Zain's Super Friday - Social Justice Books

Reviewed by Paige Pagan

Review Source: Teaching for Change
Book Author: Hena Khan

It’s Friday and all Zain wants to do is fight off aliens and save the world with Dad. But Friday afternoons are reserved for Jumu’ah, the special Friday prayer for Muslims around the world. It’s hard for Zain to reel in all of his energy and sit through the khutbah, or sermon, and prayers, so when it’s time to line up in front of the imam, Zain dashes to the front before Dad can stop him. To Dad’s surprise, the imam welcomes Zain’s enthusiasm and asks him to help lead prayers, which is just the gesture Zain needs to focus at last.

A major highlight of this narrative is how prayer is represented as a communal and even fun activity when given proper guidance. Despite the power imbalance between Zain and his imam, their relationship is loaded with mutual respect, and with the imam’s gentle approach, Zain learns from example and independently turns his energy toward prayer. Khan presents an adult character who aptly assesses the situation — Zain being the only child amongst a sea of men in the prayer hall — and decides on a course of positive reinforcement.

On the other hand, the parent-child dynamic wasn’t as layered. Although Dad doesn’t verbalize his discouragement, his demeanor undercuts Zain’s playfulness up until the imam’s good-natured response. The scene before father and son finally play together in the end might have been a good opportunity to show Dad recognizing that had he been more vocal with Zain about the importance of mindfulness during prayer and was intentional about setting aside time for play afterwards, Zain could have had a better understanding of Jumu’ah and perhaps subsequent fulfillment of play as a reward. In this way, the experience of adults sometimes falling short in regard to nurturing is humanized.

Paige Pagan is a Social Justice Books program specialist at Teaching for Change.

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