At Letterbird, our greatest inspiration is the Golden Age of Islamic history, dated from about the 8th century to the 13th century, during which Islamic knowledge in science, art, medicine, architecture and philosophy flourished. At this time, the Islamic capital cities of Baghdad, Cairo and Cordoba became the primary global intellectual centres of scholarship and learning. The ingenuity of this period of history provides us with a looking glass through which we as the Muslim Ummah are able to glimpse our highest potential. At Letterbird, it is our sincere vision that we may be able to peer through this looking glass towards a future for the Ummah that is as bright and glorious as its past. We believe that we can reach these pinnacles of achievement again, and that a love of reading and a firm understanding of the world around us are integral to the development of our next generation of leaders.

As parents, teachers and caregivers we appreciate the value of reading in the context of a child’s development and recognise its usefulness in the cognitive, emotional and spiritual development of our children. But we often forget that the command to read was the very first command given to mankind in the Qur’an – a command given to an unlettered prophet, at a time when few people were able to read. In Surah Al-Alaq; Ayahs 1-6, we are told:

“Read! In the name of thy Lord,

Who created man from a clot;

Read! And your Lord is the most Generous,

Who has taught (the writing) by the pen;

He has taught man that which he knew not”