Salah ad-Din and the Wicked Prince
Salah ad-Din loses a real battle to the crusaders, and a disobedient servant boy learns hard lessons, in a 56-minute audiobook for children aged 7 to 12.
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What is Salah ad-Din and the Wicked Prince about?
Salah ad-Din and the Wicked Prince is an Islamic audiobook for children aged 7 to 12 about a real battle that the great Muslim leader Salah ad-Din lost, and what it taught him about obedience, patience and trust in Allah.
In Cairo, Salah ad-Din lives in a small palace and plays chess with two boys: Ahmad, the son of his nephew Taqi ad-Din, and Hamza, the son of his servant Ismail. When his master spy reports that many crusaders have gone to take food from Syria, he decides to march on Jerusalem, held by King Baldwin, who is sick with leprosy, and the cruel Prince Reynaud.
Hamza longs to be a soldier. Salah ad-Din tells him that Muslims may not use children as soldiers, and reminds him of the Prophet's ﷺ words to a young man who wanted to fight: stay with your mother, for Paradise is at her feet. But Hamza hides among the baggage wagons and is found, and he is allowed to stay only as Ahmad's servant.
The army is large, but many of its new soldiers are untrained and slip away to raid villages. Near Ramla, Reynaud's knights ambush them from the hills. The army scatters, Captain Bulbul drags Salah ad-Din to safety, and Ahmad is killed in his first battle. Hamza is captured and sold to a Bedouin shepherd, and weeks pass before he is found and brought home.
Back in Cairo, Salah ad-Din asks Allah's forgiveness for rushing into battle and for not keeping his soldiers in order, and he promises to learn from his mistakes. Read by Ramon Tikaram, it is a Miraj original.
What your child will learn
- Obeying our parents and those in charge keeps us and others safe.
- Everyone makes mistakes, even great leaders, and we must learn from them.
- When we fail, we turn to Allah, ask His forgiveness and try again.
- A good army never harms or steals from ordinary people.
- Paradise lies at the feet of our mothers.
Chapters
- The Sultan's Army
- Ahmad and Hamza
- Hamza Disobeys
- The Crusader Plot
- The Battle
- Lessons Learnt
- Hope for the Future
Where this audiobook comes from
- Sunan an-Nasa'i 3104: A young man, Jahimah, asked the Prophet ﷺ about going out to fight; he asked whether his mother was alive and said, "Stay with her, for Paradise is at her feet."
- Surah Al-Baqarah 2:156: We belong to Allah and to Him we return. Hamza says it when he hears that Ahmad has died.
Talk about it afterwards
- Why did Salah ad-Din tell Hamza he could not be a soldier?
- What did Hamza do wrong, and how did his parents feel?
- Why did Salah ad-Din's army lose the battle?
- What did Salah ad-Din ask Allah for after the battle?
- What can we do when we make a mistake?
Frequently asked questions
What age is Salah ad-Din and the Wicked Prince suitable for?
Children aged 7 to 12. Soldiers are killed in the battle, including Hamza's friend Ahmad, and Hamza is captured and sold as a slave, so it suits older children, perhaps with a parent.
Is Salah ad-Din and the Wicked Prince a true story?
The battle is real, and so are Salah ad-Din, King Baldwin, Prince Reynaud and Ahmad, Salah ad-Din's young relative who died fighting. Hamza and the other characters are imagined, as the audio explains at the start.
How long is Salah ad-Din and the Wicked Prince?
About 56 minutes, in seven chapters.
