From Our Family to Yours

Noor box was created by a Muslim family for Muslim families to empower Muslim children 3-10 years old to be proud of their Islamic identity, instill Islamic values and virtues and to supplement their Islamic education in a unique, fun and engaging manner. It is simple, you subscribe for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months, and your child, grandchild, niece or nephew will be excited to receive a gift box in the mail for the subscribed period.

We successfully launched Noor Box in May. We need your support to continue to expand and ultimately with Allah's help and through you and others bring Noor Box to every Muslim household in North America.

Daud is so happy and excited to receive his first Noor Box

Difficulties of raising Muslim Children in North America!

Trying to raise our two daughters as Muslims in the US has been a pretty challenging experience. Of course, we used every opportunity to let them know who we are, why we are proud to be Muslims, how lucky we are to be Muslims, and how a Muslim should behave to the best of our knowledge. This has not been an easy task but AlhamduleAllah both daughters grew up with strong faith, completed their college education, and became respected professionals in their fields and great mothers to our four grandchildren. They are now, along with tens of thousands of young adults, facing the same challenges we faced. Many parents are searching for ways to make their children feel good about themselves and their religion, while emphasizing they are a part of this society as well and must take a harmonious constructive role in it instead of isolating themselves.

Although these difficulties are prominent in Western societies, unfortunately, western influences and material culture have infiltrated many majority Muslim countries as well through media, internet and other modes of communication.

From left to right: Emad Al-Turk, Co-founder and president, Karen Al-Turk, Co-Founder and researcher, Presley Ravencraft, product tester, and Sarah Al-Turk Ravencraft, Co-founder, and general manager

Noor Box is one answer to addressing the difficulties facing Muslim Children in North America

Living in a society that embraces different norms of behavior as acceptable and normal than our own has been a burden for our family as well as many Muslim families in North America. Thanks to the efforts of caring and hardworking Muslim men and women, many books, video and audio tapes and internet sites became available on subjects that interest Muslim children. Informative books and video tapes on Islam and Muslims have started to find their way to the public libraries.  May Allah bless all of these efforts.

Connecting Muslim Children with their Islamic Heritage

We wanted to continue this trend by creating a unique, one of a kind and enjoyable experience for children 3-10 years old to supplement their Islamic education in a fun and engaging manner and to help nurture Islamic values and instill a sense of pride in their Islamic heritage. We wanted to help Muslim children feel a part of the larger society yet be proud of their identity as Muslims. Noor Box was created by our family (me, my wife, my youngest daughter and my 7 year old granddaughter). I handle the business end of the company; my wife is a retired teacher and she handles all the research, writing and product development; my daughter is a designer and she handles all content design, layout and creative part and she serves as the general manager of the company; and my granddaughter tests all the activities and reading material.

Instill Islamic Values and Virtues

The following are the basic goals that Noor Box strives to achieve in educating, enlightening and enriching young Muslim minds ages 3 to10.

• Monthly emphasize the basic principle of Islam (tawheed- oneness of Allah)
• Monthly emphasize the duty of Muslims to be a positive contributor to humanity by enjoining what is good and avoiding evil
• Discuss a different Islamic virtue every month. For example: Sabr, respect for parents, forgiveness, Charity, justice, love, compassion, sadaqa, modesty, humility, etc. with a hands on activity supporting the virtue of the month. Saying and learning Islamic phrases is not sufficient and that Islamic actions is what defines a Muslim.
• Monthly have two hands on, fully supplied activities that will fit in one of these four themes that will be rotating monthly:

1. Islamic art

2. Islamic history and culture (heritage)

3. Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM-Islamic influence)

4. Nature (Tie it to Allah’s creation)

• Special edition boxes during Ramadan, Hajj and the celebrations of the two Eids

Why it Matters (The Impact)

Yes, the task is difficult and time consuming... But as one parent remarked “I take heart at the remarkable ability of our children to remember what they are taught: It brought me tears of joy to overhear my son telling his little friend they could not play gods in the Hercules movie as he suggested, "because", he insisted, "there is only one God!"

We specifically developed Noor Box so American Muslim children can get the following out of these boxes:

1. Look forward to receiving the gift box monthly
2. Pride of their Islamic heritage
3. Instill Islamic values and virtues
4. Well rounded Islamic learning utilizing all parts of the brain
5. Fun and educational learning activities. Some of the activities (particularly for younger children) will require parents' assistance, therefore, enhancing the bond between parents and children in jointly doing these activities
6. Receive a special gift box during Eids that will make it special time for them to enjoy

The Project

Although there are a lot of books, videos, and websites about Islam for children in America, there are limited products that look and feel like products you find commercially that are tailored specifically for Muslim children. We began brainstorming about what we can do to create such a product. The idea of Noor Box was born as a result of this discussion. We wanted to develop an elegantly designed and fun box that is filled with Islamic learning with hands-on activities. A product that children look forward to receiving as a gift in the mail every month and share the joy of learning through reading, doing and acting. For younger children we felt that reading and doing the activities jointly with their parents would enhance the bond with parents. We wanted them to experience a different topic every month to illustrate the richness of their Islamic heritage and to feel proud to call themselves Muslims.

In January of 2015 we began working on designing the box, the different themes we wanted to include in the box, the content of each box, established the company, designed and launched the Noor Box website, etc. In April 2015 we launched our website and in May 2015 we completed the design and packaging of the first three boxes and began marketing Noor Box and accepting orders. On June 10, 2015, we shipped the first box to customers in North America (Canada and the USA). We now have the ability to ship internationally as well.

Need Your Support!

As a startup Muslim business we need support from people who see the vision of Noor Box and see the value it will bring to integrating our children in the larger society while maintaining a strong Muslim identity, pride and the ability to share this pride with the larger community. Over the next few months we need funds to continue to expand the development of future boxes and to promote and grow the business domestically and internationally.

Noor Box Descriptions 

 The following is a description of the first 12 boxes (Boxes 1-3 are more detailed since the production of these boxes are complete)

Box 1 (STEM)- Special Edition Ramadan and Astronomy- In this box, you will find a constellation and paper tube activity, an activity where you take Oreo cookies and scrape out the cream to mimic the different phases of the moon, and a mobile with stars and moons that can be hung up. The virtue of this month is generosity/charity. We explain to the children different ways that they can be generous and charitable and give them a calendar to track their good deeds with stickers.

Box 2 (ART)- Special Edition Eid- Inside this box, you will find a set of custom made Eid greeting cards with envelopes to decorate and send to family and friends, a flower bouquet craft to decorate for Eid, and a geometric Mandala to decorate and hang in the doorway or window. The virtue of this month is Gratitude. We teach children how to be grateful and thankful and they can put it on a strip of paper and put it on the refrigerator or bulletin board. By the end of the month, the children will realize just how much they have to be thankful for.

Box 3 (NATURE)- Bees- Inside this box, you will find a paper mache bee hive craft, a thermometer kit that looks like a big bee,and a packet of wildflower seeds that can be planted in your own yard. There are also a few honey sticks and some honey candy. The virtue of this month is responsibility. We want to teach children how to be responsible people, and also what the responsibilities and duties of a Muslim are.

Box 4 (HERITAGE) Saudi Arabia- Special Edition Hajj box- virtue- DIVERSITY/INCLUSION

Box 5 (STEM) Maps- virtue DISCIPLINE

Box 6 (ART) Moroccan art-virtue UNITY

Box 7 (NATURE) Changing of the Seasons- virtue- BALANCE/MODERATION

Box 8 (HERITAGE) Pakistan-virtue- DUTIFULNESS TO PARENTS

Box 9 (STEM) Camera-virtue- SELF REFLECTION

Box 10 (ART) Tesselationproject- virtue CONTENTMENT

Box 11 (NATURE) Earth Day-virtue FRUGALITY

Box 12 (HERITAGE) Egypt- virtue-PATIENCE/PRESERVERENCE

How You Can Help! 

Abu Huraira reported the Prophet (pbuh) as saying, “When a human being dies, no further reward is recorded for his/her actions, with three exceptions: Charity which continues to be on-going, knowledge which continues to reap benefit, or the prayers of a pious son/daughter.” (Muslim). 

You can support our campaign by.

1. Get a 1, 3, 6 or 12 month subscription for your loved ones
2. Get an Eid gift for your grandchild, niece, nephew or your friends' children
3. Share the campaign with your friends and family and encourage them to participate
4. Keep us in your duas during this blessed month of Ramadan.

Please note we will ship Noor Boxes by July 14, 2015 in order for the first month subscription to arrive before Eid. If your reward level includes additional monthly boxes, these will continue to be shipped every 15th of the following months until your subscription is fulfilled. Please make sure you fill the notes indicating the name of the receiving child and the shipping address.