A personal story of the author reflecting on her journey of life with references to quotes from the Qur'an, Hadith and contemporary thinkers.

    

    The unexpected presence of someone from her friend’s past stirs up feelings within her. What she was afraid to dream of before this, presented itself to her like a ray of hope from God. Just as her newfound happiness begin to colour her life, her faith is put to the test. Will love stay or will it leave? Will she surrender herself to the One whose love is eternal?In this book, award-winning author Norhafsah Hamid takes reader on a heart-warming journey of understanding what it means to love compassionately and with mercy. For that is the kind of love that will lead us back to God.

    It is filled with intimate reflections from the author’s spiritual journey as a seeker of peace. It also offers guided steps for one’s spiritual development that are extracted from her knowledge-seeking pursuits with teachers of the deen and international scholars. In this life, many lights will attract us, yet they blind us, pulling us further into the darkness. But there is one light that will lead us back to peace. There is one light that will guide us to the contentment we seek.

    Among these facts: In 2014, sexual violence in Western Europe surged following a period of stability. In 2018 Germany, “offences against sexual self-determination” rose 36 percent from their 2014 rate; nearly two-fifths of the suspects were non-German. In Austria in 2017, asylum-seekers were suspects in 11 percent of all reported rapes and sexual harassment cases, despite making up less than 1 percent of the total population. This violence isn’t a figment of alt-right propaganda, Hirsi Ali insists, even if neo-Nazis exaggerate it. It’s a real problem that Europe—and the world—cannot continue to ignore. She explains why so many young Muslim men who arrive in Europe engage in sexual harassment and violence, tracing the roots of sexual violence in the Muslim world from institutionalized polygamy to the lack of legal and religious protections for women. A refugee herself, Hirsi Ali is not against immigration. As a child in Somalia, she suffered female genital mutilation; as a young girl in Saudi Arabia, she was made to feel acutely aware of her own vulnerability. Immigration, she argues, requires integration and assimilation. She wants Europeans to reform their broken system—and for Americans to learn from European mistakes. If this doesn’t happen, the calls to exclude new Muslim migrants from Western countries will only grow louder. Deeply researched and featuring fresh and often shocking revelations, Prey uncovers a sexual assault and harassment crisis in Europe that is turning the clock on women’s rights much further back than the #MeToo movement is advancing it.

    Diving deeply into Islamic theology, and also sharing lessons from his own life story, he reveals how Muslims lost the universalism that made them a great civilization in their earlier centuries. He especially demonstrates how values often associated with Western Enlightenment — freedom, reason, tolerance, and an appreciation of science — had Islamic counterparts, which sadly were cast aside in favor of more dogmatic views, often for political ends. Elucidating complex ideas with engaging prose and storytelling, Reopening Muslim Minds borrows lost visions from medieval Muslim thinkers such as Ibn Rushd (aka Averroes), to offer a new Muslim worldview on a range of sensitive issues: human rights, equality for women, freedom of religion, or freedom from religion. While frankly acknowledging the problems in the world of Islam today, Akyol offers a clear and hopeful vision for its future.

    It's full of action, drama, love, twists and turns and so much more! And the most amazing thing is that it's all true. In language aimed for the modern and younger audience, The Simple Seerah is designed to make the seerah accessible to everyone. It is written in a fiction-styled format so readers can use their imagination and immerse themselves into parts of the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

    But a bungled good deed abruptly lands her on the wrong side of the law. If she tells all, she risks gaol. If she delves further into a mysterious death, she risks her life. If only this Australian could simply eat her way out of trouble. But no such luck.This time Ayesha Dean is in WAY over her head!

    This much needed children’s book empowers children with stories of 20 famous and little known Muslim heroes who were trailblazers. Winner of Muslim Bookstagram Awards Best Children's Non-Fiction Book 2021Winner of Fofky's Reader's Choice Middle Grade Book Award 2021Do you know the story of the female founder of the oldest running university? You know Newton and Einstein but have you heard of Ibn Sina and Lubna of Cordoba? Did you hear of the female navy commander who defeated the Dutch army...twice! You will be surprised to know they were all Muslim!These are just some examples of thousands of courageous Muslim women and men throughout history whose beliefs and accomplishments helped change the world for future generations. They are trailblazers who opened the doors to education, made remarkable discoveries, fought for women’s rights, led powerful armies, and believed in their dreams.Stories of 20 Mighty Muslim Heroes aims to:• give children diverse role models• increase Muslim representation in children’s books• change misconceptions one hero at a time.Stories of 20 Mighty Muslim Heroes hopes to inspire and empower children with these legendary multicultural biographies.

    Modernism is the religion of the imperialists who bomb and occupy the Muslim world. Modernism is the religion of secularists subjugating Muslims around the world. Modernism is the religion of those who publish cartoons insulting the Prophet . Modernism is the religion of the governments that ban hijab and halal meat. Modernism is the religion of the anti-Muslim bigots who want to see Islam wiped off the face of the Earth. Modernism is the religion that is being forced onto Muslims, pressuring them to abandon Islam and the Islamic tradition. This book is a response to the Modernism menace.

    Many groups were caught up in fighting each other and competing for Western arms. The exception were those commanded by Ahmad Shah Massoud, the military strategist and political operator who solidified the resistance and undermined the Russian occupation, leading resistance members to a series of defensive victories. Sandy Gall followed Massoud during Soviet incursions and reported on the war in Afghanistan, and he draws on this first-hand experience in his biography of this charismatic guerrilla commander. Afghan Napoleon includes excerpts from the surviving volumes of Massoud’s prolific diaries—many translated into English for the first time—which detail crucial moments in his personal life and during his time in the resistance. Born into a liberalizing Afghanistan in the 1960s, Massoud ardently opposed communism, and he rose to prominence by coordinating the defense of the Panjshir Valley against Soviet offensives. Despite being under-equipped and outnumbered, he orchestrated a series of victories over the Russians. Massoud’s assassination in 2001, just two days before the attack on the Twin Towers, is believed to have been ordered by Osama bin Laden. Despite the ultimate frustration of Massoud’s attempts to build political consensus, he is recognized today as a national hero.

    Every surah carefully placed, every section organized perfectly. So how are these Qur’anic chapters related to each other? What can we glean from the stories told within them?Explore key lessons from each juz’ and learn about the significance of the Qur’an’s divine arrangement with this Qur’an 30for30 series companion book!

    Are Islam and Christianity essentially the same? Is the way to overcome divisions in our world to accept that Muslims and Christians are all part of one family of Abrahamic faiths?In Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?, Dr Andy Bannister shares how his journey from the multicultural streets of inner-city London to being a Christian with a PhD in Qur’anic Studies led him to discover along the way that far from being the same, Islam and Christianity are profoundly and utterly different.Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God? gets to the heart of what the world’s two largest religions say about life’s biggest questions—and shows the uniqueness of Christianity’s answer not merely to the question of whether God exists, but of who God really is.

    In The Leaf of the Neem Tree, Jamal Mehmood unravels bitter truths that come with growing out of youth and confronting the concrete realities of our world.Weaving free verse and ghazal, English with Urdu, the poems lead the reader through the author’s wandering mind, which moves from Gillingham to Kashmir; Ghassan Kanafani to Mansour Hallaj. We also peer into the worlds of a struggling graduate dealing with the harshness of life after university; a shipman who finds himself swimming to England; and a man who decided to leave England behind altogether.Balancing movement with pause, this impeccable collection deals in the alchemy of introspection—the quietness of loss, longing, memory and spirituality.

    The author, Asrar Rashid, takes on the more difficult questions taking us through a labrynth of Kalām, philosophy, logic, epistemology, science, the Qurʾān, Ḥadīth and Sharīʿa. The book covers in depth the proof for God, His divine attributes, the problem of evil, freewill and divine knowledge, the most difficult philosophical and scientific objections against Islam, as well as objections to Sharīʿa law, the Qurʾān’s historical preservation, the historicity of the Ḥadīth, slavery, Jihād, women’s rights and a host of other complex issues. This book is a must for all who are learning about Islam, Muslims and non-Muslims, apologists and detractors.

    

    Every surah carefully placed, every section organized perfectly. So how are these Qur’anic chapters related to each other? What can we glean from the stories told within them?Explore key lessons from each juz’ and learn about the significance of the Qur’an’s divine arrangement with this Qur’an 30for30 series companion book!Tip: To enhance your Qur’an 30for30 Season 2 viewing experience, read the eBook chapter corresponding with each day’s juz’ before watching the episode!What’s in the book:1. Brief summaries from Season 1 of Qur’an 30for302. Key themes and lessons from each juz’3. Additional context from books of tafsir and author commentary

    It's full of action, drama, love, twists and turns and so much more! And the most amazing thing is that it's all true.In language aimed for the modern and younger audience, The Simple Seerah is designed to make the seerah accessible to everyone. It is written in a fiction-styled format so readers can use their imagination and immerse themselves into parts of the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

    However, a century before Britain became involved in this terrible business, whole villages and towns in England, Ireland, Italy, Spain and other European countries were being depopulated by slavers, who transported the men, women and children to Africa where they were sold to the highest bidder. This is the forgotten slave trade; one which saw over a million Christians forced into captivity in the Muslim world.Starting with the practice of slavery in the ancient world, Simon Webb traces the history of slavery in Europe, showing that the numbers involved were vast and that the victims were often treated far more cruelly than black slaves in America and the Caribbean. Castration, used very occasionally against black slaves taken across the Atlantic, was routinely carried out on an industrial scale on European boys who were exported to Africa and the Middle East. Most people are aware that the English city of Bristol was a major center for the transatlantic slave trade in the eighteenth century, but hardly anyone knows that 1,000 years earlier it had been an important staging-post for the transfer of English slaves to Africa.Reading this book will forever change how you view the slave trade and show that many commonly held beliefs about this controversial subject are almost wholly inaccurate and mistaken.

    It guides the reader through the different variables that have played a part in the ongoing dialogue between Muslim creationists and evolutionists.This work views the discussion through the lens of al-Ghazālī (1058-1111), a widely-known and well-respected Islamic intellectual from the medieval period. By understanding al-Ghazālī as an Ash’arite theologian, a particular strand of Sunni theology, his metaphysical and hermeneutic ideas are taken to explore if and how much Neo-Darwinian evolution can be accepted. It is shown that his ideas can be used to reach an alignment between Islam and Neo-Darwinian evolution.This book offers a detailed examination that seeks to offer clarity if not agreement in the midst of an intense intellectual conflict and polarity amongst Muslims. As such, it will be of great interest to scholars of Science and Religion, Theology, Philosophy of Religion, Islamic Studies, and Religious Studies more generally.

    Schneider argues that today’s jihad is not the residue from a less enlightened time, nor does it have much in common with its classical or medieval form, but it does bear a striking resemblance to the reactionary political formations and acts of spectacular violence that are upending life in Western democracies. From authoritarian populism to mass shootings, xenophobic nationalism, and the allure of conspiratorial thinking, Schneider argues that modern jihad is not the antithesis of neoliberalism, but rather a dark reflection of its inner logic.The Apocalypse and the End of History is written with the sensibility of a political theorist and based on extensive research into a wide range of sources, from Islamic jurisprudence to popular recruitment videos, contemporary apocalyptic literature and the Islamic State’s Arabic-language publications. The book explores modern jihad as an image of a potential dark future already heralded by neoliberal modes of life. Surveying ideas of the state, violence, identity, and political community, Schneider argues that modern jihad and neoliberalism are two versions of a politics of failure: the inability to imagine a better life here on earth.

    Imam al-Ghazali elucidates the following for his student, and for the modern reader:The precise nature of the relationship between knowledge and action, and the role of each in one's striving for ParadiseThe significance of the night prayerSome advice from Luqman the Wise to his son, and its enduring meaning and importanceA concise definition of obedience and worship, which al-Ghazali states is the quintessence of knowledgeThe four matters that are required of a spiritual travelerA single hadith that contains the entirety of the knowledge of the ancients as well as the men of latter daysEight lessons that are sufficient for deliverance and salvationAyyuhal Walad is designed to be read and reread, and referred to frequently throughout one's life. The reader must take note that the original recipient of this letter was a top student of Imam al-Ghazali, and therefore a scholar of the highest caliber himself. This book is thus invaluable simply as a record of the interaction between one of the Ummah's greatest teachers and his esteemed disciple. However, al-Ghazali's prescriptions are conveyed with such clarity that any Muslim of high aspiration will benefit from this text.This edition includes Ustadh Moustafa Elqabbany's meticulous English translation side-by-side with al-Ghazali's original Arabic epistle. This arrangement allows the English-speaking reader to get a taste of al-Ghazali's unique style, while students of Arabic may peruse the Imam's masterful Arabic prose alongside Ustadh Moustafa's elegant English rendition.

    Through his teachings and leadership as fourth caliph, Ali nourished Islam. But Muslims are divided on whether he was supposed to be Mohammad’s political successor—and he continues to be a polarizing figure in Islamic history.   Hassan Abbas provides a nuanced, compelling portrait of this towering yet divisive figure and the origins of sectarian division within Islam. Abbas reveals how, after Mohammad, Ali assumed the spiritual mantle of Islam to spearhead the movement that the prophet had led. While Ali’s teachings about wisdom, justice, and selflessness continue to be cherished by both Shia and Sunni Muslims, his pluralist ideas have been buried under sectarian agendas and power politics. Today, Abbas argues, Ali’s legacy and message stands against that of ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and Taliban.

    We face challenges, difficulties and hardship throughout our life journey. These highs and lows are a part of life. Sometimes however, we need that reminder that Allah is always there and these moments of hardship are not punishments but trials from Him to strengthen us, guide us and elevate us....one breath at a time. Faith, and knowing that we are never alone, shines a light in the dark spaces that grief creates within the heart. This book offers faith–inspired insights about grief and how to build resilience, one breath at a time.

    

    It contains key features that are unique for a book explaining a chapter of the Qur'ān, such as the diagrams and illustrations highlighting the beautiful meanings of the verses. It will take you on a captivating journey exploring diverse topics, including tenets of faith, political issues, spirituality, and social affairs, in a smooth and coherent manner. If you love the Qur'an you will love this book. The commentary is profound and inspiring, it masterfully highlights the nuances of the Qur'ān's language and repeatedly draws the reader's attention towards practical changes they can make in their lives. "Easy to read - the way the book is written is quite conversational (in a good way). Quran commentaries can be quite daunting if it's not something you've read a lot of; coupled with overly complicated language, that can totally put some of us off. I get it. This book is clear, easy to read and a quick read (if that is a concern for you)." - Independent review by Blogging Believer 2021

    Female sex experts and pleasure\-positive Muslim women were often cited in erotic Arabic literature dating back to the ninth century. According to early African and Arab writers, feminine women have a greater capacity for desire and pleasure than men. The medieval manuals emphasised the physical needs of women and the importance of emotional intimacy for a fulfilling marital relationship. Natural aphrodisiacs and sensual practices were recommended to improve connection and sexual satisfaction. Drawing upon ancient erotica and contemporary research, this book provides a cross-cultural guide for God-conscious women to overcome desire problems and achieve sexual compatibility with a spouse. The book presents stories of 40 sexually empowered Muslim women in history including religious scholars, poets, activists, anti-FGM campaigners, sex educators, and historical figures.

    In this authoritative volume, Michael Sells presents the first complete English translation of this work in more than a century, complete with an introduction, commentary, and a new facing-page critical text of the original Arabic. While grounded in an expert command of the Arabic, this verse translation renders the poems into a natural, contemporary English that captures the stunning beauty and power of Ibn 'Arabi's poems in such lines as "A veiled gazelle's / an amazing sight, / her henna hinting, / eyelids signalling // A pasture between / breastbone and spine / Marvel, a garden / among the flames!"The introduction puts the poems in the context of the Arabic love poetry tradition, Ibn 'Arabi's life and times, his mystical thought, and his "romance" with Niẓām, the young woman whom he presents as the inspiration for the volume--a relationship that has long fascinated readers. Other features, following the main text, include detailed notes and commentaries on each poem, translations of Ibn 'Arabi's important prefaces to the poems, a discussion of the sources used for the Arabic text, and a glossary.Bringing The Translator of Desires to life for contemporary English readers as never before, this promises to be the definitive volume of these fascinating and compelling poems for years to come.

    Regarded as being most invulnerable to any type of counterattack, Ibn Sīnā’s Burhān argument postulates that a reality with only contingent existences is inconceivable, as a contingent existence cannot cause itself. Ibn Sīnā argues that the only way to explain the existence of anything is to postulate the existence of an uncaused necessary being, or a wājib al-wujūd (‘necessary existence’). However, despite its impact, the Burhān has not been packaged for apologetic use for a modern audience.Hijab’s novel contribution to the discourse surrounding God’s existence is found in his re-articulation of Ibn Sīnā’s argument, making it accessible for theists to make the case for God. Using the Burhān as his guide, Hijab provides his own proofs for the necessary existence of God and answers some of the most prominent objections. Hijab applies the arguments for a necessary being to potential pastoral and apologetic settings using two fictitious characters, Richard and Betty.

    With contemporary thoughts, words of wisdom, guidance and inspiration.

    

    

    

    It’s a story that reveals much about the relationship between citizens and leaders, about the sanctity of human dignity, and about the power of dreams and the courage to pursue them.Nearly two-thirds of Algeria's population is under the age of 35. Growing up during or soon after the violent conflict that wracked Algeria during the 1990's, and amid the powerful influences of global online culture, this generation views the world much differently than their parents or grandparents do.The Algerian Dream: Youth and the Quest for Dignity invites readers to discover this generation, their hopes for the future and, most significantly, the frustrations that have brought them into the streets en masse since 2019, peacefully challenging a long-established order. After seven years living and working alongside these young people across Algeria, Andrew G. Farrand shares his insights on what makes the next generation tick in North Africa’s sleeping giant.

    Another Europe. A Europe few people believe exists and many wish didn't. Muslim Europe. Writer and documentary-maker Tharik Hussain sets off with his wife and young daughters around the Western Balkans, home to the largest indigenous Muslim population in Europe, and explores the regions of Eastern Europe where Islam has shaped places and people for more than half a millennium. Encountering blonde-haired, blue-eyed Muslims, visiting mystical Islamic lodges clinging to the side of mountains, and praying in mosques older than the Sistine Chapel, he paints a picture of a hidden Muslim Europe, a vibrant place with a breathtaking history, spellbinding culture and unique identity. Minarets in The Mountains, the first non-fiction account by a Muslim writer on this subject, explores the historical roots of the current tide of Islamophobia. Tharik and his family learn lessons about themselves and their own identity as Britons, Europeans, and Muslims. Following in the footsteps of renowned Ottoman traveller Evliya Celebi, they remind us that Europe is as Muslim as it is Christian, Jewish or pagan. Like William Dalrymple's In Xanadu, this is a vivid reimagining of a region's cultural heritage, unveiling forgotten Muslim communities, empires and their rulers; and like Kapka Kassabova's Border, it is a quest that forces us to consider what makes up our own identities, and more importantly, who decides?

    In March 2019, a heavily-armed white supremacist walked into two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand and slaughtered fifty-one innocent Muslim worshippers while broadcasting on Facebook Live for the world to see. After the Christchurch mosque massacre, authorities found the white supremacist’s seventy-four-page racist manifesto called “The Great Replacement,” which railed against Muslims and the idea that brown Muslim folks were ultimately going to “replace” white people in his irrational “Fear of Muslim Planet.” Fear of a Muslim Planet  begins with the treacherous legacy of the white supremacist “Great Replacement” theory in the aftermath of the Christchurch massacre. One of the heroes for the Christchurch shooter was the infamous Norwegian anti-Muslim terrorist named Anders Breivik, who brutally murdered seventy-seven people in 2011 in Norway’s worst terrorist attack ever and whose own 1,500-page fascist manifesto promoted thr “Great Replacement” worldview that Muslim immigrants posed a danger to Western societies.As the book further illustrates, minority victims of the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory are not limited to Muslims alone. In October 2018, the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh was devastated when a white supremacist brutally executed eleven innocent Jewish congregants in a horrific act of anti-Semitic terrorism (it was the single deadliest attack exclusively targeting Jews ever to happen in the United States). The shooter later told police that he was inspired to commit these murders because Donald Trump was not doing enough to stop immigration. “Open your Eyes!” the shooter posted on social media in a disjointed anti-Semitic and Islamophobic manifesto. “It’s the filthy EVIL jews Bringing the Filthy EVIL Muslims into the Country!!”The presidency of Donald Trump has only exacerbated the growth of Islamophobia in America today.  Fear of a Muslim Planet  outlines the blatantly anti-Muslim statements and policies of Trump and his closest political circle. From telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper that “I think Islam hates us” to calling for a “complete and total shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States, the Trump presidency has only made the xenophobic specter of Islamophobia grow today.The book will also show that Islamophobia is not simply an American (or Western) problem either. Fear of a Muslim Planet will show the genocidal levels of Islamophobia in places like China and Myanmar. The European fixation on policing Muslim women’s hijab (headscarf) is another focal point. The book ends with a clarion call for mutual understanding and coexistence among people of all backgrounds, if we have the courage to summon our better selves and look beyond each other’s race, religion, and ethnic backgrounds.

    The book has wonderful anecdotes of the love expressed by the family and Companions of the Messenger ﷺ, it provides a path to attain, increase and perfect one’s love for the Mercy to the Worlds ﷺ. With extensive commentary from translated excerpts from numerous classical works of prominent Muslim scholars and imams such as; al-Nawawī, al-Baghawī, al-Rāzī, Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī, and ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nāblusī, as well as modern greats such as; Shaykh ʿAbd Allāh Sirāj al-Dīn and Sayyid Muḥammad ibn ʿAlawī al-Mālikī and others. It is an indispensable manual for every Muslim and student of Islamic spirituality who would like to further his love and connection to the Prophet of Islam ﷺ.