Literature for Young Readers
The Four Imams
Author(s): Ali Hammuda
Reviewed by: Elma Ruth Harder
Review
Reviewed by: Elma Ruth Harder, Muslim Education Foundation, Canada
Published by: Markfield, UK: Kube Publishing, 2024, 133pp. ISBN: 978-0860379485.
Adapted by: Zimarina Sarwar,
Illustrated by Martha Antonelli
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The Four Imams begins with the question, ‘Who are the most important people in your life?’ and connects us with “the living legacy” of four scholars whose work and deep deliberations became the foundations of four Sunni schools of law: Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, Imām Mālik, Imām Shāfiʿī and Imām Aḥmad—all of them are ‘part of our intellectual heritage and Muslim identity.’
In a storytelling style, this book presents their historical context, families and communities, travels, studies, and the unique situations and challenges they faced. Biographical and historical information is woven in with the teachings of these Imāms. After a brief introduction with a map, dates, and outline of the relationship between the Imāms, four lengthy sections tell their life journeys and works. Each section ends with a highlighted list of lessons one can learn, elucidated with examples from the way the Imāms lived their lives.