Abu Bakr al-Siddiq
When the Prophet died on a Monday in the year eleven, the Friday prayer stood in two towns and nowhere else. Ibn Kathīr's account of the first caliphate opens there — with a man who begins by saying he is not the best of them, and who then refuses to recall an army the Prophet had sent, though every advisor urges it. What follows is the Ridda: Musaylima and the walled Garden of Death, Sajah arriving from the Jazira, Khālid at Yamāma, and four hundred and fifty reciters of the Qurʾān dead in a single morning — which is why the Qurʾān was gathered from flat stones, palm stalks and the chests of men. Fifty-one chapters, told with the obituaries the battles cost, and ending where his caliphate does: two years and three months, and a man of sixty-three, the age at which the Prophet died.
Imam Ibn Kathīr
Monumental history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, the world's most widely read Qurʾanic commentary, and the classical Stories of the Prophets.
al-Maktaba al-Shāmila
The Arabic text we work from matches al-Maktaba al-Shāmila verbatim — the most comprehensive digital library of classical Arabic-Islamic scholarship, used by academic researchers and traditional ʿulamāʾ alike. The original Arabic will be published in BookKit (launching in a future release).
The author is deceased well before 1924, placing the original work firmly in the public domain worldwide. The translation that follows is an original editorial work of Joyful Muslims.
Joyful Muslims editorial team
Translated in-house from the Arabic manuscript. Each chapter passes through at least two reviewers — one focused on accuracy against the Arabic, one on English readability. Where the two are in tension, accuracy wins.
The full, unabridged English translation will be published alongside the Arabic in BookKit, launching in a future release. The audiobook adaptation — same translation, adjusted for listening — is what plays in the app today.
Narrated with care
The narration observes Islamic textual traditions — the pronunciation of Arabic names, the correct honorifics (ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam, raḍiya Allāhu ʿanh), and the weight each passage should carry. Every word is aligned to the source text so readers in the app can follow along word by word.
Joyful Muslims
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Listen to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq
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