Book Review: "The Thirst of Sakina"

Salam Alaykum,

As a Shia teacher, the one thing I wish we had more of were great children's books with age-appropriate language and proper English, as well as eye-catching graphics.

One book we recently ordered for our Islamic Studies classroom is "The Thirst of Sakina (sa)."

I really enjoyed this books for several reasons. For one, the language and text was great for a variety of grades. I read it to both the Kindergarten and 2nd graders. Although I didn't read it to the 3rd graders, this was one of our featured books during the first 10 days of Muharram, and I noticed many browsing through it during free time.

One of my favorite parts of this book is the illustrations. These were actually done by orphans who are part of The Zahra Trust, and all profits from this book go to support this foundation and other aid projects. I enjoyed telling this to the students, especially since we recently learned about orphans, and this made it that much more special for them. Another bonus was that they weren't too graphic, which can be disturbing for some students.

I would highly recommend this book for parents and teachers alike.

Helping Hands: Hadhrat Abbas Activity

Salam Alaykum!

Muharram at school has been a bit hectic! We have been having many great discussions and doing some great projects. Here is a project I did recently with the 2nd graders.

We spoke about Hadhrat Abbas and how he went to get water for his beloved niece Sakina (sa), as well as the other children, but that he was unable to get them water because the enemies cut off his hands. The children were very touched by the story, and many already knew it, but they enjoyed hearing it again.

We talked about how Hadhrat Abbas sacrificed his life and lost his hands for the sake of his Imam (a), and how we should also try to serve our Imam, as this will help us to please Allah (swt). We talked about how we can use our hands in the way of Allah (swt) and did this activity.

Materials:

• Black Cardstock
• Pastels or chalk
• Silver/gold sharpies
• Caption Template (Available Here)
• Glue sticks

Procedure:

1.  On the whiteboard, brainstorm a list of actions you can do with your hands that will help Islam. Some ideas: washing the dishes, helping parents, cleaning the masjid, giving sadaqah, praying salah, feeding the needy, reciting qur'an
2. Hand each student a black cardstock. Have them glue the caption on top so that they know how much room they have for their hand. For older kids, they can write the caption.
3. In pencil, have them trace their hand and write their name in the center. Then, on each finger, they can write how they can use their hands to serve Islam.
4. Have them trace their hand in pastel/chalk.
5. Have them trace their name and their 5 deeds in gold or silver sharpie.