Hassan & Aneesa Go to A Nikaah (Hassan and Aneesa)

We LOVE the Hassan and Aneesa books and have all the other books. When it was announced that this book was available to pre-order on Amazon two months ago, we did just that! It finally arrived yesterday and we read it with our children, who are 2 and 5, which is the suggested age range for the Hassan and Aneesa books.I have to say I was underwhelmed. This book goes through the process of Hassan and Aneesa’s older cousin finding a spouse. This topic is not really age appropriate for 2-5 year olds. The kids’ cousin goes on a “date” with her future spouse with her mahram present and soon after, the two get married. It really simplifies, and not in a good way, a complex and nuanced topic.The other books in the series cover basic topics about Islam, like Ramadan, Eid, Madrasa, and the masjid. I would have loved to see the author do a book about Hassan and Aneesa going on Hajj, reading the Qur’an or making salat instead. The topic of marriage in Islam is an important one, but it’s best to introduce it to older children who can understand the nuance better. Also because Muslims are such a diverse group, not everyone gets married in the manner set forth in this book, which could cause confusion to the younger children.