“Stories of the Prophets (Peace Be Upon Them)” by Ibn Kathir
This is a fascinating book about the Prophets of Islam (peace be upon them). It tells their stories concisely, using Qur’an citations for added context, then provides the further explanation about the stories, including the theological debates between the scholars and sacred books.
The stories are about the following:
1. Prophet Adam and Eve (Hawwa) 2. Prophet Idris (Enoch) 3. Prophet Nuh (Noah) 4. Prophet Hud 5. Prophet Salih 6. Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) 7. Prophet Isma’il (Ishmael) 8. Prophet Ishaq (Isaac) 9. Prophet Yaqub (Jacob) 10. Prophet Lot (Lot) 11. Prophet Shuaib 12. Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) 13. Prophet Ayoub (Job) 14. Prophet Dhul-Kifl 15. Prophet Yunus (Jonah) 16. Prophet Moses and Aaron 17. Prophet Hizqeel (Ezekiel) 18. Prophet Elyas (Elisha) 19. Prophet Shammil (Samuel) 20. Prophet Dawud (David) 21. Prophet Sulaiman (Soloman) 22. Prophet Shia (Isaiah) 23. Prophet Aramaya (Jeremiah) 24. Prophet Daniel 25. Prophet Uzair (Ezra) 26. Prophet Zakariyah (Zechariah) 27. Prophet Yahya (John) 28. Prophet Isa (Jesus) and Mary 29. Prophet Muhammad.
Never have I found the stories of these Prophets all compiled neatly into one book. Now, of course that there could be 29 books written about these 29 Prophets, and that’s one of the unfortunate downside of this book. It’s a shame that the stories are [understandably] shortened to make way for all the other stories to fit in the book. But so much so that some of the important details are missing, and the events look speeded up.
Hence, for untrained eyes it would mistakenly appear that most of the stories have the following sequence: 1. Certain group of people are starting to sin and forget about Allah 2. Allah send a Prophet to remind them of the true path 3. They ignore the message 4. Those who follow the Prophet are safe, while the rest are punished. Which is technically true, but not in this grossly simplistic way.
Now think of it like the final season of the Game of Thrones. It’s rushed, it’s an awful ending for such a great build up from season 1 to 7. But apparently, the original plan was to spread out the sequences in season 8 for several more seasons. So that the transformation of Khalesi into a mad queen will be gradual, the war against the White Walkers will be longer, etc. Now this sounds absolutely fantastic.
Likewise, the long-form stories of the Prophets reveal so much more than just this simplistic sin-to-punishment template. They show, among many others, more descriptive details of their awful sins, the many attempts over long period of time to make the sinners realise of their sins, and they also show Allah’s mercy and patience over them. And thus, reading this book requires a bit of a grain of salt.
Nevertheless, this book of short biographies is still an excellent introduction for the stories of the Prophets. It is written in a “goldilocks” pace where it is fast enough not to be boring, but slow enough to let us absorb them in peace. Perfect for a Ramadan reading.
THE CHAOS THEORY 