Granny Where Does Allah Live?

$9.95

AUTHOR     :Yasmin Kamal

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By Yasmin Kamal, Illustrated by Citra Lani

A delightful journey of two inquisitive children wanting to understand Allah better and learning from the wisdom their charming Granny shares along the way.

Yasmin Kamal

Yasmin Kamal is an English teacher and writer living in London. Kamal is passionate to author more literature for Muslim children, with which she hopes to nurture in their hearts love for Allah and encourage them to be more inquisitive about life.
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ISBN

9781597849456

ISBN Ebook

9781597849807

Format

Size

7.5 x 7.5 inches

Pages

32

Reviews

Granny, Where Does Allah Live? by Yasmin Kamal. A delightful little book – the story explores a scenario that most parents have faced with their inquisitive children (or in the case of the book, grandchildren). A young boy and girl travel with their grandmother in her car, and throughout the course of the journey, ask her questions that many theologians would struggle with (and often did in history). Does Allah live in the Mosque? If not, why do we travel there to speak to him (pray)? Is God above us in the clouds? Does he reside in the tallest trees? As the family travels, the questions are continuously raised.

Granny then responds to the children and explains “We don’t need to go anywhere to find Allah, His throne is above us wherever we are.” Granny goes on to explain that Allah can hear the children wherever they may be, and he is always looking out for them. If this is the case, the children ask, “why must we visit the mosque Granny, we don’t understand?” To which she explains the mosque is special because “you get to meet lots of other children” who are
your family and part of your community.

The book is filled with bright colourful illustrations (skilfully purposed by Citra Lani) which complement the children’s journey through their theological queries. The book also utilises rhyme to develop the narrative throughout. The
The Muslim World Book Review, 42:4, 2022 67 use of rhyming couplets, of course, has a long history in the Arabic language and the Islamic tradition. Many classical Islamic texts were compiled into poetic meters for pedagogical purposes to help facilitate memorisation. In all, the book helps contextualise key Islamic beliefs into a simple story that can develop understanding amongst children.

Haroon Bashir
Markfield Institute of Higher Education, UK
The Muslim World Book Review, 42:4, 2022

This 32 page picture book for 3-6 year olds takes readers and listeners on a car ride with Granny as questions are asked, sights are seen, and love is spread. The rhyme is actually pretty decent, the explanation of Allah swt being on a throne above us wherever we are adhered to, and the illustrations are bright, bold, and have a lot to hold little one’s interest. Overall, the banter between the kids and their Granny, the drive to the mosque being filled with joy and love, make me overlook a lot of little annoyances. The book packs a lot in, but the voice and tone is easy and I think most kids will see the connection of asking where Allah is, to asking why we have to go to the mosque, to why it is important to talk to Allah swt in our prayers, etc., as a way to have their own questions touched upon. I do wish the book was a little bigger and perhaps hardbound, to make story time sharing a possibility, the book is 7.5 x 7.5, so good for little hands and sufficient for in lap reading. The book concludes with three activities that incorporate a few of Allah’s beautiful names.

IslamicSchoolLibrarian.com
https://islamicschoollibrarian.com/tag/tughra-books/