Snow White
An Islamic Tale
In the name of Allah, the One God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
To my parents-in-law, Judy Arleen Kayden and Terry Lee Kayden,
who never tire of illuminating the world with their generosity and kindness. I love you.
F. G.
Snow White: An Islamic Tale
Published by
THE ISLAMIC FOUNDATION
Markfield Conference Centre, Ratby Lane, Markfield
Leicestershire, LE67 9SY, United Kingdom
E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.islamic-foundation.com
Distributed by
KUBE PUBLISHING LTD
Tel +44 (01530) 249230, Fax +44 (01530) 249656
E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.kubepublishing.com
Text copyright © Fawzia Gilani 2012
Illustrations by Shireen Adams © Kube Publishing 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
Author Fawzia Gilani
Cover and Book Illustrations Shireen Adams
Book design Nasir Cadir
Editor Yosef Smyth and Fatima D’Oyen
A Cataloguing-in-Publication Data record for this book is available from the British Library
eISBN: 978-0-86037-687-3
Snow White
An Islamic Tale
FAWZIA GILANI
Illustrated by SHIREEN ADAMS
Once upon a time there lived an honest and rich merchant who had a kind-hearted wife.
Their only sadness was that they didn’t have a child.
One winter’s day, as the snow fell gently, the merchant’s wife sat by a window reading the Qur’an.
Suddenly she felt very tired and fell asleep. In her dream she saw a little girl playing. As soon
as the merchant’s wife awoke, she made a du‘a. “Dear Allah,” she said, “please bless me with a
daughter who is as patient as Job, as peaceful as dawn, with a heart as pure as snow.”
4
A year later the merchant’s wife had a baby daughter.
The wife remembered her dream on the snowy day, so
she named the child Snow White. As the child grew
her parents brought many teachers to educate her.
She learnt about Islam, science, language and played
sports. One day, her mother gave her a gift of a
Qur’an, “My sweet child,” she said, “always keep this
close to you. May Allah bless you with patience, peace
and purity.”
Sadly, Snow White’s mother
fell ill and died when she was
ten. The little girl and her father were
heartbroken. It was all they could do to ask Allah to give
them patience and strength.
Snow White took great comfort in the words of the
Qur’an and her prayers. At times she missed her mother
very much. This worried the merchant greatly so he
decided to marry thinking that Snow White would be
happier if she had the love of a mother again.
The merchant’s new wife was very beautiful. At first she behaved affectionately towards Snow White.
She appeared to be concerned with prayer and charity but eventually it all stopped.
The stepmother was very vain. She was constantly adorning herself, changing from one costume to
another and admiring herself in the many mirrors she surrounded herself with. Rather than caring
for Snow White, the stepmother demanded that the child prepare all the meals, wash the clothes
and clean the house. It greatly angered and saddened the merchant to see his young daughter being
mistreated and neglected, so one day he complained to the stepmother.
6
It was shortly after this that the merchant died of a strange illness. Sadness filled the poor orphan’s
heart. She tried to console herself with the story of Prophet Job. Many tears were shed as Snow
White spent her nights in prayer.
Now that the merchant was gone, the stepmother began to do many horrid and dreadful things.
If she saw something she liked, she would take it by force, whether it was from a child or an elder.
And it was common for people to mysteriously disappear if she disliked something they said or did.
It came to be known that the stepmother practiced magic. At night strange words could be heard
from her room followed by a loud and wicked cackle. Poor Snow White would shake in her bed and
remember the verse in the Qur’an about those who studied magic,
And they learned what harmed them, not what profited them. And they knew that the buyers of
(magic) would have no share in the happiness of the Hereafter.1
7
The stepmother also owned a jinn, which would answer all her questions. She would say
to the jinn, “Jinn, jinn, obey my call. Who is the fairest of them all?”
The jinn would reply, “O Lady, you are beautiful, fine and fair. To you there is no other
who does compare.”
Whenever