About Zaynab Books

 

مَا شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَا قُوَّةَ إلَّا بِٱللَّهِ  

Origin:

Anybody can tell a story. Narrating is human. A Muslim dad wants to tell his child a wholesome story, naturally. The kid might as well learn something in the process, thinks Dad. Let’s give it a moral. How about the kid gets some aesthetic delight in the process? Dad loves that. Voila: Zaynab Books is born.

History:

The bedtime story grew into a novella (and eventually a 300 + page novel) and, for reasons having to do with creative control, Dad founded a company to publish it. He named the company after his late sister.

Zaynab Books emerged in 2015, initially with the name Zainub Perisa Publishing. Journey Beyond the Great Tree was launched at the ISNA national convention in metro Chicago that year.

A family-centered company, the company paused when the family again moved overseas. In 2019, Zaynab Books LLC was revived with a mission to provide young Muslim readers with novels and short fiction that combine the literary, the artistic, and the contemporary, while honoring and manifesting the norms and culture of Islamic tradition.

Staff:

Dad, aka the Editor, worked in 1988 at Workman Publishing, Inc. in Manhattan. In the nineties, he worked as a Publishing Operations Specialist at Matthew Bender & Co. He has taught English in Asia, the Middle East, and the US, where in the space of the last few years he has taught world, British, and American literature in metro Chicago.

Purpose:

Zaynab Books is a haven for Islamic arts and letters. Zaynab Books offers publications consistent with Sunni Muslim values, beliefs and culture. The publications are intended to complement the lives of readers 8 to 18, growing up in English-speaking, multicultural societies. The publications are designed and developed with the intention of helping readers increase in proximity to the Divine, through remembrance, or by sparking the light of iman in their hearts.

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Journey Beyond the Great Tree began as a bedtime story, grew into a novella, and then expanded into a 300 + page adventure novel. It is the first Zaynab Books title.

 

 

 

 

 

Parent & Child: Seven Stories, a limited edition anthology featuring short fiction written by Muslim children with their parents, was the second publication and is out of print.

 

 

 

 

The third publication is Safa’s Palette: Coloring & Vocabulary Book of Allah’s Names, authored by Shaykh Hatim Yousef, PhD., with illustrations by Sanah Z. Shan, and Arabic calligraphy by Ustadh Usman Ghani. 

 

 

 

 

 

The most recent publication is Reflective Friend: Anthology of Student Writing (Volume 1).

 

الحَمدُلِلهِ رَبِ العَا لَمين