A Whisper of Peace

Dawud Wharnsby’s book under review, being a collection of poems, seeks to familiarise Muslim children with a range of Islamic articles of faith, terms, concepts and moral directives. Amid the topics covered are: how to glorify and celebrate Allah’s creative wonders, the Qur’an, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Prayers, miracles, and the meaning and message of Islam. Wharnsby largely succeeds in articulating the Islamic stance, especially on miracles and the abiding message of Islam. He deserves credit for tackling well the tricky and somewhat unfathomable issue of miracles granted by Allah to the Prophets Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them). Likewise, his poems in chaste, rhythmical English give children a fairly clear idea of the features and components of Islam, its devotional acts of worship and its outlook on life, though in brief. Notwithstanding Wharnsby’s pious intentions and the credentials of the Foundation as a trustworthy publishing house, this little book is marred by instances of omission and commission. Oddly enough, the book does not bear page number; pagination starts only at p. 31 to finish on p. 35. While Wharnsby presses home rightly the point that all of our actions should be prefaced with reciting bismillah, it is hard to make out any sense of this verse: “from every mountain, peace will ring bismillah, bismillah.”