It haunts the popular Western imagination as an extreme faith that promotes authoritarian government, female oppression, civil war, and terrorism. Karen Armstrong's short history offers a vital corrective to this narrow view. The distillation of years of thinking and writing about Islam, it demonstrates that the world's fastest-growing faith is a much richer and more complex phenomenon than its modern fundamentalist strain might suggest.Islam: A Short History begins with the flight of Muhammad and his family from Medina in the seventh century and the subsequent founding of the first mosques. It recounts the origins of the split between Shii and Sunni Muslims, and the emergence of Sufi mysticism; the spread of Islam throughout North Africa, the Levant, and Asia; the shattering effect on the Muslim world of the Crusades; the flowering of imperial Islam in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries into the world's greatest and most sophisticated power; and the origins and impact of revolutionary Islam. It concludes with an assessment of Islam today and its challenges.With this brilliant book, Karen Armstrong issues a forceful challenge to those who hold the view that the West and Islam are civilizations set on a collision course. It is also a model of authority, elegance, and economy.

    But our story largely omits a whole civilization whose citizens shared an entirely different narrative for a thousand years.In Destiny Disrupted, Tamim Ansary tells the rich story of world history as the Islamic world saw it, from the time of Mohammed to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and beyond. He clarifies why our civilizations grew up oblivious to each other, what happened when they intersected, and how the Islamic world was affected by its slow recognition that Europe-a place it long perceived as primitive and disorganized-had somehow hijacked destiny.

    Its purpose is to detach human beings from their homes and, by bringing them to Islam's birthplace, to emphasize the equality of all people before God. Since its inception in the seventh century, the Hajj has been the central theme in a large body of Islamic travel literature. Beginning with the European Renaissance, it has also been the subject for a handful of adventurous writers from the Christian West who, through conversion or connivance, managed to slip inside the walls of a city forbidden to non-Muslims. One Thousand Roads to Mecca collects significant works by observant writers from the East and West over the last ten centuries. These two very different literary traditions form distinct sides of a spirited conversation in which Mecca is the common destination and Islam the common subject of inquiry.

    Edited for ease of comprehension, English-speaking readers will find this compilation both spiritually enriching and easy to understand. With 365 verses covering the whole year, this is a must for every home.An introduction to the Qur'an and its eternal message for humanity is included, giving the reader an insight into its origin, purpose, and style.Abdur Raheem Kidwai is professor of English at the Aligarh Muslim University in India and the well-known author of many works on the Qur'an and Islam.

    SIRAH TEXTBOOKDiscover how complex forces shaped the Prophet's life. Each segment of the Sirah is presented in a refreshingly succinct and high yield approach that guarantees mastery of the most authoritative sources of the Prophetic biography.QUR’ANIC VERSESExperience the Qur'an unfold, with 400+ verses that are chronologically woven into an authentic narrative of Prophet Muhammad’s life (pbuh).FIGURES & VISUAL AIDESRetain critical details with the help of 90+ original figures (maps, family trees, and infographics) that simplify complex material and boost retention. COMMENTARY POINTSExamine the very best commentaries on important and challenging topics by a diverse array of respected scholars and authors including Hamza Yusuf, Tariq Ramadan, Karen Armstrong, Adil Salahi, and Reza Aslan.GLOSSARY OF NAMESConnect the dots with an extensive glossary of 400+ entries that highlight each individual, their relationship with others, and the role they played.SIRAH TIMELINEMemorize the Sirah timeline in 10 minutes by gaining access to an innovative system that bypasses years of rote memorization.

    In The First Muslim, Lesley Hazleton brings him vibrantly to life. Drawing on early eyewitness sources and on history, politics, religion, and psychology, she renders him as a man in full, in all his complexity and vitality.        Hazleton’s account follows the arc of Muhammad’s rise from powerlessness to power, from anonymity to renown, from insignificance to lasting significance. How did a child shunted to the margins end up revolutionizing his world? How did a merchant come to challenge the established order with a new vision of social justice? How did the pariah hounded out of Mecca turn exile into a new and victorious beginning? How did the outsider become the ultimate insider?        Impeccably researched and thrillingly readable, Hazleton’s narrative creates vivid insight into a man navigating between idealism and pragmatism, faith and politics, nonviolence and violence, rejection and acclaim. The First Muslim illuminates not only an immensely significant figure but his lastingly relevant legacy.

    Now, in his first book written for a wide audience, he offers a marvelous biography of the Prophet Muhammad, one that highlights the spiritual and ethical teachings of one of the most influential figures in human history.In the Footsteps of the Prophet is a fresh and perceptive look at Muhammad, capturing a life that was often eventful, gripping, and highly charged. Ramadan provides both an intimate portrait of a man who was shy, kind, but determined, as well as a dramatic chronicle of a leader who launched a great religion and inspired a vast empire. More important, Ramadan presents the main events of the Prophet's life in a way that highlights his spiritual and ethical teachings. The book underscores the significance of the Prophet's example for some of today's most controversial issues, such as the treatment of the poor, the role of women, Islamic criminal punishments, war, racism, and relations with other religions. Selecting those facts and stories from which we can draw a profound and vivid spiritual picture, the author asks how can the Prophet's life remain -- or become again -- an example, a model, and an inspiration? And how can Muslims move from formalism -- a fixation on ritual -- toward a committed spiritual and social presence?In this thoughtful and engaging biography, Ramadan offers Muslims a new understanding of Muhammad's life and he introduces non-Muslims not just to the story of the Prophet, but to the spiritual and ethical riches of Islam.

    The sixty-four Companions presented here are representative of that unique generation, a generation without any parallel in history. They come from all walks of life and character. These are stories of real people which can be historically verified. These stories will touch the souls of believers, for they will find in them yet another proof of that conviction that fills their hearts, though it may be denied and its signs effaced by wielders of power in the Muslim lands through treachery and cowardice.

    In this three-volume study, illustrated with charts and maps, Hodgson traces and interprets the historical development of Islamic civilization from before the birth of Muhammad to the middle of the twentieth century. This work grew out of the famous course on Islamic civilization that Hodgson created and taught for many years at the University of Chicago."This is a nonpareil work, not only because of its command of its subject but also because it demonstrates how, ideally, history should be written."—The New Yorker Volume 1, The Classical Age of Islam, analyzes the world before Islam, Muhammad's challenge, and the early Muslim state between 625 and 692. Hodgson then discusses the classical civilization of the High Caliphate. The volume also contains a general introduction to the complete work and a foreword by Reuben Smith, who, as Hodgson's colleague and friend, finished the Venture of Islam after the author's death and saw it through to publication.

    Combine this with the exponential advances in technology, and the result is an increasing number of ways to amuse ourselves.As a result of such advances, Muslim react in a variety of manners towards entertainment. Some label entertainment as completely forbidden. This sometimes includes parents who say no to almost everything that their young ones deem to be ‘fun’, without providing them with suitable alternatives. Others, who do not want to take this extreme approach, fall into the trap of excessive use of – and even addiction to – various sources of entertainment, without any limits.In Having Fun the Halal Way, Ismail Kamdar explores the teachings of Islam regarding entertainment. Drawing upon the Quran, the Sunnah and the understanding of the righteous scholars of Islam, he provides a detailed and balanced analysis of the topic. He not only explains the detriments of the current entertainment industry, but also suggests alternative means to have a good time with friends and family members.

    A history of the evolution and ideals of Islam, with a life of the prophecy. Contents: Life and Ministry of the Prophet: Mohammed the prophet; Hegira; prophet at Medina; hostility of the Koreish and the Jews; invasion of Medina; prophets clemency; diffusion of the faith; year of deputations; fulfillment of the prophet's work; apostolical succession; Spirit of Islam: ideal of Islam; religious spirit of Islam; idea of future life in Islam; church militant of Islam; status of women in Islam; bondage in Islam; political spirit of Islam; political divisions and schisms of Islam; literary and scientific sprit of Islam; rationalistic and philosophical spirit of Islam; idealistic and mystical spirit in Islam.

    Furthermore, there is no doubt that the greatest act of modesty that she can perform is to wear the hijab, which covers her face. It is the best thing with which she can adorn herself, because it protects Her and keeps her far removed from temptation.

    Muslims also believe that it contains guidance for all mankind. Since the message of the Qur’aan is believed to be for all times, it should be relevant to every age. Does the Qur’aan pass this test? In this booklet, I intend to give an objective analysis of the Muslim belief regarding the Divine origin of the Qur’aan, in the light of established scientific discoveries.

    Michael Sugich, an American writer who was initiated into a traditional Sufi order over forty years ago and who lived for 23 years in the sacred city of Makkah Al Mukaramah, has kept company with some of the greatest Sufi saints of the age from many parts of the world. His book is a unique eye-witness narrative of a mystical tradition that today hides in plain sight, veiled by the turbulence and materialism gripping the Muslim world. It is a spellbinding personal memoir told with eloquence, empathy, self-effacing humor, insight and love.

    Al-Qur'an - The Miracle of Miracles is a brief exposition of the Text, Scope, Infallibility and Authenticity of the Last Testament, Al-Qur'an.Read online free at http://www.ahmed-deedat.co.za/Books/B...