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Introducing "Amazing Stories with Zaki the Hoopoe!" 🎉
Get ready for a storytelling adventure that’s not just for kids, but for the whole family—including parents! Zaki, the lively and clever hoopoe bird, invites everyone to explore the wonders of ancient tales, where prophets, brave animals, and magical moments come to life. 🌟 Tailored for kids aged 5-8, but with plenty of fun, humor, and fascinating lessons to keep parents entertained, too!
Zaki's adventures take you to deserts, seas, and enchanted forests, where you’ll meet the brave ant that stood up to Prophet Sulaiman 🐜, Prophet Ibrahim standing up against the evil King Nimrod, Prophet Nuh and his legendary Ark, and many more legendary Prophets. With a sprinkle of jokes, interactive questions, and exciting sound effects, each episode is an engaging experience for all ages!
Parents, you’ll love the way Zaki weaves timeless lessons with humor and charm, making this the perfect family bonding time. Whether in the car, during bedtime, or just for fun, Amazing Stories with Zaki is your go-to source for entertaining, educational stories that spark curiosity and values in kids—and even surprise grown-ups!
So, gather around, sit back, and let Zaki take you on a magical journey that everyone will enjoy. Ready? Let’s fly into adventure! ✨
My scrolls. My sacredly alphabetized scrolls.
Noora:That was my best landing yet. I only knocked over 12 things.
Zaki:Noora, what are you doing here?
Captain Suhail:Who? Flora. Dora. The shrimp seller's daughter.
Noora:Noora, with an r. Your niece, junior storyteller in training. Remember? You said you'd train at home first. I did.
Noora:I told the story of the brave Barry three times to a pine cone, it cried.
Captain Suhail:That pine cone always was a soft one.
Zaki:Look, storytelling is serious. It's about patience, guidance, heart.
Noora:Like raising someone?
Captain Suhail:Like raising a baby walrus with a fear of bubbles.
Zaki:Yes. It's about being there when someone small needs you most.
Noora:Like you were for me?
Zaki:Exactly like that.
Noora:Yay. I brought my own story snacks and I've been practicing my dramatic gasp.
Zaki:Noora, my dear, let's talk about this later. Fly along home. Captain Sohail and I have a very exciting story to record pretty soon. We need to get ready.
Noora:Perfect timing then, Amu zaki. I have some notes for you and this so called bodcast. First, your dramatic pauses. Too long. I timed one.
Noora:It lasted seven seconds. That's three more than my attention span.
Captain Suhail:Oof. She's got data.
Noora:Second, you say the word magnificent too much. Try splendiferous. It's punchier.
Zaki:But it's my signature word.
Noora:Third, we need more chase scenes, or at least something explodes, preferably bread.
Captain Suhail:I like her. She gets it.
Zaki:Oh, feathers. Here we go.
Zaki:Meraj Digital presents the amazing stories with Zaki the Hoopoe. Season two, episode nine, The Prophet and the Cub.
Zaki:Welcome, my brilliant listeners. Young, wise, and wonderfully curious. You've landed on another scroll fluttering, feather ruffling, heart soaring episode of Amazing Stories with Zaki.
Captain Suhail:Also featuring me, Captain Sohail, navigator of nonsense, and master of napping.
Zaki:And today, we bring you a story of birth, bravery, and what it means to raise someone with love, guidance, and a whole lot of patience.
Captain Suhail:Sounds like a recipe for raisin pudding, but go on.
Zaki:This is the story of a very special child, born inside the sacred walls of the Kaaba, a boy who would grow into a lion hearted leader.
Noora:Don't forget to mention he was raised by the prophet. And that part where he
Zaki:Noora, I told you, off the branch during recording.
Captain Suhail:I like her. She's got notes.
Zaki:Now, let's begin with a very special birth. A long, long time ago, in the middle of the busy city of Mecca, there was a big beautiful cube made of stone.
Noora:Wait. A cube? Like a giant sugar cube?
Captain Suhail:Aye. The sweetest cube in the desert, but made of rock, very bad in tea.
Zaki:Noora, it's called the Kaaba, the very first house built to worship Allah. It's where Muslims all over the world turn to when they pray. One day, a kind woman named Fatima, wife of Abu Talib, came to the Kaaba.
Noora:Wait. The Abu Talib? The one who protected the prophet when he was a kid?
Zaki:That's the one. And now his wife was about to have a baby, but she was in a lot of pain. So she went to the Kaaba and made a heartfelt dua.
Captain Suhail:A prayer under the shadow of the sacred. That's no small whisper. The wall of
Zaki:the Kaaba split open and she walked right inside. Then it closed behind her. And nobody could get in? No one. People tried.
Zaki:They called her name, pushed on the walls, but the door wouldn't open.
Captain Suhail:So panic, confusion, wild running in circles.
Zaki:Not everyone. One person stayed calm.
Noora:The prophet?
Zaki:Yes. He sat quietly near the Kaaba, waiting, trusting. And after three days, the wall opened again, and Fatima, wife of Abu Talib, came out glowing with joy. In her arms was a tiny baby boy. She looked at the Prophet, smiled, and handed the baby to him.
Zaki:She said, He hasn't opened his eyes yet. And as the Prophet Muhammad held the baby, the child opened his eyes for the first time. The Prophet looked into his tiny eyes and said, Open your eyes, O Ali, O exalted one. Ali grew up in a very special home, the home of the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.
Noora:You mean the actual real I make wisdom look easy prophet?
Zaki:Yes, that one. After Abu Talib took the prophet in as a boy, the Prophet grew up and later helped to take care of Abu Talib's children, like little Ali. Ali was still small, but he had the sharpest eyes and the biggest heart. The prophet would teach him how to speak gently, how to share his food, and how to always tell the truth.
Noora:Even when it's hard? Like telling someone their sand castle looks like a lumpy potato.
Captain Suhail:That's exactly what I said at the sand castle festival of March.
Zaki:Didn't go well. Ali didn't just listen to the prophet, he watched him, every little thing. When the prophet helped the poor, Ali helped. When the prophet showed mercy, Ali copied him.
Noora:Like a tiny wisdom sponge.
Zaki:Yes, a sponge with courage. Even as a kid, Ali cared more about what was right than what was easy. One time, the prophet gave away the very last bit of food in the house to someone hungry. And guess what Ali did?
Noora:Gave away his food too?
Zaki:He slid his plate over and said, we can eat later. And they did.
Captain Suhail:I I once gave away my fish biscuit. Regretted it forever.
Noora:You regret everything forever.
Zaki:Young Ali might have been small, but the prophet trusted him. And slowly people started to notice this boy wasn't ordinary.
Noora:Like how?
Zaki:His kindness was fearless. His honesty was sharp. Ali lived in a world where almost everyone worshipped idols. Statues made of stone, people bowed to them, prayed to them, even gave them names. Remember the story of prophet Ibrahim breaking all the idols?
Zaki:Well, even thousands of years later, people still believed in many idols made of rock and stone instead of believing in Allah.
Noora:So weird. Why would you talk to a rock?
Captain Suhail:I once confessed my life regrets to a large boulder. It rolled away slowly. But even as
Zaki:a little boy, young Ali never did. Not once. He never bowed to an idol.
Noora:Even when everyone else did? Like, even grown ups?
Zaki:Yes. It was like something in his heart already knew. Only Allah is worthy of worship. And when the prophet would quietly go into the hills to think and reflect, Ali sometimes followed him, sat near him, copied how he sat, listened to the silence.
Noora:Wait. He didn't even know about Islam yet. But he still didn't do idol stuff.
Zaki:That's right. He was just a kid, but his heart was already pointed toward truth.
Captain Suhail:That's not luck. That's light.
Zaki:Sometimes you don't need a loud moment to know who you are. Sometimes it's the quiet choices, the things you don't do, that show what you believe.
Noora:So even if I don't have a big speech or a shiny cape, if I quietly don't follow something wrong, that counts?
Zaki:It absolutely counts. Young Ali didn't wait to grow up to become great. Even as a boy, he quietly chose truth. He didn't follow what was popular, he followed what was right.
Noora:Okay, but I still think he could have made like one dramatic speech, you know, just for the flare.
Zaki:Sometimes real courage doesn't come with flare. It comes with stillness and quiet strength.
Noora:Still feels like he missed an opportunity for a theme song.
Captain Suhail:I could write one. Oh, Ali, little lie in a light.
Noora:Please don't.
Zaki:Ali reminds us that you don't have to be loud or big or famous to be brave. You just have to choose what's right, even when no one sees it.
Noora:Fine. But next time I walk away from a bad idea, I'm giving myself a quiet high five.
Zaki:I give myself noisy high fives. That's why I always have wing bruises. And now you both understand the lesson in your own unique ways. Ali was still a child when the prophet took him in, But that one act of love helped raise a lion, someone who would change the world.
Noora:He didn't wait for Ali to grow up. He started loving him right away.
Zaki:Yes. With time, with patience, with trust.
Captain Suhail:I was raised by an octopus once. Very clingy, but great hugs.
Noora:Amu Zaki?
Zaki:Yes, Noora?
Noora:Do you still need to record your story? Or maybe you could just teach me a little while you're doing it.
Zaki:Actually, I think the story was the lesson, and you were already learning the whole time.
Noora:Told you I take excellent notes. Also, I reorganized your scrolls by color. You're welcome.
Captain Suhail:Oh, no. The green ones are recipes. I may be eating glue.
Zaki:Next time, we're going back to the Kaaba before Islam began. The tribes were about to fight over a stone.
Noora:Is it magic?
Zaki:No. But what the prophet did, that was wise beyond magic. You'll see.
Captain Suhail:Wisdom is knowing when not to eat mysterious glue.
Zaki:See you next time, friends. Salaam.
Zaki:This story was produced by Meraj Digital. Voices provided by Wayne Holland as Zaki and Curtis Fletcher as Captain Sohail. Episode written, directed and edited by Syed Kashif and Atif Hussein.
Zaki:For more content by Meraj Digital, please visit our site at www.meraj.digital. Content copyright and production copyright 2025 by Meraj Digital.