A Is for Allah

A is for Allah is the name of a double album created for Muslim children by Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens, originally known as Steven Demetre Georgiou) released on July 11, 2000 through Resurgence UK Records. The title song was written in 1980 upon the birth of his first child, a daughter named Hasanah.^[2] As his first child, Islam was concerned that she learn the Arabic language, to read and understand the Qu'ran (in Arabic). He himself was raised in London, the same city where they still lived, and had kept a home there throughout his life. Islam was a recent convert to Islam himself, and was concerned with the difficulties in securing a high quality 'Islamic' education for his children.

Islam, himself a musician, used the song as a vehicle to teach other children about the 28-letter Arabic alphabet.^[2] This kind of Islamic music is also known as nasheed. Utilizing the talents of other Muslim musicians -Zain Bhikha from South Africa who sang on all but one track, the album that had been in the works since 1994, with the exception of the title track (dating back to 1980), was released with a large colorful book. Each page displayed a letter of the Arabic alphabet, by Mountain of Light, Yusuf Islam's own record imprint.

Track listing

Disc one

1. "Introduction"
2. "A: Allah"
3. "Ayat al-Kursi (2: 255)"
4. "Say He Is Allah"
5. "B: Bismillah"
6. "Bismillah"
7. "T: Taqwa"
8. "Th: Thawab"
9. "J: Jannah"
10. "Surah Al-Kahf (18: 31)"
11. "H: Hajj"
12. "Kh: Khatam"
13. "D: Deen"
14. "Our Guide is the Qur'an"
15. "Dh: Dhikr"
16. "R: Ramadan"
17. "Z: Zakah"
18. "Surah At-Tawba (9: 34-35)"
19. "S: Salam"
20. "Salam, Salam"
21. "Sh: Shams"
22. "Surah Al-An'am (6: 79)"
23. "S: Salah"
24. "D: Duha"
25. "Surah Ad-Dhuha (93: 1-11)"
26. "T: Tareeq"

Disc two

1. "Turn to Allah"
2. "Z: Zill"
3. "I: Ilm"
4. "Gh: Ghayb"
5. "F: Fatihah "
6. "Surah Al-Fatihah (1: 1-7)"
7. "Q: Qur'an"
8. "Surah Al-Qadr (97: 1-5)"
9. "Qur'anu Rabbee"
10. "K: Kalimah"
11. "L: La Ilaha Illa-Allah"
12. "M: Muhammad Rasul-Allah"
13. "Seal of the Prophets"
14. "N: Nawm"
15. "Surah As-Sajda (32: 16)"
16. "H: Hijrah"
17. "W: Wu'du"
18. "Surah Al-Muddaththir (74: 1-5)"
19. "Y: Yawm Ad-Deen"
20. "Surah Al-Infitar (82: 1-19)"
21. "A Is for Allah"
22. "Last Word"

References

1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r430603
2. ^ ^{a b} Solomon, Deborah (2007-01-07). "Singing a New Song". The New York Times Magazine. The New York Times Company. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/07/magazine/07WWLN_Q4.t.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2008-10-19. 

External links

• YouTube.com (video of the song "A Is for Allah")
• IslamicLyrics.net (lyrics of the song "A Is for Allah" by Yusuf Islam)