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Our very own author Suma Din has been teaming up with Dr Hany to promote Muslim role-models in schools since the release of her book ‘Dr Hany: A Servant to the World’s Poorest Peole’. These workshops focus on introducing the values, character and personality of such people as Dr Hany, who have made a massive contribution to their field, and trying to leave the students with the example of a role-model that they can look up to, and relate to.

Here are two pictures from a recent workshop at a Muslim faith school in Birmnigham:

The biography of Dr Hany, by Suma Din, is available from the Kube Publishing website for £5.99.

I know their parents have in mind a trip to the masjid for Aneesa because she has yet to go. Look out for future titles, as they are fantastic books to introduce all children to these places of interest for Muslim families.

His latest work, if you haven’t had the pleasure of reading and hearing it, is 30 songs for children that explore a spectrum of situations and aspects of life that will be of interest to their young and imaginative minds.

The stage show that Dawud has devised to capture them focuses on engaging and interacting with the children in the crowd musically (with percussion based instruments). Something that has rarely been done before in the Muslim community so directly, but builds on previous work by Dawud. It also underlines the purpose of this latest book – it should not be seen as a passive book of rhymes, instead it should be used with the CD… and a handful of instruments to play along!

When warming the crowd up Dawud promotes this sort of experience – splitting the crowd up and getting each group to make a different sound with their mouths. Seeing parents and children joining in is striking and sweet, and emphasizes the joy and fun families can have when they are creative together.

Later on Dawud invites two children to the front to join in. With no shortage of willing volunteers two are chosen and the song begins, with a musical ensemble that has bad timing, inaudible rhythm but an innocence and energy that pulls the crowd further toward the more creative island Dawud sets sail for.

This is a feature of the show that is used throughout, and benefits from the courageousness and uninhibited traits of children. Often spontaneous clapping broke out throughout the performances, particularly to ‘Piles of Smiles’ and ‘Storm’:

I love when the wind,

is wild and whistles,

through leaves of waving trees.

My bed like a boat,

in a storm afloat,

dreaming upon high seas.

The songs are split up by Dawud’s holistic and well-meaning jokes and anecdotes. He has a clear strength in working with children and it shows, joking about the adults’ ‘zombie’ like lives and how they can bring much joy and excitement into it.  Capturing their perspective in the songs is another feature of this set, relating the feeling of ‘My Father’s Beard’ and the look of watching parents standing in ‘Prayer’:

Sometimes I stand just like they do,

move my lips,

fold my hands too.

Or I curl up on their mat,

at their toes,

just like a cat.

There are moments of reflection too that draw parents and children together and relate childish hopes, dreams, and reflections such as ‘Dear God’ and ‘All of Us’:

You and I, wonder at the sky,

call God a different name.

As we try – learn and long to fly,

you and I are so differently the same.

With a collection this diverse and Dawud’s presence on stage it is no surprise each show went down a treat. And, with children learning the words and practicing their musical timing we look forward to noisier shows in the future.

If you would like to buy the book and CD ‘A Picnic of Poems: In Allah’s Green Garden’, please visit www.kubepublishing.com

As the publishers we were excited and humbled that we would get the opportunity to take Dawud on the road and introduce young and older children to his new work. And I’m delighted to say that after much hard work — lots of phone calls, leafleting and packing letters — the events are now just around the corner.

If you haven’t booked your tickets yet… get a move on! Go to www.kubepublishing.com and you will find the links to three events: Manchester, Birmingham and London.

Just to remind you what you will have the privilege of seeing, here are two of his latest songs:

A Picnic of Poems

When the World is Dark at Night

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‘This book is remarkable because it’s about a remarkable man doing remarkable work; a portrait of a much-loved  twenty-first century Muslim leader – Dr Hanny El Banna.’

The story of setting up Islamic relief is moving and instructional; moving because a student in a new country is anxious to relieve others sufferings, and instructional because from humble beginnings a large multinational charity was born. Twenty-five years of planning, tireless work, sleepless nights, heartaches, stories of courage, self-sacrifice, profound love for humanity, in war zones, in deserts, and refugee camps make this small volume a real page-turner.’

The language is simple, style engaging and the presentation is colourful and appealing, all Islamic terms are defined either in the text or in the glossary. The use of boxes instead of footnotes is a good way of presenting subsidiary but relevant information. 

The summary at the end shows the events in the life of Dr El Banna, this gives the reader a quick birds-eye view of this genius’ worker. The text is tastefully peppered and reinforced with photos of Dr El Banna doing his humanitarian work in the field. The use of maps to show the places where he worked is very educational. These features make the book ideal for parents and teachers to use for nurturing altruism and leadership in the next generation.’

This book is a compulsory read for all interested in the business of serving humanity and pleasing their Lord.’

Dr Musharraf Hussain OBE, CEO The Karimia Institute, UK

www.karimia.com

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‘This is a well researched and written piece of work with a detailed description of the [life] of Dr Hany El Banna.’

This is no doubt an inspiration packed [title], suitable for the recommended age… I recommend this to all social workers as a guide, as it contains useful advice and skills needed in that field.’

Muslim Teen Reads www.muslimteenreads.com

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‘This book is a valuable resource for humanities and Religious Education teachers as it discusses genuine examples of war, poverty, charity, marriage and struggle within the life of this exceptional man. Pupils will find it inspirational, surprising and readable. Moreover, teachers will discover that there are many chapters of the book which can be used to teach a vast number of the topics studied at GCSE especially from the point of view of Islamic belief. This book is a positive and modern example of Islamic faith in action and as such fills a much felt void.’  

R. Weaver, RE & Philosophy Teacher, Buckinghamshire UK

Dawud Wharnsby interview – part 1

Dawud Wharnsby interview – part 2

Length 30:36

Includes portions of the songs:

• Bismillah
• Sing Children of The World
• Out Seeing The Fields
• A Whisper of Peace
• Oh Little Ant

Includes full versions of the new Picnic of Poems songs :

• Rose
• A Picnic of Pomes
• When The World Is Dark At Night
• My Father’s Beard
• My Mother
• Little Baby
• Dear Mr Crow
• Ramadan Is On It’s Way

Share and comment please!

Dear Mr Crow

When The World Is Dark At Night

Rose

Let us know your favourites below!

The The songbook and CD was officially released in July, and it is made up of 30 poems in total. The book can be purchased here: http://www.kubepublishing.com/product_info.php?cPath=2_17&products_id=66

Born in Lincolnshire by Suma Din

Muslims praying outdoors at Living Islam 2011

I’ve never really been to Lincolnshire, except for landing twice in the middle of the Lincolnshire Showground, amongst tents and bulging family cars, ready to spill out on to the grass for a four day extravaganza called ‘Living Islam’.  The event is for the whole family,  (or clan or tribe) to experience a mix of serious discussions, debates and sausages, arts and craft workshops , a fun-packed scouts’ programme, fireworks display, an air show… and actually much more.

In the midst of all this is a market place (naturally there’s shopping all day and half the night!), and amongst the stalls selling everything from olive soap to artwork, was the centre piece –  the KUBE book shop.  It was here, on the first day of Living Islam that I finally met, in book form, straight out of the printer’s packaging,  a new title I’d been working on for the past year and a bit…  ‘Dr Hany El Banna, A Servant to the World’s Poorest People’.  

Muslims in the Modern World…

You might by this point be wondering what’s so great about this… just another book for your parents to read! Not quite. This book’s the first in a  brand new series called Muslims in the Modern World, especially for teens upwards, about real people who’ve achieved some amazing things.  In the last few months you must have heard about the famine and drought in East Africa.  You might have even donated some money to one of the many aid organisations out there sending off supplies to victims of the famine. Well all these aid organisations grew out of somebody’s efforts. It often just takes one person with a good idea to start something small, and then, it just mushrooms, growing bigger and bigger, until it’s hard to believe that it all started out with one or two people.  But this series isn’t just about people who started charities. There are some fascinating people’s biographies in the making  for completely different achievements.

Who’s that?

Enter this title. It’s a biography telling the story of Dr Hany went from being an adventurous child raised in Cairo, to becoming a doctor working in Birmingham UK,  and then the founder of the largest Muslim aid and development organisation –Islamic Relief Worldwide, twenty –seven years ago.  What’s unique about these biographies is that they’ll show you how faith plays a vital part in motivating  the fascinating person. It’s like seeing things you might have read or heard in theory, actually leap up into action; caring for orphans, feeding the hungry, feeling the pain of people suffering.

Dr Hany El Banna trained as a medical doctor in Cairo at a famous university called Al Azhar.  After that he moved to England to study and work.  A series of events led him to start fundraising with a friend, another doctor to raise money for the victims of a severe famine in Sudan, in 1983. The scenes he saw then on the TV and in the papers are much like what we are seeing of the famine and drought in East Africa right now. But how many of us will be on the streets, fundraising and working on setting up an aid organisation?

Interviewing Dr Hany was always an experience – an inspirational one!  His anecdotes were a mix of incredible, unbelievable, and sometimes hilarious! I thoroughly enjoyed the privilege of having his time, to either meet him in person in London, or talk to him via Skype from which ever corner of the world he was working in. Writing this biography taught me a great deal about all sorts of things; the use of time, trust in God, sincerity and courage, and of course about how people can survive in all sorts of circumstances.

Initial responses!

Well Lincolnshire proved to be a great place for the book to be ‘born’ – at a grass roots event that had a great deal to do with promoting charity. (If you’re wondering what a ‘grass roots’ event has to do with this biography, you’ll have to read it to find out!)  Four large groups of Scouts attended workshops about this book, exploring questions of what they want to become and who they look up to, while reading extracts from the book. And they had questions galore to ask me about the whole process of interviewing; writing; the designing process; printing and more.  After this, they went on to try their own hand at interviewing each other!

At first glance, there was lots of positive feedback, some Scouts liked the timeline at the back, the colour photos all the way through, others liked the fact that it’s a true story.

But that was just the beginning, now I want to hear what you think of it.  If you belong to a youth group, a study circle, or just want to read it by yourself and get back to us about your views, that will be great. Your review might even be published up here in the blog!