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CM . . . .
Volume VI Number 11 . . . . February 4, 2000
excerpt: "Wake up, stupid" Jamal sat up and rubbed his eyes. His sister Seema stood in the doorway. "Didn't you hear Abi calling? It's time for Fajr." 
Eight stories form the core of Muslim Child for it is through these
that Khan, herself a Muslim, attempts to share the basic tenets of Islam
and to show what everyday life could be like for Muslim children,
especially those living in the cultural diverse milieu of North America.
In "Fajr," Jamal has difficulties dealing with the first of five daily
prayers, one which requires him to rise before sunrise and to carry out an
appropriate pre-prayer cleansing of his body. Nabeel, of "The Black
Ghost," is worried that his non-Islamic friend, Danny, will think he and
his family are "weird" should Danny ever meet his mother whose dress
includes both an hijaab which covers her head and an niqaab to cover her
face. The story title, "Azeeza's First Fast," suggests what Azeeza
attempts to do during Ramadan, the Muslim month of feasting; however, she
discovers that keeping the dawn to dusk fast is most difficult, especially
when a classmate's mother brings a birthday cake to school. In "I Love
Eid," a child shares the happenings of Eid, the Muslim Festival of
Charity. An overseas orphanage is the setting for "Samosas!" in which the
honesty of Ahmad, one of the orphans, is rewarded by his being adopted.
Keeping dietary restrictions is central to "Jumbo Jelly Shoes" for
Jameelah learns that the candies she has just purchased, and now cannot
return, contain pork byproducts. To respond to Halima's question regarding
the year of birth of Mohammad, Grandmother relates the story of "The Year
of the Elephant." Finally, in "Lost at Hajj," Bilal has been part of his
parents' pilgrimage to Mecca, but he has become separated from them in the
throng and is now lost.
Muslim Child, in addition to containing three poems by the author
plus brief selections from the Quran and sayings of the Prophet
Muhammad, also has instructions on how to make samosas and an Eid card.
Patty Gallinger's black and white illustrations, some of them full-page,
serve both decorative and informational functions.
Instead of Khan's interrupting her stories to explain terms, such as
"adhan" or daal," the words, when first used, are presented in italics and
then defined or expanded upon in brief sidebars written by Irfan Alli.
Using fiction as a means to impart factual information is a challenge for
an author because the story can easily become didactic. Khan generally
succeeds, though, but especially in those instances in which she presents
her central characters with situations involving moral decisions, such as
Jamal's having to choose between sleep or early morning prayer or
Jameelah's being tempted by candy containing pork byproducts, a fact about
which she could feign ignorance by pretending she had not read the
packaging information that listed the ingredients.
Muslim Child is a must purchase for most school and public
libraries lack materials which, in user-friendly fashion, speak both to
Muslim and non-Muslim children about Islam.
Highly Recommended. Dave Jenkinson teaches courses in children's and YA literature in the Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca. Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
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