In-store location: Shelf 1.18, 7.2

By Abdul Rahman Latif, Illustrated by H Sumeyra Korkmaz. Published by Fons Vitae, Paperback, 112 Pages

from Khadijah to Palestinian martyrs. Full-color illustration

Outshine the Sun is a book detailing the lives of 40 Muslim women in history. While it is primarily a children’s book, the text is informative and entertaining for people of all ages. The women in this book are role models for us today, and the lessons their lives provide – holding to faith despite hardship, working to serve the community, and aspiring towards excellence in everything – resonate throughout time.

Western Media portrays Muslims as exceedingly patriarchal, and unfortunately many Muslims buy into that same myth. They forget that the first person to accept Islam was a woman, that Islam was passed down and further by pious, educated women. They don’t acknowledge that Muslim women have always played crucial roles in building our civilizations and cultures.

Knowing this history is important, both because it undoes so many of the biases that exist today, but also because it inspires us and teaches us what is possible. Muslim women throughout history are incredible role models- to Muslim girls, yes, but honestly to everyone. This book is an attempt to teach and popularize a small chunk of this history.

The figures discussed in the book come from a wide range of geographies, backgrounds, and times, extending from the Prophet Saw’s Day to the present! They are scholars, heroes, scientists, poets, and more. Figures in the book include:

-Fatima RA, the daughter of the Prophet (saws)
-Rabia al-Adawaiyya, the 8th century pious predecessor
-Fatima al-Fihri, founder of the worlds’ oldest college
-Razia Sultana, ruler a wide swath of the Indian subcontinent
-Malahayati, defender of Aceh, Indonesia from invasions
-Nana Asma’u, teacher and translator of Islam for thousands of people

And many more.

Each entry contains:

-a beautiful watercolor illustration, rich in meaning.
-a biography for children rendered as a quatrain poem.
-a quote from the figure (if one can be found in historical sources)
-details of where and when she lived
-an explanation of the symbolism in the illustrations
-a prose biography for older children and parents
-a list of some of the lesson’s that can be learned from the figure’s life

Additionally, after every 5 entries, there is a two-page spread detailing exercises that children might do to internalize the values learned.

Our goal with this format is to help readers learn about the lives of these women in aesthetically-pleasing, informative, and entertaining ways, and to make it clear how relevant their lives are to us today.

About the author

Abdul Rahman Latif, the author, is a PhD candidate in Religion at Columbia University where his research focuses on Medieval Islamic storytelling traditions. Mr. Latif also has a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, and a BA from Duke University. Mr. Latif reads and speaks several languages, including Arabic, Turkish, and Persian. He currently serves as the Muslim Chaplain and Associate Director of the William Jewett Tucker Center at Dartmouth College. He is the author of another children’s book, “The Tale of Ibrahim b. Adham” with H. Sumeyra Korkmaz.

Hediye Sumeyra Korkmaz is the book’s illustrator and formatter. She is currently working on her PhD in Islamic studies at Marmara University in Istanbul. She is the co-founder of a Children’s education NGO in Turkey and a student of classical illumination techniques.

Their previous collaboration is ‘The Tale of Ibrahim ibn Adham‘ The book is available for free HERE

Fatima Al-Fihri