A is for Allah

If it hasn't already won an award, it should. Despite one bothersome but completely forgiveable little grammatical error in the introduction, "A is for Allah", a didactic picture book for the beginner (not just for children!) is a lovingly crafted, complete and utter masterpiece. Simply stunning! From the sturdy, sewn (not glued) binding to the rich colours and delicate typesets and superb artwork used to sensitively and comprehensively convey the basics of the faith, no detail was overlooked in this book's production. This clearly was a labour of love for Yusuf Islam. The book took 20 years to complete and -- enjoyably for the reader -- it shows! "A is for Allah" is a joy simply to hold in one's hands; it commands respect and demands to be lovingly handled. Yusuf Islam and Abd al-Lateef Whiteman (the artist who worked closely with him) have created in "A is for Allah" a rare work: a serious teaching tool as well as a piece of art. The book presents all of the necessary points of the Islamic faith in an amazingly comprehensive yet concisely packaged format. Yet Yusuf's writing style is not sterile; instead, it adds a personal and sometimes amusing touch. The reader tends to remember what he says, simply by the unique manner in which he says it! And when the reading experience is completed by the sensory-rich auditory accompaniment of the CD of the same name (in which Yusuf Islam and co. "read along" and sing to the lucky listener), the result is pure learning pleasure. An experience impossible to forget! [NOTE: I wrote this review (word for word) in January 2002 but have only just now gotten around to posting it.]

A well researched and presented book that grows with the young redears' sklls. Target age-group: 4 -8 years. At the top of each page, the book prints an Arabic letter of the Alphabet and the English transliteration of an Arabic word that starts with the letter. Besides, each page contains beautiful photographs, Islamic calligraphies, translations of Qur'anic verses, lyrics of the songs -- that are recorded in the CD and audio -- that correspond to the associated Arabic word. The tapescripts are given in each page, too. I find the colour combination (different in each page) to be most attractive. It is very clear that the Arabic words are chosen very carefully so as to instil God-consciousness in the readers' mind.However, I bought it for my 9-month-old baby, particularly because of my intention to teach her the Arabic as a second language (none of my family members speaks Arabic). At that time, my baby and I used to take out the book almost everyday, treating it just as a picture book, while I would point to each Arabic letter and concentrated on the phonics only. By 15 months of age, she was not only able to recognise all letters in printed format (even when shown in random) and pronounce all of them, but also recognise them in HANDWRITING, plus mention of other Arabic words that started with the letter.

this was a great book. i really liked it. it teaches me about islam.

As an American Muslim, I have always been dismayed at the lack of learning tools that are available to Muslim children growing up in the Western world. Yusuf Islam has helped fill this void with the creation of this book and especially the CD or tapes that can be bought seperately.My kids love this, and believe it or not, adults will too.