In so doing...

In so doing, he built up a large personal library of reference books which people borrowed to read on their own. He was committed to education, propagation and the defence of his faith. Towards this end, he started evening and week end schools for the young and the adults, and initially used his own premises for most activities.

As the community enlarged, he participated actively to build the first mosque in Nairobi, and to employ an alim (a Muslim minister and a jurist) to carry out the daily religious practices. However he continued his services at a personal level throughout his life. He died in Mayo Hospital, Lahore on October 18, 1962 attended by his youngest son who was a medical student at that time. His passion came to fruition. He saw his son in the Medical School and in his service by his bed side.

He was buried besides his father in their family cemetary at Narowal, Pakistan. A Humble Request from the Reader Dear Brother/Sister in Islam, Please pray for my parents and grand parents, as well as for my husband Syed Muhammad Hussain Shamsi, the author of this book and his parents, and recite the Sum Fateha for their eternal benefit. May Allah protect you from evil and bless you with health and prosperity in this world, and make available means for your salvation in the hereafter.

May Muhammad wa Ale Muhammad shower you with peace and tranquility in this world and the next, Amin. Sayyeda Begum Mumtaz Manzil, Narowal, Pakistan Author's Foreword It was generally felt that whereas there is a lot of written material available on the lives of the Prophets, the beginners, especially the young students are unable to benefit from these voluminous works. This problem became more obvious when I was teaching at Sunday School on Islam to young children of the Nairobi Muslim Community.

Although no one is expected to know all the generally quoted number of the prophets of one hundred and twenty four thousand, the children were unfamiliar with even the names of those mentioned in the Qur'an. To fill this gap, it was therefore felt that a brief narrative be compiled about these prophets. This is how this booklet came to be compiled. The beginning of the book has an abbreviated Table of Genealogy of the Prophets, starting with Adam and concluding with Muhammed.

This should provide an historical perspective to these greart personalities. The narratives are purposely kept brief to facilitate memorization and retention.