The Wonders We Seek: Thirty Incredible Muslims Who Helped Shape the World: An Illustrated Collection About Muslim Historical Figures in Medicine, Sports, and Literature for Kids

by Saadia Faruqi, Saadia Faruqi, Aneesa Mumtaz

In this biographical collection, with stunning portraits and illustrations by Saffa Khan, authors Saadia Faruqi and Aneesa Mumtaz highlight some of the talented Muslim physicians, musicians, athletes, poets, and more who helped make the world we know today. A brilliant surgeon heals patients in the first millennium. A female king rules the Indian subcontinent. A poet pours his joy and grief into the world’s best-selling verses. An iconic leader fights for civil rights. And many, many more. Throughout history—from the golden age of the empires of Arabia, Iraq, Persia, and India, up to modern day—Muslims have shaped our world in essential ways, with achievements in music, medicine, politics, human rights, literature, sports, technology, and more. Give this book to readers who are excited to learn about the great figures and thinkers in history! The authors introduce their book with a personal letter to the reader, setting out their motivations and hopes for the stories they are telling. The backmatter includes a glossary and bibliography for readers’ further research and learning.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Middle Grade, Biography, Religion, Audiobook, Childrens

160 pages, Hardcover

Published June 7, 2022

About the author

Saadia Faruqi is a Pakistani American author, essayist and interfaith activist. She writes the children’s early reader series “Yasmin” published by Capstone and other books for children, including middle grade novels “A Place At The Table” (HMH/Clarion 2020) co-written with Laura Shovan, and “A Thousand Questions” (Harper Collins 2020). She has also written “Brick Walls: Tales of Hope & Courage from Pakistan” a short story collection for adults and teens. Saadia is editor-in-chief of Blue Minaret, a magazine for Muslim art, poetry and prose, and was featured in Oprah Magazine in 2017 as a woman making a difference in her community. She resides in Houston, TX with her husband and children.

Reviews

[Feliciana]

The Wonders We Seek: Thirty Incredible Muslims Who Helped Shape the World by Saadia Faruqi and Aneesa Mumtaz provides an overview of influential individuals who are Muslim. The authors begin from centuries past to present day.

Some things I enjoyed:
As mentioned earlier, I was not familiar with many of the individuals, so I definitely felt like I learned new information.
I did not have to read the book in a linear order, I could pick a person and go to their page.
Muslims are often not given the credit deserved for their contributions throughout the centuries, this book puts them front and center.

Some things I would have liked to see:
I would find it helpful to have a map included along with the picture of the individual being introduced. If I were reading this to my daughter, I would want her to know and see the location/countries/cities/towns being discussed.
The book is somewhat dense, and I would definitely read it to my child, but only a few people at a time. It’s not a book to read through in only a few settings. I could see it being used as a reference book, but not sure it would be a book that would get reread numerous times.

Overall, The Wonders We Seek: Thirty incredible Muslims Who Helped Shape the World is a solid read that I would read together with my own child.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Quill Tree Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Aiza Idris (biblio_mom)]

The authors highlighted thirty remarkable figures and thinkers in this biographical collection with illustrations of them. Each figures are given brief introductions about their birth countries, educations, trials and success in their lives.

Most of us probably have known Ibn Sina aka Avicenna, a legend known for his popular book, the Kitab al-Qanun fi al-tibb (Canon of Medicine) focusing on trauma, such as injuries and fractures that has been used until today by doctors and scientists across the globe. Next is Malala, one of the most known activist inspiring teenager and advocates for girls education. Her focus was on women’s rights and the importance of girls’ education to ensure global peace and the eradication of terrorism. Other famous Muslims that made huge impacts in the world are Malcolm X, Naguib Mahfouz, Muhammad Ali and many more.

There’s so many important figures in this book I just discovered only after reading it and I cannot be thankful enough to know about them, their fights, contributions, sacrifices in shaping the world.

[Enakshi J.]

The Wonders We Seek explores the life of several Muslims (the community that is always looked down upon) who contributed to making the world a better place. People like Malala Yusufzai, Benazir Bhutto, Ibn Sina, Malcolm X, Zheng He, Abdul Rahman and many more unsung heroes have missed a place in the History books because their efforts have not gained enough popularity. Whether it is Razia Sultan, who was the Iltimush’s daughter and became the fifth sultan of the Mamluk dynasty or Nana Asma’u, who was an African poet and educator, each personality whose biography is a part of this book is interesting and important. The Wonders We Seek includes 30 different personalities. It’s an interesting collection that brings forth talent that was never known to the world.

This is an interesting book for 8-12-year-olds. Children will love the beautiful illustrations (Credit: Saffa Khan).

[Reem Faruqi]

I REALLY enjoyed this non-fiction Muslim biographical collection. I loved how diverse each Muslim's story was and the selection of leaders was inspiring. I can't wait for young readers to get their hands on this book and feel empowered to tell their own story. I was thrilled to see many Muslim women leaders in the book. I love that this book really dug deep into stories and I learned about people I'd never heard of! The illustrations were unique and intriguing.

A must have for every young leader's bookshelf!

[Listener Pyroska]

--I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!--

I highly enjoyed learning more about the wonderful people who helped to shape our world. As somebody who does a lot of reading and research into people from different pasts and religious ideology than I was raised with, I loved how many similarities I felt with the stories of these people. Every person is different, and every person has common ties to the next. I do feel like it was a bit hard for me personally to read because of how blocky it was with the amount of text to picture ratio. It would probably be best as a research book, I'm not sure kids would be able to plow through the amounts of text. However, it was very understandable, relatable, and informative. We could use more books like this on the shelves!

[Elizabeth]

The Wonders We Seek is an excellent collected biography! I honestly love collected biographies and I don't think I've actually read any this year, so I'm glad I could dive into such a good one.

The introduction immediately addresses the criteria they used for who to include in the book, which is great. I wish more collected biographies had such transparency. Muslims from all over the world were included, provided they had an impact outside of their own communities, there were adequate resources about their lives available, and they self-identified as Muslim. It also notes that some of the figures are controversial, and I appreciated that they didn't shy away from noting that, such as with figures like Benazir Bhutto. I do wish they had dedicated a couple extra sentences in the bios unpacking why these figures were controversial, but I've definitely read collected biographies that presented their subjects completely uncritically, and I appreciate that this book doesn't do that. Also, although I'm not Muslim, I'm deep in the process of converting to a religion other than the one I was born to, so I appreciate that this book also features a number of converts.

The selection of people included is great. The stories range chronologically from Al-Ma'mun in 8th century Baghdad to Malala Yousafzai in present day Pakistan and UK, which is an incredibly broad timeline to work with. I personally was most interested in the pre-20th century figures, which makes up about a third of the book, but the 20th century and current figures were also really interesting to learn about. Many of the figures were ones that I (and many other readers) was already familiar with, like Saladin, Rumi, Malcolm X, Noor Inayat Khan, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Naguib Mahfouz, Benazir Bhutto, Ibtihaj Muhammad, and Malala Yousafzai. Honestly though, that's only about a third of the list, and the rest of them were almost completely new to me other than being familiar with the names on the page, and that's an amazing ratio. Figures that I knew about still had chapters where there was lots for me to learn, and figures that were new to me were probably among my favourites to learn about. The early Islamic scientists like Al-Zahrawi, Ibn al-Haytham, and Ibn Sina were fascinating. 18th and 19th century figures like Abdul Rahman Ibrahim (a Muslim prince kidnapped into slavery) and Nana Asma'u (a Nigerian poet and educator of women) also really captured my attention. There are scientists, authors, musicians, athletes, activists, politicians, and more, and I loved seeing this variety. These biographies are only about three to five pages a piece, but they're fascinating, and I had a wonderful time learning more about parts of history that are often neglected in the Western world.

The illustrations here are by Saffa Khan, and they're great. There's one full page portrait for each subject and Khan gives them all a beautiful rendering to make them feel more real for the reader. I read a picture book illustrated by them a while back, and I'm glad to see more of their work because it's great. Given the wide-ranging geographical locations featured, I would have loved to see the occasional map, but those are often not included in a book like this, so I won't knock it for not having it.

Overall, I really loved this one, and it has me wanting to read more collected biographies again. I would definitely recommend this one for middle grade, YA, and adult readers who are interested in learning more history, especially the stuff we don't often learn about in a Western educational setting. I also love that there's more resources for Muslim kids who want to learn a history they can connect with.

[Wren]

This is a great book to help young readers learn more about the contributions of Muslims to fields such as art, medicine, mathematics, philosophy, politics, science, and MORE!

Before reading this book, I knew only about these people featured among the 30 notable Muslims details in this book:

Saladin
Jalal al-Din Rumi
Malcolm X
Muhammad Yunis
Muhammad Ali
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Yusuf/Cat Stevens
Malala Yousafzai

By reading about all 30 people, I was reminded about how Arabic-speaking people (not that all Muslims are from the same part of the world) developed a lot of academic and scientific knowledge during the time that the Europeans were fighting each other on muddy fields.

Al-Zahrawi was developing surgical methods in the 10th century CE.
Ibn Al-Haytham was detailing information about optic in the 10th century CE.
Ibn Sina (aka Avicenna) was a philosopher (writing Aristotilean influenced books) and a physician (writing extensively about treating traumas to the body) in the 10th century CE.

Eleven of the biographies describe important Muslim women who made great contributions as political rulers, spies, scientists, authors, and human rights activist. I enjoyed reading about Rana Dajani born in Saudi Arabia, raised and educated and working in the US. She earned a PhD in genetics, but who created projects to encourage young people to read as a recreational activity and not just when assigned as homework. She also brought her "We Love Reading" program to refugee camps. She has been able to work with UNICEF, UNESCO and other NGOs to advance reading and to improve conditions of refugees. She still works in molecular biology even with all the non-profit work that she does!

I could go on and on, but I would just strongly advise people of all ages to read this book! It's probably aimed at young readers ages 12 to 17.

Each mini-biography has an illustration (by Saffa Khan) of the person and then about four pages of accessible written by by Faquqi and Mumtaz. The organization is by date of birth. More than half of the people were born in the 20th Century.

The back matter includes a very small glossary of 13 words and then a list of sources: two per person. Finally, the book ends with an acknowledgements page

[Cara (Wilde Book Garden)]

Absolutely beautiful book! I love the focus on how science and religion don't have to be conflicting worldviews (and in fact Islam teaches that it is not only acceptable to pursue the sciences and understanding of the world, but necessary and a form of worship), and I think the authors did a wonderful job of showing the difference between cultures and religion: as in, Islam is a religion strongly based on equality, but some societies or individuals don't always interpret it that way - which does NOT make Islam a misogynistic religion/one people need to be "liberated" from, contrary to a lot of Western portrayals.

(Interesting how so many people who use feminism as a shield for their Islamophobia understand that the misogyny, racism, and other prejudices perpetrated by some Christians does not make Christianity inherently abusive, but they somehow can't make this connection with Islam.......👀)

Highly recommend this book for readers of any age and religious background.

CW: Grief, violence

[Aya Khalil]

Beautiful book! Must-have in all middle school classrooms. Informative and very interesting! I love that there were Muslims who I have never hear of, to icons in the Muslim world.

[Sobia A Khan]

An excellent beginner book for anyone wanting to know about great Muslim thinkers and activists in almost every field imaginable. Great for young Muslim kids today looking for role models.

The majority of those in this book are either from Arabia, Persia, Iraq, or the subcontinent, with a few even from America. The 30 are listed in chronological order and each has a colored headshot illustration. Very importantly, the authors have a note on how and why they choose these 30 and why others were not included. They include a brief glossary of words used throughout the book and several pages of sources (2 each) for the 30 biographed.

Reading this has definitely inspired me to read more in depth biographies of some of those mentioned here, especially Fatima Mernissi.

Reread the audio version. Annoyed at the pronunciation of 'Pakistan' when all other ethnic words are said correctly.

[Ashley Baker]

This book will make an excellent addition to classroom and school libraries. Prior to reading this, I was only familiar with a few of the people featured in the book. It left me wanting to know even more about several of them which is what books like this should do. I was especially glad to see how many Muslim women were featured in it. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the advanced copy/

[Kirin]

I've noted over the years how much I want to love these type of collections, but ultimately I just don't.  The reason I gave this one a try was quite simply the reassuring introduction.  The book immediately detailed the checklist required to make it into the book, the criteria required, and acknowledged the limitations that the book overall, and personalities included, would have in the presentation. There are sources at the end for each of the 30 people included as well.  Unlike most books in the genre, this book got out in front of my most common complaints: the lack of transparency for how the people were selected, where the primary source information was obtained from, how the order is organized, and the Eurocentric and pop culture framing that is both pandering and renders the book cumbersome a few years after it is published.  For the most part, this book is the best I've seen yet, but that isn't to say I loved it.  While the requirements to be included were made apparent, there is still a lot of opinionated statements about how "religious" or "conservative" or "devout" or "mainstream" or "strict" a person is or was, that rubbed me the wrong way.  Also knowing that the person had to identify as Muslim to be eligible seems like a black and white issue, but a few of the personalities are very controversial (some noted and some not), and I am not an expert at all.  One of the problems with books like this is they present as non fiction, and no matter the transparency, just the mere fact of who is included and who is not is a judgement call and wrought with bias.  It is nice to thumb through, but I don't know that it would get repeated use, or that it could really be used as a reference.  It is informative and I recognize that I went in to it very skeptical, but only a few text passages connected faith to the person's accomplishments, and so while they identify as Muslim, it doesn't necessarily radiate pride or admiration for Muslims as a whole.  For better or worse, if anything, it made me want to conduct my own research on many that were featured. 

A few I was concerned by, which made me question the ones that I learned something new about. Clearly there are reasons that I shy away from non-fiction.  I wish the book would have had Muslim beta readers, I am willing to assume that it did not.  Take for example the section on Saladin, I absolutely get why his name is shown as both Saladin and Salah al-Din, the book is in English presumably for western readers and that is how he is known.  But why when it says that his real name is Yusuf, is Joseph in the parenthesis? No one else's names in the book are given the English equivalents of their Arabic or Persian or other native language. Similarly so few tied back to Islam or an Islamic perspective being credited for having a role in their noteworthy accomplishments.  Even Muhammad Yunus when it discusses how interest was not a part of the micro loan process- it didn't add even one more sentence explaining that interest is not allowed in Islam, why leave that out?  

I liked that the parameters required that the person was influential more globally than just to their own country, but Rebiya Kadeer seemed to be more localized in her work with Muslims in China even when she moved out of China, blurring the rigid standards of who was to be included and who was to be left out.  

I do like that it mentions Rumi's religion is often conveniently ignored as the west has made him a hero and chosen to forget his faith.  Similarly, I like that it tries to correct when Ibn Battuta is called the Marco Polo of Islam, for in reality Marco Polo was the Ibn Battuta of Europe.  And I appreciated that Benazir Bhutto was noted as being controversial and not well liked.

[Ms. Yingling]

ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

Arranged in order of year of birth and accompanied by beautiful illustrations, this collective biography is painstakingly researched and gives brief overviews of a wide range of Muslim pioneers from all over the globe. Farqui starts the book with information about how hard it is to find biographies about Muslims, even though this community has a long history of innovation and interest in the science and arts. This has been largely ignored in Western civilization, and it can be difficult to find any personal information on some of this groundbreaking people. Since she wanted to include people whose influence stretched beyond their own country, some people who might be controversial are included.

Each entry starts with a few sentences about the person's general contribution, then includes any information about the person's family and childhood, career arc, problems faced, and lasting legacy. These range from Al-Ma'mun, who was born in 786, to Malala. People from a variety of backgrounds, careers, and areas of the world are covered. There are some people who will be more well known to Western readers who were converts to Islam, such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, and Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), but I found entries about people like poet Nana Asma'u, born in Nigeria in 1793, to be more interesting. The most fascinating person to me was Abdul Rahman Ibrahim, born in Guinea in 1762 to a powerful West African ruler and enslaved and brought to the US. It amazes me that he is not covered in US history classes.

It's hard to adequately describe collective biographies, but this is a great addition to school and public libraries, and one of a growing number of books covering previously unheralded innovators with significant impact on the world like Baptiste and Wilson's new African Icons: Ten People Who Shaped History and Mir and Jaleel's Muslim Girls Rise (2019, Salaam Reads). My only complaint is that the illustrations, which are gorgeous, don't list the people's name, dates, locations, and blurbs about their contributions. If they did, it would be a good idea to buy two copies so that one could be cut up for bulletin boards. I can't be the only one who reads collective biographies and thinks this way!

It's encouraging that I had two books in one night (the other being Zhao's Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor) that mention people with Uighur heritage. Rebiya Kadeer, known as the Grandmother of Steel and born in 1946, is included in this book.

[Jifu]

(Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley)

Although most definitely targeted towards younger readers, I was surprised and honestly delighted by just how much I personally was able to learn from these quick biographies of noteworthy women and men from the Islamic faith. Not just from the figures who were completely new to me - several entries here were names that were already somewhat familiar to me, but I had never really gotten a grasp of who they were or the lasting influences that they left until now.

Both appreciatively informative and beautifully illustrated, this would definitely make a fine addition to any children's section or comic/graphic novel section of any public library.

[Anne]

In chronological order, this book features 30 Muslims who have made important contributions to our world, many of whom have not received the credit they rightfully deserve. Each person has a 3-5 page spread, including a full page portrait by Saffa Khan. The list includes some more familiar names like philosopher/physician Ibn Sina (Avicenna), warrior and leader Saladin, poet Rumi, as well as education activist Malala, and Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad. There is a variety of genders and careers covered. Authors also note at the beginning some of their criteria for selection/inclusion.
Back matter includes glossary, sources, acknowledgements. It would have been really nice if there had been a map detailing where each individual lived.
An important addition to any collection

[Rachel McShane]

Thanks, Netgalley & Publisher, for an ARC of this book! This book was great. I can see this being a really cool coffee-table book or something left out so someone could easily pick it up and browse. It was listed as a graphic novel, but I would think it’s more of an illustrated book because it’s VERY text heavy. It’s also really educational, but with only 3-5 pages dedicated to each person, it leaves lots of room for outside research and is more of an introduction to the 30 subjects of the book. I can imagine a young reader reading some the small excerpts here, and then being inspired to do further studies on their own. Overall, a really cool book that I’d love to own!

[Sara Tiede]

Decently detailed short biographies, each is only 3-4 pages long but gives a good sense of why each person was chosen for inclusion. I will say that I wish the digital print version had been adapted better for a screen format- The different colored pages were a harder to read background, and at least in the app I read this on (Overdrive), the programing wouldn't allow for me to zoom into the screen to make the print quite big enough for it to be comfortable. A fairly short book, with a portrait illustration included for each person, it was a quick read, but my eyes have seen more comfortable texts.

[Danielle Russell]

The Wonders We Seek is an incredible way to learn about Muslims who have made an impact on the world. Going in, I had only heard of 4 of the 30 people featured in the book, and honestly only knew a good amount about Malala Yousafzai.

I am so glad that I got the opportunity to learn about these amazing men and women. Being an American, I admit I was fairly uneducated in the advances Muslims have contributed to society.


Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

[Amelia]

Faruqi has graciously selected 30 Muslims who have changed the world in a significant way, focusing on Muslims from hundreds of years ago to recent converts. In all honesty, I had expected this to focus mainly on middle eastern Muslims, but I was happy to read and view her account of figures such as Malcolm X.

Paired with beautiful illustrations, I'd argue that she has done a great job of selecting a diverse cast of Muslims, from converts, to subjects, to time period. This book will go a long way in pushing the younger generation towards empathy and a better multi-cultural understanding.

[Monique]

Thank you, HarperCollins, and Netgalley for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I love the illustrated artwork and style of this compilation of the leaders. I think this is an easy enough read for most children. As an early-twenties adult, I actually didn't really know many of these fantastic people and I think children would benefit from more of this representation. History is often told in a particular lens, but I think it's important to recognize other important people that should also be acknowledged in those history lessons.

[Maleeha Siddiqui]

From brilliant surgeons, to female rulers, to artists and poets, and iconic civil rights activists, The Wonders We Week is an enlightening and much-needed biographical collection of some of history's most talented Muslims who shaped the world we know today. I flew through the whole book in less than a day. I was already aware of some of these important figures, but Faruqi and Mumtaz still managed to teach me something new about them. Highly recommend.

[Kristina Aziz]

I once read a book from the library with my daughter that illustrated women from the Marvel heroes, gave a biography, and had inspiration for how my daughter could be a hero of her own woven throughout the pages. She liked the pictures, I liked the message. This book was that, except so much more. Our family is mixed, and whatever she hears about Muslims from kids at school or on the news, I'll be sure to have this book on her shelf so she can know how amazing her grandfather's people are.

[Hector]

I’m so glad I picked up this book because I learned a lot more about some important characters in human history. While it does have a little bit of a rocky start because of its tone (there was definitely a political undertone), sticking through this book was well worth the time. The stories are an easily digestible length and serve as a great jumping off point for further research on these amazing folks. Would love to see a book like this in more schools.

[gingerfordays]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Wonders We Seek: Thirty Incredible Muslims is an inspiring and beautifully written book that highlights the lives of remarkable Muslim figures from around the world. Each story is engaging and uplifting, making it perfect for readers of all ages. The illustrations are vibrant, and the message of diversity, achievement, and hope shines throughout. A must-have for classrooms, libraries, and homes!

[Lisa Kroeker]

I was excited to receive an advanced copy. While the art wasn’t completed for the whole book but what was done was gorgeous. Each story was well told and covered a range of accomplishments over time. I really enjoyed learning about each of the thirty Muslims included in this book from throughout history.

[Beth]

I liked how loosely they defined Muslim -- by self identification rather than by rules (even Nation of Islam is sorta accepted, although at arms length). The full page portraits were rather repetitive and not very distinctive. I'm a hard sale for a collection of biographies without a throughline and this one didn't have that -- it's good at what it does but I want more than what it does.

[Catherine Bruzdzinski]

A wonderful history of famous Muslims who changed the world. A great and easy read that are factual and inspiring. Definitely a must read for all those looking to be more inclusive and to see how many medical, literary, and scientific discoveries were discovered. Please pick it up today!

[Mitzi Mack]

Celebrating the wonders of Muslim people and their gifts to the world is the treat provided in this text. Especially needed in a world where brown skin can quickly lead to threats of terrorism. Flip the script and let’s show the incredibleness of those of Muslim background.

[Slavestosushi]

Great introduction for children and adults alike to famous Muslim figures across the globe. These intellectuals, athletes, politicians, and artists remind us that brilliance is found under one big sky.

[mango]

This was good, I know it's a kids' book, so it's a good introductory one, but I wished there was more info about the people this book cover.

Def a starting point, and I've googled a few people that sounded interesting. It was a bit nostalgic to read about people I grew up hearing about.