The Forty Questions

 The Forty Questions, Prophet Muhammad's Response to the Jews of Medina,
Paperback - 142 pages,
Compiled from Traditional Sources by Mawlana Firaqi.
[Restored from an old Ottoman source by
Hajjah Aminah ‘Adil].


Description :

The beautiful and astonishing stories of The Forty Questions full of wisdom and spirituality are an enrichment of Islamic knowledge. They lead to a profound understanding of the power of Allah Almighty, His will and compassion which He bestows upon His creation – a wisdom which generations of Muslims are proud of.


Publishers Note :

We are happy to republish the text of 'The Forty Questions' and hereby fulfilling the wish of our Shaykh’s family, especially Hajjah Aminah ‘Adil, who has relayed its treasures by reading from an old Ottoman source, very likely Kitab-i Hikayat-i qirq su’al, a book well-known for centuries which still enjoys great popularity in Turkish speaking lands, and which has been repeatedly reproduced in lithographic editions. The language is informal, unpretentious Turkish with occasional elements of Eastern Anatolian dialect.


The beautiful and astonishing stories full of wisdom and spirituality are an enrichment of Islamic knowledge. They lead to a profound understanding of the power of Allah Almighty, His will and compassion which He bestows upon His creation – a wisdom which generations of Muslims are proud of. The tales, frequently corroborated by Qur’anic verses, include various themes beginning with the creation of the world and ending with its destruction on the Last Day. They bring to light Martyrs, [Shaheed] Saints [Awliya-Allah] and Prophets [Ambiya], legendary peoples and ancient folk.


Muslims highly esteem these stories and love them to be told at length, whereas Qur’an and Prophetic traditions (hadith) often only hint at the events related in them. The stories are embedded in a frame of those forty questions that the elders of the Jewish community of Medina had prepared and passed down through the generations to be asked of the
long-awaited and expected Prophet when he came, in order to test his authenticity. The Holy Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, answered all the questions to their satisfaction and herewith won the disbeliever’s confidence.

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