fM

/
* LJ
The author ot the islamic Arts Museum , Kuala Lumpur

Best selling author, Saniyasnain Khan, has written nur

books for children, of which over a million copies have beer
sold worldwide. This book reflects his own love of story telling

and deep respect for the eternal message of the Quran.

He hopes that this book will make the story memorable
young children and will act as a foundation on which the,
build a growing knowledge of the Quran.

'
A Treasury of Stories from the Quran — for the very young
These are some of the best-loved tales from the Quran. Especially chosen
for the very young, they provide a foundation on which to build a growing
knowledge of the scriptures.This is story-telling at its best, with the

meaning and message expressed in the simplest of words. As well as

being easy to understand, these stories are also fun to read and share with
others. Colorful, child-friendly illustrations complement the text and

Helping you build a family of faith

 First published 2002
Reprinted 201
© Goodword Books 201

Goodword Books
1, Nizamuddin West Market, New Delhi-1 10 013
email: [email protected]
Printed in India

see our complete catalogue at

www.goodwordbooks.com
www.goodword.net

fiBSBt
SANIYASNAIN KHAN
Goodwordkids
 CONTENTS
Life Begins 5

The First Man 27

The Two Brothers 49

The Ark of Nuh^ui 71

Allah's Best Friend 95

The Travels of the Prophet Ibrahim 111

The Brave Boy 127

The Builder of the Kabah 143

Tale of A Fish 167

The Prophet King 187

The Ants Panic 203

The Queen and the Bird 219

Life Begins
Long long ago, there was no
earth, no sky, no sun or
moon. There was darkness
everywhere. Then Allah
thought of making a
beautiful world — a world
full of purpose.
 words and
Allah just said the
there was the earth and the sky.
There was the bright sun, the
shining moon and twinkling stars.
Then came the dry land and the oceans.
By just saying the words, Allah made them all.

Allah made the earth in two days.

On it He placed very big mountains.
In six days He formed the sky into
seven heavens. The lowest heaven
He hung with brilliant starsand sent
bright comets flying between them.
Allah made the earth circle

around the sun so that there

would be night and day and
many different seasons too.
Allah filled the vast
universe with thousands
of stars and many
planets all spinning
swiftly, but never
touching each other.
Allah made lovely flowers — roses and pansies, bluebells
and lupins, hollyhocks and daisies. Where did the flowers
come from? Allah made them all. He made all things
large and tiny. Little insects, and black ants that crawl
around on the ground. And the busy bees that fly from
flower to flower to collect sweet honey.
 —
Allah made juicy fruits
mangoes, oranges and
cherries, crunchy apples, sweet
grapes and soft bananas.
Where did the fruits come from?
Allah made them all.
Allah made the animals. Some
live in the forests. Large
elephants, fat hippos, cunning
foxes, fierce tigers, striped
zebras and tall giraffes. Fluffy
rabbits, strong horses, grazing
cows and sheep — Allah made
them all.

i / I
mm.
Beautiful birds flying in the sky
spreading their wings and closing
them. Green parrots, white ducks,
colourful chickens, flying sparrows,
dancing peacocks, singing quails,
diving kingfishers, warbling larks, and
many, many more. Where did they all

come from? Allah made them all.

Allah made the large oceans and the big seas
which cover the earth with water and form into
deep lakes and long rivers. Allah made the sea monsters
—
and all the fishes big and small large blue whales like
mountains, and cruel tiger sharks with big jaws.
Allah made the crabs and lobsters and
shrimps, huge and octopuses,
eels
swordfish andjelly fish, and all the

many ocean plants and animals.

/*
Allah gave us rain and
sunshine, cool breezes and
clouds passing by.
Thank You, Allah, for making
such a wonderful world.
The First Man
Long long ago, Allah created
the beautiful universe, full of
galaxies, planets, the moon, and
stars moving in harmony,
all all

glorifying and praising Him.

 w!

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ijiplti „
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SP*i %;• WKj

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When Allah decided to create a human
being, He collected every kind of soil

and mixed it like a potter's clay.

Moulding it into the shape of a
man, Allah breathed His spirit into it.
In this way, He gave life to the first

man. The father of all of us. Allah

named him Adam
Today, people may allbe
of different colors, shapes
and sizes, speaking
different languages and
living in different places.
But they all have the
same ancestor — the first

man, Adam ^n.

Allah made him
the first prophet
to guide people.

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w
Allah bestowed many gifts upon Adam jjj.
He gave him the gift of sight so that he
might marvel at the creation of Allah, and
the senses of hearing, smell, taste and
touch to help him understand the
universe around him.
Apart from all these
blessings, Allah gave
him the intelligence to
be able to tell what was
right and what was
wrong and made him
capable of doing good
works. With this Allah
gave him knowledge
and wisdom and put
him above the angels.
Allah also created the first woman
Hawwa (Eve) as a helper and
loving companion of Adam
He told the couple to live in the garden
of Paradise, but warned them not to
approach a particular tree. Both of
them began living there in perfect
peace and happiness, with dazzling
beauty all around

/
But Satan was jealous of
them, seeing the honour they
received from Allah. So one
day, he came to Adam and
his wife and whispered to
them, tempting them to
approach the forbidden tree.
He told them that it was the
tree of eternal life, and that if
they ate from it, they would
never grow old, nor would
they ever die.
Satan made them believe that he was giving
them very friendly advice, so they ate from
the tree andbecame wrongdoers. But no
sooner had they done so, than they realized
their fault and immediately turned towards
Allah to say how sorry they were.
Allah forgave them both, but told them that since they
had defied His orders, they would have to leave the
gardens of Paradise and go down to earth. There Adam
and Hawwa found themselves all alone, for no one else
was living on the earth at that time.
Allah told them that from time to
time His messengers and prophet
would be coming to the earth to
guide people to the true path.
Those who followed His directions and lived a good life would
have no fear on the Judgement Day and would be admitted to
Paradise. But those who disbelieved and rejected Allah's signs
would be taken to task and thrown into the fire of Hell.
The story of the Prophet
Adam ph teaches us that
we 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 j$UU
The Two Brothers
Long long ago, when Allah
the beautiful world, He decided to create
a human being, so he created the first man, Adam
Allah also created the first woman,
Hawwa (Eve), as a helper and loving
companion to Adam ^.The Prophet
Adam and his wife happily began
their lives on the earth.
Imagine what the earth
would have been like at

that time. When there were

no human beings apart
from them. No pollution,
no noise, no crowds...
There was peace and great
harmony everywhere.
The Prophet Adam £ui and Hawwa
were blessed with two sons, Habil
(Abel) and Qabil (Cain). When they
grew up, Habil, the younger brother,
became a shepherd. He herded
sheep, goats and other animals.
The elder brother, Qabil, worked as a
farmer, tilling the fields.
One day both decided to make a sacrifice to
please their Lord. Habil took the best of his
flock, while Qabil brought his crops.
They usually laid out the sacrifice in a

high place. If a fire came down from

heaven and burnt the offering to
ashes, it was a sign that Allah was
pleased with it.

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f
Suddenly a spark of light flashed and
burnt Habil's offering to ashes. This
showed that Allah accepted his sacrifice,
but rejected Qabil's sacrifice.
Qabil's failure made him hate and feel jealous of his younger
brother. He felt it was Habil's fault that he was put to shame.
Habi! tried to explain to Qabil why his sacrifice had not been
accepted: "In your heart you have no fear of Allah," Habil said
to his brother. "That is why Allah did not accept your sacrifice."
But, instead of agreeing and feeling sorry
for his mistake, Qabil felt hurt at being
disgraced and insulted. His face darkened
with anger and his heart became hardened:
"No," cried Qabil, "I will kill you!"
. iSfRi &

wm
At this threat from his elder
brother, Habil did not shout back.
He 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."
These words spoken by his younger brother
fine
could not calm Qabil, as he was blinded by
jealousy and puffed up with arrogance and anger.
Qabil's anger got the better of him and he killed
his innocent brother Habil.
But no sooner had he done this
horrifyingdeed than he began to change.
Seeing the blood spilled all around the
motionless body of his younger brother,
Qabil's anger slowly cooled.
Now he realized what a big mistake
he had made. He had acted in haste,
he had done something vile, and now,
thinking about it, he felt very sorry.
For hours he sat nearby, shamed and
grief-stricken, looking down at his
brother's mute, blood-spattered body:
"Now I have killed my brother," said
Qabil to himself in deep sorrow, "but
what shall I do with his body?"

m mm
Then Allah sent a raven,
which landed on the
ground near the body. The
raven began to scratch the
ground to tell Qabil that he
should bury his brother's

dead body under the earth.

"Woe is me!" cried Qabil helplessly."! am worse
even than this raven, for I cannot hide my brother's
corpse." Qabil felt his meanness all the more so,

because even a raven could teach him a lesson. 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 obedient
Habil, should never fight back.
 , —
The Quran says: "If anyone killed a person
except as punishment for murder or other
—
corruption in the land it shall be looked

upon as if he had killed all mankind. And

whoever saved a human life, shall be looked
upon as if he had saved all mankind."
{Surah a 1-Maidah 5:32)
The Ark of Null
Long, long ago, there lived a pious old man whose name was Noah
or Nuh £uw He was a Prophet of Allah. In those days people did not
follow the true path. They did not worship Allah. So Allah sent Nuh $$ to
these people to give them the message of truth. But they all refused to
accept He tried his best for a very very long time, but no one,
his call.

except for a few poor people, paid any heed to him. The rich people
turned against Nuh and tried to harm him. So he prayed for Allah's
help, and Allah heard his prayers and asked him to build an Ark. He told
him that a great flood would come which would be a punishment for
bad people. So Nuh started building a huge Ark with the help of a
handful believers. People laughed at them.
When the vessel was ready to sail and lots of hard and tiring
after lots
work, Nuh asked all the believers to go on board in the name of Allah.
Allah told Nuh £ur to bring along a male and a female of every kind of
living creature as well. Nuh
^ had to keep enough food to feed them all
for a long time. This was a big job, but Nuh and his followers carried it
out with all sincerity.
One by one all the animals entered the
Ark. Some had wings and some had
legs; some crawled and some hopped.
All came right into the Ark
in pairs. The Ark became
a huge barn for the
animals and a safe
houseboat for the
believers.
The animals came running— giraffes and rhinos, elephants and camels,
monkeys and wolves, cats and kangaroos, bears and horses, cows and
—
sheep, lions and tigers and all went into the Ark in pairs.
There were chickens and ducks,
flamingos and hawks, peacocks
and pelicans, ostriches and
hens —to name but a few.
Birds both tiny and big
that flew high above the
earth came along too. All
were gathered in pairs and
led on board.
Tortoises, snails and turtles came
crawling along the ground. Then came
frogs and grasshoppers who hopped
right into the Ark.
Rabbits too ran races — let's see whc
on board first! And finally came the
crocodiles with their big jaws.
No sooner had all the creatures come on board and the supplies had
been stowed away, than black clouds began to cover the sky. First,
there was a drizzle, then the rains came. More and more rain fell each
day. Day after day, rain and more rain. The whole world seemed to be
dark. It became darker and darker with strong winds blowing from
every side and water rising in huge waves as far as the eye could see.
Allah commanded the
floodgates of heaven to
open and the ground to
crack open so that a
fountain of water came
shooting up. The rivers

overflowed and water fell

in torrents.The Ark rose

and fell on waves as tall
as mountains. More and
more water came till the
valleys were filled, the
trees were covered by the
waters, the hills

disappeared and the

mountains themselves
sank out of sight.
The world was like an enormous sea —the
only thing one could see was water
everywhere. Far down below, all those who
had paid no attention to the call of the
Prophet Nuh $$ and remained on land were
drowned in the mighty flood.
With the hammering on the roof and a great wind that roared all
rain
around, the Ark went on sailing amidst the waves. The thunder rolled and
the lightning flashed from the angry skies. Everyone on board was very
frightened, but Nuh kept praying to his Lord for His Mercy at this great
When the flood had
reached its peak, Allah
commanded the earth to
swallow up its water and
sky to hold back the rain.
The water began to dry up.
The rain had stopped! The
clouds began to part. As the
level of the water began to
go down, the mountain
peaks began to rear up out
of it. The Ark was caught by
the peak of Mount Judi in a
land now known as Turkey
and rested upon it.
The Prophet Nuh and the believers
who were with him thanked Allah for
saving them from such a devastating
flood. Everyone happily came out of
the Ark. The animals were led to safety.
Nuh $$ prayed: "Lord,
let my landing from
this Ark be blessed, for
You alone can make
me land in safety."
In this way Allah made the flood
and the Ark of Nuh ^
a sign and a
warning for future generations.
Allah's Best Friend
Long long ago, about 4000 years ago, in

the faraway land of Iraq, a child whose

name was Ibrahim (or Abraham) was
born in the village of Ur.
He was so gracious,
tender-hearted and pure
in faith that Allah gave
him wisdom when he
was still a child.
Allahwas so pleased
with him that He made
him His best friend.
Ibrahim's desire to find the truth grew.
One night, while looking at the sky,
Ibrahim noticed one very bright star.

"This is my Lord," he said. But when it set,

he said. "I do not love things which fade."

Then Ibrahim ^ noticed
the moon shining
brightly, as if it was made
of pure silver. "This is my
Lord,"he said happily.
But when it set, he said.
"I do not love anything
which sets."
4After the same thing happened
with the sun, Ibrahim Jsui

announced:"! will turn my face to

Him who has created the heavens
and the earth, and live a good life.
I am no idol-worshipper."
In the days of Ibrahim people used
to worship stones and statues, but even
as a child he wondered why. Ibrahim's
father, whose name was Azar, also
believed in worshipping idols. When
Ibrahim asked his father why he
worshipped objects that did not speak,
Azar became angry.
One day, when Azar and the other townspeople were away,
Ibrahim took an axe and broke all the idols in the public
temple except the biggest.
When people discovered this, they asked
Ibrahim ^S/'Who has done this?"
c.
"Ask the biggest idol," replied Ibrahim
calmly."Why do you wo vcVh ip thi‘
that
i

cannot even talk, move or understand?"

Unable to understand the Prophet
Ibrahim's message, they were left
speechless. They became furious, and
tried to kill him.
They suggested that since this boy had insulted their gods, they
should burn him alive. A huge heap of firewood was piled up
and set alight. The people shouted and chanted aloud: "Death to
Ibrahim! Burn him!"They thought that the burning of Ibrahim ^t\
would cleanse their souls and protect them from harm.
As the bright red flames leaped up,
Ibrahim $$ felt no fear, as his faith

in was very strong and he

Allah
knew that the people were wrong.
As soon as the fire reached its peak, they picked up the Prophet Ibrahim
and threw him into the blazing fire. But Allah was with him. Allah
commanded the fire,"0 fire, be cool and peaceful for Ibrahim."
A miracle took place,and the fire, instead of burning Ibrahim £uf, became a
cool, safe place for him. The onlookers could hardly believe their eyes! So
awestruck were they that they could neither speak nor move!

The moral of the story is that faith in Allah is the only one that can save a
believer in this world and the world to come.
 Travels of the
Prophet Ibrahim l*>UI
Long long ago, about
4000 years ago, in the
was
land of Iraq a child
born whose name was
Ibrahim ^ (or Abraham).
He was gracious, tender-hearted and pure in faith.
Allah was pleased with him and made him His
best friend. When Ibrahim grew up, he became
a great prophet, and preached the truth and
Allah's message in his country. Later he travelled to
When a beautiful son was born to his wife,
Hajar (or Hagar), Ibrahim was ordered by
Allah to travel towards what we now know
as Makkah along with his wife and the little
child, whose name was Ismail (or Ishmael).
They all travelled for a long time till they
reached a lonely, barren valley, near two
small hills called Safa and Marwah.
The Prophet Ibrahim 0 asked his wife to stay near one
of the hills along with the baby Ismail, and started to go
away. His wife protested, "Why are you leaving us alone
here? Are you leaving us here to die?"

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But Ibrahim ^ replied, "My Lord has commanded me to do
this."Then Hajar, breathing a sigh of relief, said: "If Allah has
ordered you to do so, then He will not let us die." After a
while, little Ismail began to cry because he was thirsty. But
there was not a single drop of water to drink.
Hajar ran helplessly fromone hill to another,
but there was no water, nor was there any
human being nearby to give her any.
As the baby was crying
desperately with thirst and the
mother was running from one
hill to another, Allah caused a
miracle to take place —
spring gushed forth beneath
the feet of Ismail

_
When Hajarsaw this from a distance, she
—
shouted, "Zamzam" the sound made by
gushing water in the Babylonian langauge.
Hajarcame running and
gave some fresh spring
water to the thirsty child
to drink. And so his life

was saved. This spring

became famous later on
and was called by the
name of Zamzam.
Ismail pt\ and his mother
began to live in the valley
and, because of the Zamzam
spring, more p^ple
gradually came to settle
up a
there, slowly building
small to\^ which was later
called Makkah.
From time to time Ibrahim ^ would visit Makkah to meet his
family,especially to see young
his Ismail growing up in the
beautiful surroundings of nature — in a new town in a lovely
valley surrounded by hills, away from the crowded cities

where the people at that time were mostly idol-worshippers.

The moral of this story is that
believers who, despite their
hardships, follow the path of Allah,
will find that, Allah will remain
with them and help them in

miraculous ways, just as the child

Ismail was saved by the miracle
of the Zamzam spring.
The Brave Boy
Long long ago, about 4000
years ago, there lived the
Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham).
He was gracious, tender-hearted and pure
in faith. His family lived in a beautiful
valley, which is now known as Makkah.
One night, the Prophet Ibrahim # dreamt
that he was sacrificing his son, Ismail $s.

This was an order from his Lord.

Ismail $ was still a child, but the
Prophet Ibrahim ^ told him
about the dream.
Ismail was a brave
boy. He was ready to
obey the command
of Allah, who had
created him.
So without hesitating, he said to his father, "Do
what you are commanded, father. God willing,
you will find me one of the steadfast."
 —
Ibrahim $s took his son away to sacrifice
him. As he reached a place, which is now
known as —
Mina a valley near Makkah
Satan appeared and tried to stop him
from doing his Lord's bidding.
The Prophet Ibrahim $s picked up a few small
stones and threw them at Satan. Little Ismail
^ nrl hie mnthor rlirl likoxA/ico
The Prophet Ibrahim $ gently placed his

son on the ground and blindfolded

himself with a handkerchief so that he
could not see his beloved son while
carrying out the Lord's command.
 As Ibrahim took a
knife to sacrifice
€
Ismail JftJ/ Allah sent
the angel Jibril
> A
(Gabriel) down with
a ram. "Sacrifice this
-
’M)1
ram. Do not
sacrifice Ismail," said
Jibril to Ibrahim

>/
Allah was so pleased with the readiness of Ibrahim $ to
sacrifice his beloved son, that He commanded the
believers to observe this day as Id al-Adha or the Feast
of sacrifice. Every year Muslims sacrifice an animal in
remembrance of the Prophet Ibrahim's trust in Allah.
a/
This story reminds believers of the
readiness of the Prophet Ibrahim $
to give up most beloved son.
his
Likewise, believers should be ready
to part with their precious
belongings, and their wealth, and
even give up their lives, if the cause
of Islam so requires.

<*0
Thus the Quran says: "Truly, my prayers,
my sacrifice, my life and my death all

belong to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds"

{Surah al-Anam 6:162)
,
 The Builder
of the Kabah
Long, long ago the Prophet
Ibrahim $$ settled his wife
Hajar and baby Ismail $$ in

a lonely valley in Arabia.

Thanks to the miracle of
the Zamzam spring there,
some people began to live
there. Slowly it became a
small city, which later came
to be known as Makkah.
Ismail pt\ grew up a strong
and loving youth.
The Prophets Ibrahim^ and Ismail
were ordered by Allah to build the
—
House of God the Kabah in Makkah.
For this sacred land, Ibrahim
prayed, "My Lord, make this land
secure, and provide its people with
fruits, such of them as believe in

Allah and the Last Day."

As the Prophets Ibrahim ^ and Ismail ^ laid the very first

stones on Which the Kabah wduld stand, they prayed, "Our Lord
accept this from us! You are the All-hearing, the All-seeing."
L r

They further prayed, "Our Lord,

make us bow to You, and make
our offspring a nation which
bows to You and show us our
ways of worship."
They also prayed for a prophet to be born in their family, who
would teach wisdom to the people and purify their faith. Their
prayer was answered many years later, when the Prophet
Muhammad was born to the people who came after them.
The Prophet Ibrahim $$ was ordered by Allah
to clean the Kabah for those who came there
to pray, and to call people to Hajj.
 *

Allah spoke thus to the

Prophet Ibrahim :"Call all

people to make the

Pilgrimage.They shall
come to you on foot anch
on the backs of swift
camels; they shall come
from every deep ravine." •

o
a
And so Allah made it a duty for all Muslims, male
and female, to go on Hajj once in a lifetime,

provided their means and health permitted

Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. Today,
over 2 million people from around the world
gather in Makkah to perform this sacred duty.
The moral of the story is that believers will promise
Allah to follow the example set by the Prophet
Ibrahim and his family, doing Allah's bidding,
whatever it may be, basing their lives on truth and,
if necessary, giving up life's comforts and pleasures.

Allah will be their focus, a goal from which they will

never be turned aside by the forces of evil.
Tale of a Fish
A very old and powerful community used to live
around 800 B.C., in Nineveh, an ancient town
believed to have been on the left bank of the
Tigris river, some 230 miles north west of Baghdad.
Allah sent the Prophet Yunus (Jonah) $$ to this
community to guide them on to the right path.
Yunus did as Allah said and
went to these people. He gave
them His message and warned
them to turn away from their
wickedness. Yunus preached
to them for a long time,but they
paid no heed to his words.
When he realized that they intended to
continue on the wrong path, he warned
them about how bad their actions were
and that in the end they might be made
to suffer. Angry and despairing, Yunus
left these people. Yunus ^ moved out of
the city and headed towards the seaport
where there were ships tied up, waiting to
sail. One, Yunus ^found, was due to sail
to a far off land. He boarded the ship.
As soon as was out at sea, the sky grew dark,
it

and there was a terrible storm. The fierce wind

began to whip the water up into huge waves
which crashed against the hull of the ship.
As the storm grew worse, the waves
became like towering walls of water
which came crashing down on the
ship's deck. The worked with
sailors
all their strength to try to keep the
ship on course.
 ' x
\
’

\ '
\ \ \ v \\\ '

. '

\ \ \ \ \ V \ V . \ '
\ \ \

They even threw some of the cargo

overboard, to make the ship easier to
control. But the ship's strong timber
seemed as thin as matchwood in the teeth
of the storm. Soon, they knew, it would
break up and they would all drown.
V \

Thinking their ill-luck was due

tosome slave having run
away from his master, they
drew lots to find the run-ayyay
and him overboard. The
hurl
name of Yunus was picked
out in the draw. So he was.
forced to jump from the ship.
m vfi
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As he struggled in the water, gasping for
breath, a great whale appeared out of the
depths of the sea and swallowed him up.
(The fish that swallowed Yunus ^
may have
been a sperm whale.
Such whales are known to visit the
eastern Mediterranean sea. With
their large throats, they can swallow
Suddenly Yunus ^t\ found himself in the dark, damp insides of the huge
fish. He had not drowned. He was still alive! Now Yunus ^realized that
he had left the people of Nineveh too early without completing the task
assigned by Allah. As a rule, once it became clear that a nation had
rejected Allah's message, the prophet who had been the bearer of that
—
message was commanded by Allah to leave but only if he had done his
very best to reform his hearers. Then Allah punished the erring people as
a mark of His wrath. But had not waited for Allah's order. He
Yunus
had simply gone away, leaving the people of Nineveh to their doom.

( A (/
When Yunus $5\ realized his mistake, he cried from the depth of
darkness: "There no god but You. Glory be to You! have done
is I

wrong." Allah heard his prayers. The Quran says that if he had not
said he was sorry and glorified Allah in his prayers, he would have
stayed in the belly of the fish till the Day of Judgement.
The fish, by the command
of Allah, swam close to the
land and brought Yunus
safelyon to the beach,
where he found himself
under a tree called Yaqtin
'Y
(gourd-tree).
Itshaded him from the heat of
the sun while he recovered from
his ordeal. It also gave him a
delicious fruit full of juice to
quench his thirst.
Yunus then returned to his people
and preached to them again. All of
them, over one hundred thousand,
responded to his call. The lesson in the
story of the Prophet Yunus ^ is twofold.
Firstly, the great duty to deliver the message of Allah to others
now on every Muslim.
falls If we ignore this duty and become
desperate (as Yunus $$ was at first), we will be found guilty of
not carrying out the task set for us by Allah.
Secondly, the courage which was shown by
Yunus $$ as he nearly drowned is a great
example and shows us that we should never
despair of the mercy of Allah. If we are on
the right path and say we are sorry for our
failings, Allah will help us as miraculously as
He did when Yunus $$ was saved from the
raging sea by the giant fish.
The Prophet King
Many many years after the death of the Prophet Musa
JjS, in the eleventh century B.C., there was much unrest
among the Banu due to the Philistines,
Israil

Amalekites, Amorites and other tribes trying to take

their homeland away from them by force.
Then the Prophet Shamwil (Samuel) $ made Talut
(Saul) their king and he fought with the Philistines.
His army fought and defeated the enemy.
Dawud ^ who was in his youth, also took part in the battle. He slew Jalut
(Goliath), the commander of the Philistine army. In this way Dawud ^t\
became very popular and was made the king. He was granted prophethood
at the age of forty and the Zabur (Psalms) were revealed to him.
Dawud £ui was given special
rights by Allah. The plants
used to sing in praise of
Allah along with him.
*'YV
 The mountains would
join him in singing the
praises of Allah.

Ul
The birds too used to sing
with him in praise of Allah.
Once, when he was praying in his two men with a grudge
private room,
against each other broke in by climbing over the wall. He was taken
aback, but they pleaded that they had come only to see justice done. One
of them said, "We are brothers and we have a quarrel, which we want
you to settle." The other said, "This man ismy brother. He has ninety-nine
sheep, and I have only one. Yet he tells me to hand over to him. And
it

that is not all. He speaks harshly to me."

,98
At first, Dawud believed everything they
said,and began preaching to them, but no
sooner had he begun, than they left as
miraculously as they had come. Dawud ;

then realized that this was meant to teach .

him something about himself. He

immediately fell down on the ground before
Allah and asked for His forgiveness.
It is believed that the two men fighting
with each other were angels sent by Allah
to warn him by acting out a parable.

The use of iron was taught by Allah

perhaps for the first time —to Dawud j&Sf:

"We made iron pliant for him saying:

Fashion coats of mail"
Dawud was also taught the
language of the birds. When he
recited the Zabur (Psalms), the birds
would also join him in praising
Allah. The mountains too used to
praise Allah along with him.
He was given special help against his
enemies, and great wisdom to judge
between the Truth and falsehood.
The Ants Panic
The Prophet Sulayman
was the son of the Prophe
Dawud £uf. He was a migh
king and ruled Jerusalem.
He was given wonderful
powers by Allah.
As a Sulayman
child, showed
wisdom and intelligence.
At a very young age he
surprised his father with
his ideas about the
rule of law.

\/
Itwas when two angry men came to see Dawud One
of them said, "I had a beautiful field full of crops. This
man's sheep entered it and destroyed all my plants."
Dawud said that theowner of the field was in the right and that he should
take the sheep to make up for his loss. But Sulayman who was a boy at

that time, gave a better solution to the problem."! would like to suggest,"
said Sulayman $$ "that the sheep be given to the owner of the field, who
will use their milk and wool."
 "After a while when the crops are fully grown,
the sheep willbe returned to their owner." In
this way Sulayman showed the difference
between what was owned and what could be
earned from it.
ms
When Sulayman grew up, he
was blessed with Prophethood
and became the king too. Allah
gave him special knowledge.
He was also in control of the jinn. He used to
employ them in any way he liked.
 Y
One day Sulayman ^ was
passing through a valley along
with his mighty army. In the
valley there lived a large
number of ants.
Seeing the huge army coming, one
of the ants at once shouted a
warning to its fellow ants: "Get into
your homes before Sulayman and
his army tread on you by mistake!"
 "0 YOU ANTS, j

RUN OFF HOME \ \

BEFORE SULAYMAN \

AND HIS ARMY

TREAD ON YOU,
BY MISTAKE!" /
I "nr z' /
Sulayman heard what the ant said and
smiled. Because of Allah's great boon to
him, he was able to understand languages
that others could not.
He was suddenly startled by the
realization 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 inspire me to do what is
right to please You. And through
Your grace, admit me among Your
righteous servants."
{Surah an Naml 27 19
:
)
The Queen and
the Bird
One day Sulayman fh, who
was given the power to
understand the speech of
birds, was inspecting all the
birds. "Where is the hudhud
(the hoopoe)?" Sulayman
wondered. "I cannot see
him here. If he does not
offer me a good excuse, I

shall sternly punish him or

even slay him."
Soon after, the hudhud arrived."!
have just seen what you know
nothing of," said the hudhud,
gasping for breath."! bring you a
true tale from faraway Sheba,"
continued the hudhud, "where I

have found a woman reigning

over the people."
/
"She has every virtue"
continued the
hudhud/and she has
a splendid throne.
But she and her
subjects worship the
sun instead of Allah."

mmm
 -

The hudhud continued, "Satan has made them believe

they are doing what is right and he has kept them from
the right path. So they do not worship Allah, who
reveals what is hidden in the heavens and the earth."
With this the hudhud praised Allah: "There is no god,
but Allah! He is Lord of the Supreme Throne!"

—
I
Sulayman gave a
letter to the hudhud
asking him to deliver
this to the Queen, and
to bring back her
reply. She consulted
her people about this
letter. They suggested

waging a war against

Sulayman £uw
 mmrnm
msmF

But the Queen replied with

great wisdom, "When kings
invade a city, they ruin it and
degrade its people. That has
been their way."

jjl
Instead she sent some valuable gifts, which
Sulayman refused to accept. Then she herself
set out to meet Sulayman
i
In the meanwhile, Sulayman asked his people: "Which one of you can
bring me the Queen's throne before she arrives here?" A very powerful
jinn, Ifrit volunteered,"! will bring it to you before you rise from your seat."
But one of his aides, who was deeply versed in the Book, brought the
throne in the twinkling of an eye.
Seeing the throne in Sulayman $$ was overwhelmed with
front of him,
emotion, but displayed no pride. He prostrated himself in humility and
prayed, thanking Allah: "This is a favour from my Lord with which He
would test my gratitude. He that gives thanks has much to gain; but he
who is ungrateful will lose as a result. As for Allah, He is free of all needs.
He is Supreme in Honour!"
 When Queen reached
the
Jerusalem, she was invited to sit

on her own throne, which had

been slightly altered to make it
look different. She realized,
however, that was her own
it

throne, and was amazed at the

power of Allahi
(

urpi'i' MHHipfin
Sulayman ushered her
in to his beautiful palace.
When she walked across
the floor, she tucked up
her skirts, thinking it was
a pool of water.
Sulayman stopped her, saying it was no pool
of water, but a floor paved with glass beneath
which water was flowing, giving it the look of
something which it was not. Similarly, there was
—
only one reality, and that was Allah the Creator.
Everything else was His creation. So the Queen
should give up the worship of the sun and
worship the One who had created everything.
The Queen understood what the message of
Sulayman meant, and at once accepted
his religion, saying: "O my Lord, have indeed
I

sinned. I now submit (in Islam), with

Sulayman, to the Lord of the Worlds."
'

)
A Fun Way to Learn About the Quran

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