Curl up and give a listen:
A Trust of Treasures, available at: http://www.kubepublishing.com/main.asp
WHY MIRACULOUS HAPPENINGS IN THE YEAR OF THE ELEPHANT? WHY NUR AL QASAS?
I saw something last night that made me realize again why I am trying to set up Nur al Qasas as a resource…may Allah guide me and show me how to work for His sake alone, in ways that are pleasing to Him.
Look at what’s possible with materials from Nur al Qasas:
There was a gathering of three families, and there were 7 children there, ranging in age from 3 to 13. The youngest four were girls, the oldest three were boys. Since the oldest girl, 7, was sister to the boys, they were all together. They had been harmoniously busy together for an hour or so; I walked into the room where they were, and found them (more…)
A Great US site for Nur al Qasas Works
Brother Salim at Online Islamic Store carries Miraculous Happenings book and CD and The Bowing of the Stars CD, and before too long will inshaAllah be carrying A Trust of Treasures book and the brand new A Mercy to the Worlds CD. He’s got a great site. Visit him at
http://www.onlineislamicstore.com/a5136.html Remember if you scroll down you can see page samples of both books and hear samples of all three CD’s. Great Eid gifts. Happy shopping!
WELCOME BLESSED DAYS OF HAJJ!!!
The circle turns and the glorious days of Hajj return again, alhamdulillah, full of blessings for those fortunate enough to go on Hajj, and full of blessings for the rest of us staying at home too….these days magnify our good works, demonstrating yet again the magnanimity of Allah Mighty and Majestic.
A mother on a homeschooling list I belong to asked if anyone had a skit dealing with the story of Hajar, may Allah be pleased with her, and Zam Zam. That put me in mind of the very happy memories I have from being in the classroom these past years and doing activities with children to develop a love and yearning in them for the truths of their tradition.
A skit has its difficulties sometimes…it seems that children are not to be allowed to play the parts of the Prophets, or the Companions, which is always a little hard, because playing roles is how young children learn best. I pray that someday I might have the opportunity to talk in depth with a fiqh master about these subjects. Perhaps, since there is a big difference between a classroom or household of small children trying to grow and learn and a “theater company” of adults portraying roles for show rather than for play, there could be a different ruling…only a gingerly asking, since I am not a scholar of fiqh.
For the meantime there are always several ways to skin a cat, as the saying goes. One of those ways is replacing a skit with a group storytelling. (more…)
NOW YOU CAN GET MEHDED MARYAM SINCLAIR’S SPOKEN WORD WORKS AS DIGITAL DOWNLOADS!
When you hear, you’ll see, inshaAllah!
Here’s the link for the brand-new Sunni Path Downloads site:
Click on “For Kids” (though we know it’s not just for kids!) for a full listing of what’s available now: the three CD’s–the brand-new not-yet-even-pressed-yet Mercy to the Worlds, Miraculous Happenings in the Year of the Elephant, and The Bowing of the Stars, along with three shorts—From Torture to Triumph, Two Prophets in the Endless Sea of Allah’s Knowledge, and Walnut Remedy.
Visit today! Hear the samples! Order the downloads!
To order the books: A Trust of Treasures and Miraculous Happenings in the Year of the Elephant book and CD from the Islamic Foundation Store:
A Trust of Treasures is available from Amazon in Japan!
It’s Here!
Available now from the Islamic Foundation Markfield website, and soon from bookstores in the US and the UK, and before long, inshaAllah from my new site, Stories of Light.com
OTHER NEWS
The Grand Mufti of Jordan Sheikh Nuh Ali Salman has heard parts of A Mercy to the Worlds-the Coming of Muhammad, May Allah bless him and give him peace, that were translated into Arabic for him. He said, “This is beautiful. It will surely inspire love for Allah and His Messenger. The Arabs need it too…please make an Arabic version.” A preliminary translation was then made of the whole piece, and another mufti in his office both listened to the English recording and read the Arabic script and declared that it was sound, alhamdulillah.
We requested that the Grand Mufti make an official endorsement which can go on the CD cover. This will mean a lot, since one of the most remarkable qualities of Islam is authenticity. Every aspect of Islam has been painstakingly preserved and recorded, so instead of making up the traditions, as is necessary for the other religions since so much has been lost, there is meticulous scholarship and remarkable preservation of information. We received his page-long statement yesterday, and are very grateful for his generous assistance and support. This means that (more…)
The Grace of Ramadan
May Ramadan visit you with blessings of felicity and certainty and increased determination to purify the heart and use every valuable minute in remembrance of Him Who Brought Us Into Being.
The ninth month of pregnancy can seem longer than all the other months of the pregnancy, and the last week can seem like longer than the whole pregnancy. These weeks have been feeling that way to me in my writing life. Three projects that have been gestating for years, two of them for over seven years, are finally on the verge of fruition. But alhamdilillah now that Ramadan is here, the palpable baraka of its mysterious days and nights suddenly makes the waiting a mere flutter of a gnat’s wing in the face of Allah’s Majesty and Magnificence. These Ramadan days and nights are surely made of different fabric from all the rest.
A Mercy to the Worlds
A Jordanian doctor managed to get into Gaza to work at a hospital there. This is what he said in an interview: He never heard a complaint. The bloodied Gazans were saying, “This is for Allah. We are doing this for Allah.” A woman looked at her son’s dead, washed body, and said “When he was born I prayed he would die a martyr, and now he has. Alhamdulilah.” He said a grace came over them, a patience, that allowed them to pull together and embrace what was happening to them.
This is the legacy of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and give him peace. This is the success he promised to those who are willing to acknowledge
they didn’t create themselves,
cannot maintain themselves,
cannot avoid their death, and
have been created to praise something larger than themselves.
Coming soon: A Mercy to the Worlds: The Coming of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and give him peace
BOWL OF BARAKA
Listen!
On Thursday night Nasreddin Hodja’s wife boiled wheat berries and rice with a pinch of salt in the soup kettle, a few handfuls of white beans in the little copper pot, and a few handfuls of chickpeas in the black pot. She had done this all her life on a Thursday of Muharram, first as a little child barely able to see into the kettle and later as a young woman trying it out for the first time alone, and finally now, as an almost-old woman grateful to still have the health and strength to run a kitchen.
Two hours later (more…)
Listen, listen, listen
I’ve always felt that it is fruitful to speak to very young children, even infants, about what I am doing for them, or what is happening around them, or what is coming next, throwing out the idea “they can’t understand.” And I have observed that children who are engaged in this way behave differently as a result of it.
And I have been told on several occasions that even very small children choose to listen to my stories again and again, even though I can’t imagine how they could possibly “understand” the story.
So I wasn’t entirely surprised to read this note from a friend, although it made me really happy and grateful, and I was glad she gave me permission to put it here.
I just wanted to share with you something I think is amazing
I’ve been playing the Miraculous Happenings CD for a few days straight and noticed that my daughter has actually memorized parts of the story, and she is only 18 months old!!
I was doubtful at first so I’ve kept playing it every day so I could pay attention. When the part comes where you say “and he drank long and greedily…” Nafeesah says “Ahhhhh!” before Abrahah does. Then when you mention he stuffs a handful of grapes in his mouth she makes smacking sound with her mouth. The part when the soldiers start whispering to each other, she starts doing the “whispering” sounds before they start on the recording. and I’ve noticed that before some dialogue is about to come up Nafeesah seems to be imitating the sound of the voice of the person who is about to speak, only in babble of course.
I can tell she has memorized parts of the story because her actions usually precede the sound effects/dialogue that she seems to be imitating rather than afterwards.
Fortunate little girl!
We know that a fundamental developmental factor in language acquisition is
listening.
A child is listening already in the womb. In fact, if a child is born deaf, he will very likely not go on to speak, even if there is no physiological problem with his voice, without sophisticated equipment and help.
The very first word of the Masnavi, the phenomenal work of Mevlana Jelalludin Rumi is
listen.
One of my favorite songs growing up was:
Listen, listen, listen
to my heart’s song.
Listen, listen, listen
to my heart’s song.
I will never forget you, I will never forsake you.
I will never forget you, I will never forsake you.
The poet Caroline Forche wrote,
We are listening, help us to understand.
Muhammad, may Allah bless him and give him peace, said,
“Be an ear.”
InshaAllah.
MEHDED MARYAM SINCLAIR
Nur al Qasas, The Light of the Spoken Word
When you hear, you’ll see
