Noor Kids: Happily Ever Hereafter

Synopsis

Nobody can live forever. Allah (SWT) created us and gives us life, and Allah will decide when to end our lives and take us back to Him (2:156). Naturally, we might fear the time when loved ones will pass away, and we also might worry about when our own time will come. But our faith tells us about death and teaches us what we must do to prepare for the hereafter. In this book, we teach two key lessons. 

In the first story, “Life Goes On,” Amira’s parents explain that they can’t and won’t always be with her, but that Allah (SWT) always is and will always continue to take care of her. Not only that, a person’s life doesn’t stop with death; rather, it is a transition from one world to another. Therefore, while it’s expected to miss the one who passed away, we should take solace in the fact that, “The hereafter is better and more lasting” (87:17). 

The second story is about preparing ourselves for the hereafter. Our belief in Qiyamah, the Day of Judgement, fundamentally changes how we live our lives. We didn’t come into this world simply to go to school, get a job, have a family, and then die. Allah (SWT) tells us that He created death and life as a test to see who is the best in deeds (67:2). We must try to perform the best of deeds such that we become good human beings in the eyes of God, before our time on earth is up. Good deeds are like bricks, which we can use to build our house in paradise, our ultimate destination, insha’Allah. The second story, “A Home in the Hereafter,” conveys this lesson through Haroon Uncle’s example, as he role models what it means to live a life for the next.

Why I like it:

• First, it includes ayats from the Quran! (which was a good reminder for me as well!) Both stories include questions for the reader to reflect on throughout the story

Life Goes On (the first story) is about Amira and her feelings, when she finds that her friend Sarah’s father had passed away when she was little.

• It addresses the fear/concerns of a child losing her parents
• It compares how a newborn comes into this life with people who pass away begin a new life in the hereafter
• It talks about the how Prophet had lost his parents at an early age and that Allah is the only one who takes care of everyone
• After the story, the book briefly talks about Jannah and has an activity where kids can design their house in Jannah, and write what good deeds they are doing to build that house
  
  

A Home in the Hereafter (the second story) starts with an Eid festival, and then Amin helping and spending quality time with Haroon uncle (an elderly masjid caretaker). The next day Amin gets news that Haroon Uncle has passed away, and the story is about how he processes it, and what everyone does as a community

• It includes the dua of Hazrat Aasiya
• It includes briefly about a funeral and focuses on how the deceased person can be honored and remembered
• After the story there’s a spot the difference activity. Below it, there’s geographical tidbit about gardens in the Alhambra (Spain) and Taj Mahal (India) and an interesting fact about the flowers first grown in Muslim gardens

Activities:

• Have your child draw what they would like to see in Jannah
• Pair it with other books about Jannah like these (click here)
• Talk about sadqa jaria, and come up with a list together about various deeds you can do for sadqa jaria

Overall:

I was searching for a book to talk to my daughter about death/life after death and Jannah. I found a lot of books from the Christian perspective or ones that said that people who pass away turn into stars. I wanted a book from the Islamic perspective.

Alhumdulillah it really helped me a lot! It covered everything I wanted to tell her, and I highly recommend every Muslim household with young children to get a copy of this amazing book.

Other Reviews:

Read Aloud by Author on Youtube

Read Aloud on Youtube