One is not a child if he or she is not
attracted to the wonderful world of stories.
Of particular interest to children are the
fairy tales, which arouse their imagination
and transport them to the world of fantasy.
But stories are not just meant to lure the
readers/listeners away from the world of
reality. The best are those stories that
carry a lesson and a moral. If children can
be taught something outside the formal
school environment, they learn it more
quickly.
And who would know this better than a
teacher or an educationist - Prof Umm-e-Salma
Zaman. An educationist and former principal
of Sir Syed Girls College, she has been
associated with education all her life.
Recently the Kifayat Academy published three
compilations of stories in Urdu retold by
her.
Qurani Qissay, a set of two books is
a compilation of stories from the holy Quran,
which is a book of guidance for all Muslims
till eternity. The stories relate the lives
of the prophets, the difficulties that they
faced while passing on the message of God -
how their own people went against them and
yet how dedicatedly they stuck to their
mission. Each story has its own lesson but
the overall lesson is keeping true and
strong faith in God.
While reading literature or history,
children might have come across references
to many famous prophets of God. For
instance, they might have come across a
mention of the Noah's Ark, or the miracle
ascribed to Moses where his staff turned
into a python and ate up all the snakes, but
they might not know the whole story behind
it. Not only do the books narrate most of
these stories, they also describe the
peculiar qualities of the various prophets
such as Hazrat Suleman's (SA) ability to
communicate with animals, or the beauty of
Hazrat Yousuf (SA) which is often quoted.
Besides the stories of the prophets' lives,
other important events are also covered,
like the story of Habeel and Qabeel (Abel
and Cain) and "Surah Feal aur Abraha", which
narrates in detail the event where God
protects Khana-i-Kaaba when it is attacked
by Abraha. Qurani Qissay is
definitely a good effort to acquaint young
readers with religion.
Another book by the same author is Mazae
Mazae Ki Kahanian, which is a
compilation of five short stories. The
stories deal with the themes of environment,
greed, helping each other and behaving
sensibly.
The stories, which may appear senseless or
even absurd to older readers are, in fact,
gripping, besides conveying a strong
message. For instance, the story "Podna aur
Podni" where a small bird displays
magnificent courage to confront the king who
has taken his mate captive or the tale of
the poor sparrow who loses the only morsel
it had and knocks on so many doors for
assistance but the only one who offers help
is an ant to which the sparrow attaches
little importance. How beautifully the story
tells us that nothing is too insignificant
in this wide world.
Three of the stories make use of the
technique of repetition of certain lines and
adding on to them, which keeps the reader or
listener fully engrossed. The stories are
written in simple language, which young
children can easily understand also wherever
an unfamiliar word is used, its meaning is
given in brackets. |
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