3 Review(s)

Here we are with the book Stories of the Qur'an by AI-Hafiz Isma` il Ibn Katheer Ad- Dimashqi (May Allah rest his soul), taking a tour throughout the stories mentioned in the Glorious Qur' an pertaining to which Allah the Almighty says: {Indeed in their stories, there is a lesson for men of understanding}. (Yusuf, 111) Yes, in order to find admonition, lessons and exemplary models! This book of ours handles the stories that are cited in the Glorious Qur'an, gathered from the book titled, Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah (The Beginning and the End). The book also covers a number of stories that were not included in Al- Bidayah wan-Nihayah, such as that of Harut and Marut. Also, stories of Allah's Prophets and Messengers (Peace be upon them all) are not included here as they are already detailed in Ibn Katheer's other book Stories of the Prophets. The substance of this book is based on the ideas published by Dr. Israr Ahmad in 1993 in the columns of the Urdu daily Nawa-e-Waqt of Lahore. The series of write-ups continued for a few months and were widely read with interest. The entire material, after slight editing, was published in a book form in October 1993 under the title Sabiqa aur Maujuda Musalman Ummatun ka Mazi, Haal, aur Mustaqbil, and has since gone through many re-prints. Dr. Ahmed Afzaal rendered these ideas into English and part of it was serialized in 1995-96 in the monthly Hikmat-e-Quran published by the Markazi Anjuman Khuddam-ul-Quran Lahore. For putting it into a compact book, he further revised the entire material, added his own sub-titles, and made it more authentic by giving quotations from the Old and New Testaments. Indeed, he took great pains to make the citations of quite a few historical events and landmarks, particularly of early Jewish history, more authentic by giving dates and references from reliable sources. Moreover, he suggested a much more telling title for the book Lessons from History and the sub-title Reflections on the Past, Present, and Fut