Mindful Muslim Reader: New Club Curates Books for the Religiously Discerning Parent

When a group of Muslim moms shared their concerns about the books their children were reading and their growing fear that this generation was straying too far from the traditional way of practicing Islam, they decided to take matters into their own hands. 

As well as envisioning ways to educate and engage young minds they wanted to make sure the material they read was instilling good values in their kids while also being religiously appropriate. 

Thus, Mindful Muslim Reader was formed. 

The book recommendation platform aims to be a guide for parents and guardians who want to make sure that the books their young ones are consuming are aligned with appropriate Islamic ideologies. The four founding mothers Amira Bennabi Kunbargi, Aruba Khanani, Mariam Jukaku and Uroosa Jalal, are all readers for the website. 

“Some of the trends we’re noticing in children’s literature is disrespect for elders and that’s kind of a modern trend across the board,” says Jukaku, Mindful Muslim Reader's Content Editor. “The idea that you’re only responsible for yourself, there is a decline in the idea of responsibility for your family, for your parents, for your community. Especially for young teens, the genre is sometimes overly filled with gory violence… We’re trying to recommend books that are going to oppose those trends and bring back traditional morals.”

The books recommended are separated into several categories and then further categorized into smaller sections. The main categories include values, struggles, age, and genre. 

Parents can sift through the different sections and find books that acknowledge specific feelings their child might be experiencing or things they would like to address with them from grief to patience. 

“Our children are voracious readers and it’s hard when they pick up something from the library that you don’t know,” Jukaku said. “What kind of ideologies are in there? What kind of virtues are present? You can stick to the classics but we need a broader range. That was the impetus for starting the website.” 

When deciding which books the mothers are going to recommend on their platform, they judge them based on four criteria. The criteria include virtue, language, story and beauty. The four readers rate the books through a star system after they have read from “cover to cover”.

“What we’re looking for is books that really build a child’s moral imagination,” Jukaku said. “What it means is that it inculcates in them good values and good character. That’s the main goal.” 

While there are clearly Islamic-oriented books, the books they recommend are not just “Muslim” books, meaning they are not only by Muslim authors or directly address the religion itself. The recommendations are made to reflect the values of Islam, even if they indirectly address them as well as God.

In order for a book to be featured on their website, it must be rated at least three out of five in two or more of the criteria. 

All of the different values mentioned in the criteria are subjective. However, story and language are most concerned with the educational aspect of their platform. Judging the plotline based on how well children will be able to comprehend and keep up with it as well as the language that is being used to convey the stories is important to the readers. 

“The quality of the language that we speak, that we hear, that we read has really declined…” Jukaku said. “Having good language, having good grammar, to be able to speak clearly, express yourself clearly and understand what others are saying… In books, if you’re reading good language, you absorb that and it becomes a part of who you are.”

Beauty and virtue are dependent on the different opinions each reader has for themselves and their families. The “consciously curated” selection allows each reader recommending the books to decide what important values they wish to highlight to children. 

“It’s kind of a unique category, beauty in the sense of ihsan,” Jukaku says, referring to the Islamic concept of spiritual beauty. “The Muslim publishing industry is still in its infancy but we really want to elevate the standards for the things our children are reading. We’re hoping this rating will say, ‘The illustrations are beautiful, it was really put together, the typography, all of it kind of as a whole is beautiful.’” 

The books range from “Gold Star” rated, such as “The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood”, which showcases the best of the site’s recommendations, to those that fit a few of the categories in “a bare minimum” manner. These are considered to be “Yellow Flags” which are still worth reading however, they do have content that parents should be aware of like violence or vulgar language. 

“You can fortify your relationship with God through different means as long as you know what you’re reading and what you’re consuming,” Jukaku said. 

With the hope of offering a helping hand to others, all of the books recommended on the website are carefully vetted by parents for parents. Families visiting the website can be sure of one thing - that every book is chosen with faith-based intentionality and serves to align with the founding moms' mission of trying to mold the next generation of Muslim minds. 

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