Ozkan Oze - I Wonder About the Prophet

i
WONDER
ABOUT
THE
PROPHET

I Wonder About the Prophet

Published by
THE ISLAMIC FOUNDATION

Distributed by
KUBE PUBLISHING LTD
Tel +44 (01530) 249230, Fax +44 (01530) 249656
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Website: www.kubepublishing.com

First published in Turkey by Uurbcei Publications,
a Zafer Publication Group imprint, in 2008.
This edition first published in 2016.

Text 2008 Ozkan Oze
Translation 2015 Selma Ayduz
Illustrations 2008 Zafer Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner

Author zkan ze
Translator Selma Aydz
Series Editor Dr Salim Aydz
Illustrator Sevgi igen
Book design Zafer Publishing & Nasir Cadir
Cover Design Fatima Jamadar

A Cataloguing-in-Publication Data record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-0-86037-508-1
eISBN 978-0-86037-558-6

BOOK

i
WONDER
ABOUT
THE
PROPHET

zkan ze

Translated by Selma Aydz

Illustrations: Sevgi igen

The Prophet Muhammad does not appear in any of the pictures in this book.

Contents

THE STORY OF the I Wonder About Islam series started one day with my son asking me, Why cant I see Allah, dad? The question was so unexpected that I didnt know what to say, although I actually knew the answer.

But when he asked so suddenly, I just said, Umm, well He opened his eyes wide and started staring at me as if to say Come on, give me the answer! I beat around the bush for a while. You know, I was humming and hawing. In the end, I said, Your eyes are so small, yet Allah is so big! This is the answer to the question. Because of this, you cant see Allah!

Oh, really? he said. He turned his Spider-Man toy around in his hands. Then, as if he hadnt said anything, he went to his room. He was only five years old

Perhaps, for a child his age, this answer was enough. I had handled the situation. However, as he got older, he would ask heaps of new questions about Allah. I had to prepare my answers.

So, that is how I started the I Wonder About Islam series.

The best thing about this book is that not only my kids, but kids from around the world can read my answers.

The first and second books in the I Wonder About Islam series consist of answers I have given to questions about Allah.

In the third book, you will find answers to questions about the Prophet, peace be upon him.

The fourth book is about the Muslim holy book, The Quran.

As for the fifth book, the topic is death and life after death. In particular, you will find answers to questions about heaven.

In the sixth book, I answer questions about belief in fate.

The last book of the series is about angels.

Have I answered all the questions about all these topics? Of course not! Ive only tried to answer the most frequently asked ones. But if you look at how I have answered these questions, it will help you work out the answers to other questions yourself. If you hang on to your questions tail and pull as hard as you can, a huge answer will follow.

And after reading this book, you will see that questions dont frighten you as much as before. You will bravely ask the questions you thought were the hardest to answer, and soon you will see that you cant think of a question that doesnt have an answer. Asking a question is saying, I want to learn!, I want to understand!, I want to know better and love more! You should never be afraid of asking questions, and dont ever give up asking questions! Because a question is a key. Every question opens a door for you. And behind every door is a whole other world.

Furthermore, asking a question is also a prayer. Make sure you pray a lot so that your mind and heart are filled with the light of knowledge; so that your path is always bright.

The I Wonder About Islam series has been written using the works of the great Muslim scholar Said Nursi (18781960). The answers given to the questions and the examples to help you understand the topics have all been taken from his Risale-i Nur books.

zkan ze
stanbul, 2012

A Messenger has come to you from among yourselves. Your suffering distresses him: he is deeply concerned for you and full of kindness and mercy towards the believers.

Surah Tawbah 9:128

WHEN WE WERE born we opened our eyes and found ourselves in a magnificent world. Just like a baby girl who wakes up in a room full of all the things that she needs, whatever we needed had been prepared for us in this magnificent world.

The sun was in the sky, brightening our day and also warming up this earth as if it was both a light and a heater.

When night came, the moon appeared like a comforting lamp and billions of stars were smiling like pearls in the heavens.

The calming colour blue was spread across the sky and the high seas, which were full of thousands of different types of fish

Trees grew from the soil under our feet and from their branches sweet cherries, pears, oranges and other hundreds of different types of fruit were extended toward us.

Just so we could drink sweet, nutritious and warm delicious milk, great big cows were grazing in lush meadows all day.

A tiny bee was living its life going from flower to flower to make more honey than it needed.

Clearly, we humans were taken care of.

Well, why was everything revolving around us in such a way?

Who were we, for Gods sake?

What business did we have here?

Where did we come to the earth from?

Why did the One who brought us here bring us?

Were we just to sit among so many treats, so many blessings, so much kindness?

Why did we have to leave this place of beauty after living for some time on this earth?

These were big questions. We had to find answers to them.

Chosen teachers

We were like tiny sparrows lost in a thick forest of questions. The forest was so great and we were so small

However, in this forest even ants had an advisor, bees a queen, a flight of swallows a head, the wild wolves a pack leader

Were we going to be the only ones left leaderless?

Was Allah, who sent us to such a beautiful world, who created us so beautifully going to leave us without a guide?

Of course not!

Allah chose messengers from amongst us.

He spoke to them on behalf of all of us.

He informed them of the answers to our questions.