Book Review: Yan’s Hajj, The Journey of a Lifetime by Fawzia Gilani

I like to keep an eye out for Islamic books for children for a number of reasons: increasing their Islamic knowledge, a means of normalising Islamic language, behaviours and dress, creating positive role models and teaching about good deeds.

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Yan’sHajj falls into the last two categories.  Yan is a poor farmer who works hard to save money to go to Hajj.  Every time he sets out he finds someone on the way who is more in need of the money than himself and uses it to help.  Each time he saves the money, he is a little older and finds it a little harder to save enough.  By the end of the book he has helped build a school, helped build a masjid and rescued and raised an orphan.  By this time he is also too old to earn enough to ever get to Makkah to perform his hajj – will he ever get to the house of Allah (SWT)?

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In the book, Yan’s good deeds came back to help him on his way in one last attempt at this special journey of a lifetime, which has actually taken a lifetime.

This is a clearly written book, with the goodness of Yan and his love of Allah (SWT) evident on every page.  The drawings are simple, but I enjoyed seeing how Yan aged through each event in the book.

What stood out though was the beautiful message of the book.  I loved how Yan put the needs of others before himself at every turn. He loved Allah (SWT) and longed to visit his house, but he could not see others in difficulty and walk away to the extent that he was ready to sacrifice his precious dream to helps others.

This is probably one of the best children’s books I have come across.  The story is wonderful and I choked up as I read it to my children, struggling to keep my voice level by the time I got to the end.  It’s one I would read to my little ones again and again.  I know there are good people like Yan in this world and I hope that this book inspires my children to be amongst them. 

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