Goodword Islamic Studies

Goodword Islamic Studies are a series of ten books published by Goodword Books, publishers of Islamic books for children and adults. These Islamic books have been published by this Islamic bookstore with the aim of acquainting children with Islam and its values.
They have been written by different writers such as Farida Khanam, Saniyasnain Khan, Mohammad Khalid Perwez and Mohammad Imran Erfani.

These books are taught in schools in India, the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria, Malaysia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia etc.
They acquaint children with moral values in Islam and can be taught at home or at school.

The books have full colour covers for grades 1-8 and single colour covers for grades 9-10. There are interesting sketches, illustrations and pictures in between written text. For example the chapter on five daily prayers in the Islamic Studies book for grade one, is accompanied by the picture of a mosque.

The language and explanation as well as the exercises increase in depth with the class being taught. For grade one there are well defined chapters dealing with the Quran, Prophet Muhammad, forms of doing prayer etc.

These chapters come with text in simple language together with colourful imaginative pictures. Different natural phenomena also figure. For example there is a page devoted to God and the sun and moon and another as to how God made animals. No detailed explanations figure at the level of grade one, but sentences are accompanied by beautiful colour pictures. The basic idea is to show how the world of nature has been made by God. The chapters at this stage are little more than a page. This highlights that the attention span of children is less at a young age.

By grade ten, the Islamic Studies book increases in complexity. Children are expected to have a higher level of knowledge of concepts. The names of the chapters also increase in complexity. Some examples are Human values in Islam, Human Rights in Islam, The Economic Teachings of Islam, Introduction to the Hadith and Introduction to Fiqh.

By this stage there is more importance placed on serious text and questions. The nature of pictures has also changed. While for grade one there are colour pictures, by grade ten these have given way to black and white pictures and photographs and even a map of the world. This change shows a change in the thinking of children towards serious study by grade ten.

The Islamic Studies course from grades one to ten are designed to present children with an Islamic education based on an understanding of the Quran and Hadith. These Islamic books teach moral values and show us what is right from what is wrong. Education is not only about writing exams and scoring high marks but also about creating people who are good human beings. Thus Goodword Books has brought out a unique series of books that provide a foundation for a more detailed study of Islam.