whom He entrusted with His Message.All thanks and praise is due to Allah Most High, who guides whomever He wills to the path of eternal happiness through the wonderful example of His beloved Prophet Muhammad whom He entrusted with His Message.
Many worthy collections of hadith (plural ahadith: sayings and deeds) of the Prophet Muhammad have been compiled and translated into English. Very few, however, have been compiled specifically for children and young people, and this collection is intended to fill that gap. In the Prophet’s Garden presents two hundred authentic ahadith that will appeal to all ages but are especially suitable for young people, taking into consideration their vocabulary, needs and interests. We have therefore selected ahadith that are fairly self-explanatory, and have kept notes to a bare minimum. Where only part of a hadith relates to the chapter topic only the relevant part has been included; also, the name of the narrator has not been given except when needed for clarification (although the authority for each hadith is named, e.g. Bukhari). The selected ahadith have been taken from a wide range of authentic sources: the collections of Imams Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasa’i, Ibn Majah, Bayhaqi, Malik and al-Darimi.
While we have remained close to the literal meaning of the original texts, some Arabic expressions have been paraphrased to make them easier to understand. The Arabic texts are included for ease of reference, although we assume that anyone who wishes to study them in-depth or memorise them will do so under the guidance of a scholar. Finally, transliteration marks have not been used for Arabic letters except to represent ʿayn (ʿ) and hamza (’), in order to keep things simple.
This small book has been the collaborative effort of many. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Dr. Manazir Ahsan and Dr. Muhammad Isa Waley for their help with revising the translations, seeking alternative ahadith, and offering their encouragement and support, and to Dr. A. R. Kidwai and Sarah Nakhoodah for their helpful editorial suggestions. We would also like to thank brothers Anwar Cara and Nasir Cadir for the lovely layout and design.
It is our hope that ‘In the Prophet’s Garden’ will serve as a useful introduction to the timeless wisdom of the last Prophet of Islam both at home and in the classroom, and we pray that on the Last Day it will atone for some of our sins. We ask our Lord’s forgiveness and readers’ indulgence for any faults or omissions, welcome any suggestions for improvement.
Rabi‘ al-Thani 1423 H |
Fatima M D’Oyen |