بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم
In the Name of Allah,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Introduction
Egypt, also know as Misr in Arabic,
is quite unlike any other Muslim
country. For almost five thousand
years there has been an unbroken
historical record of people
inhabiting this land on
the banks of River Nile.
It is along this ribbon of blue,
amidst a bright yellow desert
landscape that the village of
Al-Khayriyyah is located.
This is the home of
'Abd al-Kareem, an extremely
gentle Egyptian boy who is
very keen to show you around
his village.
Since the time of the Companion of the Prophetصلى الله عليه وسلم
'Amr ibn al-'Asرضى الله عنه, Egypt has been a Muslim
Country. Important Islamic dynasties, such as the Tulinid, Fatimid,
Ayyubid, Mamluk and Ottaman, all once ruled this land. Kingdoms,
sultanates and empires rose and fell but the River Nile never ceased
flowing nor did the hard-working people of the countryside- Fellahin -
cease tilling the fertile fields along its banks.
Al-khayriyyah is a village of fellahin. Their lives have changed little
over the years which has helped them preserve many old Islamic
traditions and practices.
Now turn the page and let 'Abd al-Kareem introduce you to his
colourful Egyptian World.
To you all my Salaams.
Luqman Nagy
1. History of My Village
My name is 'Abd al-Kareem and
I am a Muslim, al-Hamdulillah.
I live in a beautiful Egyptian Village.
My village is called Al- Khayriyyah,
because the people who first lived
here were ''charitable'' - they always
offered aid or Khayr to those in need.
''Welcome to my village!'' or as we
say in Arabic, ''ahlan wa sahlan
wa marhaban fee baytee.''
As you can see, my village is not
far from the ancient step pyramid
of Zoser at Saqqara, the oldest of
all Egyptian pyramids. We live on the
banks of the deep and wide Nile River.
We read in our history books that my country was called the ''gift of the Nile''
by the ancient Greeks. Egypt is a desert country, but al-Hamdulillah,
because of the Nile River, farmers for thousands of years have been
able to grow wheat and other crops to support its population.
My father owns a herd of water buffalo (or gamoosa in Arabic). These
animals resemble big horned cows. They love to eat all the wonderful
fresh green grass that grows in the fields near our village. As a result,
water buffalo grow very large. My father sells buffalo milk to the city
where it is used to make delicious white feta cheese. In late afternoon,
the buffalo like to cool themselves in the canal near the river. We
sometimes jumps in and help scrub them down!
My father tells me that Al-Khayriyyah is a very old village. He says that
perhaps people from our village provided workforce for the construction
of Zoser's step pyramid almost 5,000 years ago. This imposing and
magnificent structure had a great influence on our lives. We used to sit
and play in its shade, and often wondered what life had been like so many
years ago.
Today, we speak Arabic, but a form of the ancient Egyptian language is still
used by the Copts, or Egyptian Christians, in their church services. There
are some Coptic villages in the southern part of Egypt.
Everyone in our village owns a vegetable garden. The fertile soil, the bountiful
water supply and the hot Egyptian sun all help produce incredibly large
sweet carrots and huge white heads of cauliflower, my favourite!
Masha'Allah - even the dates in our village are unusually large. You can see
some of our date trees just behind the village houses. Al-Hamdulillah, we
believe that Allah has truly blessed our home-land - Misr.
Islamic Village Stories
Written & Illustrated by
Luqman Nagy
In the Name of Allah,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Introduction
Egypt, also know as Misr in Arabic,
is quite unlike any other Muslim
country. For almost five thousand
years there has been an unbroken
historical record of people
inhabiting this land on
the banks of River Nile.
It is along this ribbon of blue,
amidst a bright yellow desert
landscape that the village of
Al-Khayriyyah is located.
This is the home of
'Abd al-Kareem, an extremely
gentle Egyptian boy who is
very keen to show you around
his village.
Since the time of the Companion of the Prophetصلى الله عليه وسلم
'Amr ibn al-'Asرضى الله عنه, Egypt has been a Muslim
Country. Important Islamic dynasties, such as the Tulinid, Fatimid,
Ayyubid, Mamluk and Ottaman, all once ruled this land. Kingdoms,
sultanates and empires rose and fell but the River Nile never ceased
flowing nor did the hard-working people of the countryside- Fellahin -
cease tilling the fertile fields along its banks.
Al-khayriyyah is a village of fellahin. Their lives have changed little
over the years which has helped them preserve many old Islamic
traditions and practices.
Now turn the page and let 'Abd al-Kareem introduce you to his
colourful Egyptian World.
To you all my Salaams.
Luqman Nagy
1. History of My Village
My name is 'Abd al-Kareem and
I am a Muslim, al-Hamdulillah.
I live in a beautiful Egyptian Village.
My village is called Al- Khayriyyah,
because the people who first lived
here were ''charitable'' - they always
offered aid or Khayr to those in need.
''Welcome to my village!'' or as we
say in Arabic, ''ahlan wa sahlan
wa marhaban fee baytee.''
As you can see, my village is not
far from the ancient step pyramid
of Zoser at Saqqara, the oldest of
all Egyptian pyramids. We live on the
banks of the deep and wide Nile River.
We read in our history books that my country was called the ''gift of the Nile''
by the ancient Greeks. Egypt is a desert country, but al-Hamdulillah,
because of the Nile River, farmers for thousands of years have been
able to grow wheat and other crops to support its population.
My father owns a herd of water buffalo (or gamoosa in Arabic). These
animals resemble big horned cows. They love to eat all the wonderful
fresh green grass that grows in the fields near our village. As a result,
water buffalo grow very large. My father sells buffalo milk to the city
where it is used to make delicious white feta cheese. In late afternoon,
the buffalo like to cool themselves in the canal near the river. We
sometimes jumps in and help scrub them down!
My father tells me that Al-Khayriyyah is a very old village. He says that
perhaps people from our village provided workforce for the construction
of Zoser's step pyramid almost 5,000 years ago. This imposing and
magnificent structure had a great influence on our lives. We used to sit
and play in its shade, and often wondered what life had been like so many
years ago.
Today, we speak Arabic, but a form of the ancient Egyptian language is still
used by the Copts, or Egyptian Christians, in their church services. There
are some Coptic villages in the southern part of Egypt.
Everyone in our village owns a vegetable garden. The fertile soil, the bountiful
water supply and the hot Egyptian sun all help produce incredibly large
sweet carrots and huge white heads of cauliflower, my favourite!
Masha'Allah - even the dates in our village are unusually large. You can see
some of our date trees just behind the village houses. Al-Hamdulillah, we
believe that Allah has truly blessed our home-land - Misr.
Islamic Village Stories
Written & Illustrated by
Luqman Nagy
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