Yasser and Zahra Discover Surah Lahab

By Binte Abbas and Ibn Ali

You could feel the tension on the soccer field; there were only 11 spots on the team and 30 children trying out! 
As Yasser and Zahra run to join their friends, Madeeha quickly realizes that the other girls on the field are much more skilful than her! She tries a different tactic, and whispers a lie in Sunya’s ear. Soon, all the

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sun Behind The Cloud Publications Ltd
• Release date: Oct 16, 2017
• ISBN: 9781908110473

Book preview

That’s the last of it. You two go ahead and join your team while I set up the picnic tables. Good luck, inshAllah you will do a great job! Don’t forget to say, ‘Bismillah…’ before you begin!"

Grandfather’s loving words were carried with the wind as Yasser and Zahra ran to join their sports teams. Today was try-outs. Everyone got there early to ensure they could kick the black and white ball around the field and get as muuch practise as they could before the coach arrived.

As the children greeted each other, you could feel the tension in the air. There were only 11 spots available and 30 children trying out! Yasser waved at his friends Hani, Jabir, Ali Abbas and Mahdi ushering them to join him on the field. On the adjacent field, Zahra also got her friends Sunya, Nataliya, Maryam, Madeeha and Manaal to try and skillfully dribble the ball with their feet and header flick - using their head to deflect the ball.

Eventually, all thirty children were on the field.

After just a few minutes of play, Madeeha realized that this would be a challenging try-out. The other girls had incredible skills. She began to worry about her chance to make the team. To her, everyone was a threat - except Manaal, who was always frustrated with her skills and gave up too easily.

Madeeha decided to try something different. She began planning mind games to stop the others from focusing on soccer. She pulled Sunya aside and whispered a lie. Zahra thinks that you are terrible at goal keeping! She says that when you are goalie, there’s no point in having the other team even kick, we should just give them the point to save time!

Sunya’s face fell and tears trickled down her cheeks. She gave Zahra a spiteful look and then darted to the restroom to wash her face. In the restroom, Nataliya saw Sunya’s red eyes and Sunya started being mean about Zahra. The girls spent a good ten minutes gossiping about Zahra based on what Madeeha had instigated. Sunya forced Nataliya to no longer be friends with Zahra. If you REALLY are MY friend, you won’t be HER friend! Sunya hurtfully demanded. Nataliya’s head nodded up and down. When they got back on the field both girls gave Zahra the cold shoulder and dirty