Jalut was leading them! Talut called
his soldiers and said: “We are going to cross the river.
Allah will test us there. Don’t drink water from the
river. Only those who don’t drink water will fight by
my side.” But the soldiers did not listen to their king.
Almost all of them drank the river water. The King was
left with only a few faithful soldiers.

275
There were very few soldiers with king Talut. And the
army of their enemy was huge! The soldiers were very
scared. Suddenly, a young man appeared. He fought
and killed the giant Jalut!
 The young man’s name was Dawud, or
David Allah sent him to save His
people. Dawud grew up to be a great
king and a great prophet.

Allah tests people in different ways.

But this is not to make their lives
difficult. This is to make people better.
Allah loves all people and wants them
to be always good.

278 279
 39
The Volley of Ante

The Prophet Sulayman was a

great king. He had a huge army.
There were jinn, men and birds in
his army. By the will of Allah, he
commanded them all.

280 281
One day the army was marching across a valley.
The Prophet Sulayman was riding in front.
Suddenly he heard a voice.

283
He looked around and saw a little ant speaking.
The ant was calling to other ants: “0 you ants, run
off home before Sulayman and his army tread on
you by mistake!”

285
 r7 _ ~'

The Prophet Sulayman smiled. He knew

the language of the birds. And he could also
understand the language of the ants. He could
understand the words of any creature on earth.

Then he was suddenly startled by

the thought of how merciful Allah
had been to him. He turned to his
Lord in praise and prayed: “O my
Lord! Make me grateful to You
for Your favours, which You have
given me and my parents, and
I will do what is right to please
You. And by Your grace, make me
one of Your righteous servants.”

287
The Prophet Sulayman £Gji told the army to march
carefully. He told them not to step on the ants.
And he told them not to disturb the ants’ houses.

When the world is happy, Allah is happy too.

Every creature, even a tiny one, has its own work to
do in this world.

This is how Allah wants this world

to run. Allah thinks of every single
creature. He looks after all. We
too must always think of others,
whatever we may be doing.

s.

288 289
 The Queen of Saba

One day a bird came to the Prophet Sulayman Xji.

He said to the king: “I saw a beautiful palace. It is very
far away. One has to cross many deserts to reach it.
A wise queen is ruling it.

She has a magnificent throne. But she and her subjects

worship the sun instead of Allah.”

The Prophet Sulayman wrote a letter to the Queen.

This is what he wrote: “In the name of Allah, Most
Gracious, Most Merciful. Don’t be proud. Come to me
in all submission.”

290 291
The Queen read the letter. She wanted to test the
Prophet Sulayman first. She sent her ambassadors
with many presents to him. But the Prophet
Sulayman Xj refused to accept her gifts.

The ambassadors returned to their Queen. They said

to her: “The Prophet Sulayman does not want your
gifts. He wants you to come and submit to him. He will
destroy your kingdom if you don’t obey.”

292 293
 The Queen set out with her court to meet the Prophet
Sulayman Before she reached his kingdom, the
Prophet Sulayman told the jinn:

“Which one of you can bring me the Queen’s throne

before she arrives here?” A very powerful jinn, whose
name was Ifrit said, “I will bring it to you before you
rise from your seat.”

294 295
But one of his aides, who
was deeply versed in the
Book, brought the throne.
In the twinkling of an eye
the throne was there. At this
moment, the caravan of the
Queen reached the palace.
She saw the throne and
was surprised. She thought:
“Sulayman has great powers.
He got my throne here before
I reached the palace.”

296 297
r '

She entered the palace. She saw beautiful lake in front

of her. She picked up her skirt so that it would not get
wet and stepped in. As she put her foot down, she heard
the Prophet Sulayman Se speaking to her: “This is not
a lake! This is a hall of my palace. The floor is glass you
can see through and there is water flowing underneath.”
The Queen bowed her head. She said humbly: “Lord!
I was mistaken. I have sinned against my soul. Now
I submit with Sulayman to Allah, the Lord of the
Universe.”

Things are not always what they seem to be.

Those who want, keep their eyes open and can see
the hidden truth.

299
 41 Allah gave the Prophet Sulayman power over the
winds. The Prophet Sulayman made the winds blow
The Prophet Sulaymon and the Jinn
gently. He did not let them wreck his ships. Finally,
Allah gave the Prophet Sulayman 'Xj control over the
jinn.

The Prophet Sulayman could make the jinn do

whatever he wanted. Many of them served in his army.
They went wherever he went. They obeyed his every
command.

Allah gave the Prophet Sulayman many wonderful

gifts. He taught him the language of the birds. The
Prophet Sulayman trained the birds. They worked in
his army as messengers.

300 <301
One day the Queen of Saba came to meet the Prophet
Sulayman Sulayman wanted to surprise her. He told
the jinn: “Who can bring the throne of the Queen from
her palace.” In the twinkling of an eye, the throne was
standing in front of the king.

The Queen of Saba saw the throne and was very

surprised. She thought: “Sulayman is very powerful.
Let me listen to him and bow to Allah.” And she became
a believer.

302
One day the Prophet Sulayman decided to
build a huge building. He wanted people to
come there and pray to Allah. So he called the
jinn and put them to work.

Some jinn carried the stones. Some jinn build

the walls. Some jinn made beautiful gardens
with fountains. King Sulayman Su came
every day to see how the work was going
on. He stood in the middle of the courtyard
leaning on a staff. And he watched the
working jinn.
The Prophet Sulayman Xj was
Nobody but Allah knows what really happens.
leaning on his staff when the
He is the All-Knowing, the All-Seeing.
Angel of Death came. The Angel
of Death took his soul and he
died. But he kept on standing
supported by the staff. The jinn
did not know that he had died
and kept on working.

One day white ants got into the

wooden staff. They made the
staff hollow and it broke down.
Sulayman fell down. Only
then did the jinn come to know
that he was dead!

306
 &42
The Iron Wall

A long time ago, there lived a king called Dhul

Qarnayn. Allah gave him a very vast kingdom.
He ruled his kingdom very well.
People loved him and obeyed him.
 Dhul Qarnayn hated injustice. He hated it when
some people treated other people badly. All the time
he travelled from one end of the kingdom to the other.
He punished wicked people and rewarded the
good ones.

After riding on his horse for many days, Dhul Qarnayn

reached the mountains. The people of the mountains
came to him.

310
 They said: “The people of Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and
Magog) attack our land. They destroy our homes.
Please protect us from them!”

Dhul Qarnayn said: “I will build a big iron wall to

protect you from the Yajuj and Majuj.”

The people of the mountains knew how to make iron.

They also knew how to melt other metals. And they
could make all sorts of metal things.

Dhul Qarnayn said to them: “Bring blocks of iron.

Put them one on top of another. Make a wall between
two mountains.”

Once the wall was in place, he said: “Heat the metals.

Melt them into brass. Pour the liquid brass over the
wall. Now let it set!”

The iron wall closed the gap between the mountains.

The brass made it slippery like glass.

313
312
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Nobody coilld climb over it. And nobody could

dig through it. Thus Dhul Qarnayn made the
mountain people safe. The people of Yajuj and
Majuj, or Gog and Magog, never troubled
them again.
After conquering a major part of the then inhabited Where to find the stories in the Quran
world, Dhul Qarnayn had lost none of his humility. He
1 In the Beginning (Surah al-Baqarah 2:117)
gave the entire credit for his feats to the blessing of
2 The First Man (Surah al-Baqarah 2:30-39; Surah Sad 38:71-85)
Allah. Of the iron wall he had built, he said: This is a
blessing from my Lord. But when my Lord’s promise 3 The Pride of Iblis (Surah Sad 38:71-85)

has been fulfilled, He will level it to dust. And the 4 Our World (Surah al-Baqarah 2:29; Surah al-An‘am 6:101;
Surah Ibrahim 14:32-34)
of my Lord is true.”
5 Allah Made them All (Surah al-Baqarah 2:29; al-An‘am 6:101)

6 The First Prophet, The First Man (Surah al-Baqarah 2:30-39;

Surah Sad 38:71-85)

7 The Two Brothers (Surah al-Ma’idah 5:27-31)

8 The Ark of Nuh (Surah al-A'raf 7:59-64; Surah Hud 11:36-48)

9 The Prophet Hud sJ and the Terrible Wind (Surah Hud 11:50-60;
Surah al-Ahqaf46:21-25; Surah Fussilat 41:15-16)

10 The Camel and Evil People (Surah al-A'raf 7:73-79;

Surah Hud 11:61-68)

11 The Prophet Ibrahim (Surah al-An‘am 6:74-80;

Surah Maryam 19:41-50)

12 The Prophet Ibrahim’s Faith (Surah al-An'am 6:74-80;

Surah Maryam 19:41-50)

316 317
13 The Prophet Ibrahim JS& Travels to Arabia (Surah al-Baqarah
28 The Story of Maryam (Surah Maryam 19:16-34)

2:124-129; Surah al-An'am 6:74-80; Surah Ibrahim 14:35-37) 29 The Prophet Isa and the Miracle of the Feast
(Surah al-Ma’idah 5:110-115)
14 The Great Sacrifice (Surah as-Saffat 37:102-111)

The Prophet Ibrahim’s Guests (Surah adh-Dhariyat 51:24-37) 30 The Story of Two Gardens (Surah al-Kahf 18:32-43)
15
31 The Kind Queen (Surah al-Qasas 28:7-13)
16 Building the Kabah (Surah al-Baqarah 2:125-127;
Surah Al Imran 3:96-97) 32 The Prophet Musa Runs Away (Surah al-Qasas 28:14-25)

17 The First Call to Hajj (Surah al-Baqarah 2:125-126) 33 The Prophet Musa and the Burning Bush (Surah Ta Ha 20:9-36)

18 The Prophet Yusuf Sj and His Brothers (Surah Yusuf 12:4-101) 34 The King’s Magicians (Surah al-A'raf 7:109-126)

19 The Prophet Yusuf Xi and the King’s Dreams (Surah Yusuf 12:42-49) 35 The Cruel King Drowns (Surah ash-Shu'ara 26:52-68)

20 The Prophet Shuayb and the Earthquake (Surah al-A'raf 7:85-93; 36 Allah Speaks to Prophet Musa S? (Surah al-A'raf 7:143-144;
Surah Hud 11:84-95) Surah Ta Ha 20:11-36)

21 The Most Patient Man (Surah Sad 38:41-44; Surah al-Anbiya 21:83-84) 37 The Prophet Musa’s People Disobey Allah (Surah al-Baqarah 2:54-61)

22 The Prophet Yunus si and the Big Fish (Surah al-Anbiya 21:87-88; 38 A Brave Boy (Surah al-Baqarah 2:247-251)
Surah as-Saffat 37:139-148)
39 The Valley of Ants (Surah an-Naml 27:15-19)
23 The Treasure House (Surah al-Qasas 28:76-82)
40 The Queen of Saba (Surah an-Naml 27:20-44)
24 The Prophet Uzayr’s Donkey (Surah al-Baqarah 2:259)
41 The Prophet Sulayman and the Jinn (Surah Saba 34:12-14;
25 Luqman’s Advice (Surah Luqman 31:12-19) Surah an-Naml 27:38-40)

26 The Sleepers in the Cave (Surah al-Kahf 18:10-26) 42 The Iron Wall (Surah al-Kahf 18:83-98)

27 The Old Man’s Prayer (Surah Al Imran 3:35-43)

318 319
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Quran Stories For Little Hearts

Goodni^ht Stories

Prophet Muhammad

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The Best Treasured

Stories from the Quran
Here for young readers and listeners, are
all the best treasured stories of the Quran
in one beautifully illustrated volume. The
stirring and dramatic stories of the great
prophets, peoples and nations are unfolded
as a family saga, one event leading
naturally to the next.
AU these features in one great book:
• 42 easy to read Quran stories.
• A moral value with each story.
• Simple language.
• Vivid and charming illustrations.
• A Quran reference for each story at
the end of the book.
Designed for use at home or at school,
this book makes the message of the Quran
more meaningful for children. It's the
perfect way to begin your child's lifetime
adventure of personal Quran reading!
Especially chosen for the very young, these
stories act as a foundaton on which to build
a growing knowledge of the Quran.

Ages 6-12 years