Book picks similar to
The Soul's Journey After Death: Kitab ar-Ruh by Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
day-of-judgement-soul
islam
islamic-books
islamic-literature
Letters to a Young Muslim
Omar Saif Ghobash - 2017
Today's young Muslims will be tomorrow's leaders, and yet too many are vulnerable to extremist propaganda that seems omnipresent in our technological age. The burning question, Ghobash argues, is how moderate Muslims can unite to find a voice that is true to Islam while actively and productively engaging in the modern world. What does it mean to be a good Muslim?What is the concept of a good life? And is it acceptable to stand up and openly condemn those who take the Islamic faith and twist it to suit their own misguided political agendas? In taking a hard look at these seemingly simple questions, Ghobash encourages his sons to face issues others insist are not relevant, not applicable, or may even be Islamophobic. These letters serve as a clear-eyed inspiration for the next generation of Muslims to understand how to be faithful to their religion and still navigate through the complexities of today's world. They also reveal an intimate glimpse into a world many are unfamiliar with and offer to provide an understanding of the everyday struggles Muslims face around the globe."
Mother of the Believers
Kamran Pasha - 2009
As his message of enlightenment sweeps through Arabia and unifies the warring tribes, his young wife Aisha recounts Muhammad's astonishing transformation from prophet to warrior to statesman. But just after the moment of her husband's greatest triumph -- the conquest of the holy city of Mecca -- Muhammad falls ill and dies in Aisha's arms. A young widow, Aisha finds herself at the center of the new Muslim empire and becomes by turns a teacher, political leader, and warrior. Written in beautiful prose and meticulously researched, Mother of the Believer is the story of an extraordinary woman who was destined to help usher Islam into the world.
Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources
Martin Lings - 1983
Based on the sira, the eighth- and ninth-century Arabic biographies that recount numerous events in the prophet’s life, it contains original English translations of many important passages that reveal the words of men and women who heard Muhammad speak and witnessed the events of his life.Scrupulous and exhaustive in its fidelity to its sources, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources is presented in a narrative style that is easily comprehensible, yet authentic and inspiring in its use of language, reflecting both the simplicity and grandeur of the story it tells. This revised edition includes new sections detailing the prophet’s expanding influence and his spreading of the message of Islam into Syria and its neighboring states. It represents the final updates made to the text before the author’s death in 2005. The book has been published in 12 languages and has received numerous awards, including acknowledgment as best biography of the prophet in English at the National Seerate Conference in Islamabad.
Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes
Tamim Ansary - 2009
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.
Letters to God
Norhafsah Hamid - 2018
An introvert by nature, Sarah struggles to balance her work, life and her spiritual longing while trying to adapt to her new surroundings. She found friendship along the way and also experienced hostility and heartache. Not knowing who to turn to, she decided to rant and rave to her Creator.This is a story of how a young girl, who made a decision to write letters to God, telling Him of all her worries, and pain. She believes that one can talk to God at any time, any place, even outside prayers.Did Sarah find solace?Or did she continue to be lost?
Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart
Imam al-Mawlud - 2004
Diseases examined include miserliness, envy, hatred, treachery, rancour, malice, ostentation, arrogance, covetousness, lust, and other afflictions that assail people and often control them. The causes and practical cures of these diseases are discussed, offering a penetrating glimpse into how Islam deals with spiritual and psychological problems and demonstrating how all people can benefit from these teachings.
Women in the Qurʼan : An Emancipatory Reading
Asma Lamrabet - 2010
At the heart of this debate Muslim women are seeking to reclaim their right to speak in order to re-appropriate their own destinies, calling for the equality and liberation that is at the heart of the Qur'an.However, with few female commentators on the meaning of the Qur'an and an overreliance on the readings of the Qur'an compiled centuries ago this message is often lost. In this book Asma Lamrabet demands a rereading of the Qur'an by women that focuses on its spiritual and humanistic messages in order to alter the lived reality on the ground.By acknowledging the oppression of women, to different degrees, in social systems organized in the name of religion and also rejecting a perspective that seeks to promote Western values as the only means of liberating them, the author is able to define a new way. One in which their refusal to remain silent is an act of devotion and their demand for reform will lead to liberation.Asma Lamarbet is a pathologist in Avicenna Hospital, Rabat, Morocco. She is also an award-winning author of many articles and books tackling Islam and women's issues.Myriam Francois-Cerrah is a writer and broadcaster whose articles have been published in the Guardian, Salon, and elsewhere.
From My Sisters' Lips
Na'ima B. Robert - 2005
Feelings of shock, horror, repulsion, pity or even fear are not uncommon. But have you ever wondered who it is behind the veil and what makes her tick? Ever wondered what her life is really like and whether her dreams, hopes and aspirations differ from yours? From My Sisters' Lips offers a rare glimpse into the lives of a community of women, most of whom are converts to Islam, and invites you to share their joys, sorrows, convictions and faith. When Na'ima B Robert abandoned her western lifestyle and embraced Islam six years ago, it was not a decision taken lightly. Yet soon after she took her first tentative steps towards covering, she felt empowered; no longer judged on physical appearances alone, no longer seeking the approval to feel beautiful — or using her looks to wield power over men — the experience effected her greatly. Before long she grew in confidence and courage. As she says, "Something just clicked." I thought, "Good, don't look; don't compare me with your latest squeeze, don't try and guess my measurements - my body is my own business!"' From My Sisters' Lips offers a glimpse into the lives of just some of the extraordinary women who, like herself, have chosen to live behind the veil. What emerges is a vivid and intimate portrait of a sisterhood; as they speak candidly and with conviction on a diverse range of subjects ranging from marriage to motherhood, stereotypes, submission and self-image, we hear the strong, proud voices of those who are seldom heard.
Things That Shatter: A Memoir
Kaighla Um Dayo - 2019
I saw a universal traumatic experience that most people could never be brave enough to put on paper for the world to read... It’s a story of realization & growth... Parts will make you uncomfortable because it’s raw and the truth can hurt."
- Kaitlin, The American Muslim Mama
"This is a wonderful story! The strength Kaighla has maintained throughout her journey is amazing. Her understanding that "The Sheikh's" actions are incorrect and abusive, and do not reflect God's judgement of her, are the elements which I believe have helped her stay firm in Islam. I hope the strength with which she has come out of her ordeal inspires other women in these unfortunate situations."- Danish Qasim, founder of In Shaykh's Clothing
In 2009, Kaighla—a young, single mother from the Midwest, and a fresh convert to Islam—married an Egyptian immigrant, the sheikh of a mosque in Brooklyn. Unbeknownst to her, he hadn't divorced his wife back home, and was about to be deported. Two years later, she moved with him, her son, and their baby girl to his hometown in rural Egypt, where she was abused and neglected—along with his first wife—for the next four years. A much-beloved speaker and imam in Brooklyn and in Dearborn, Michigan, the sheikh lectured and taught at mosques and Islamic centers around the country in the early 2000's. But across their seven-year marriage, Um Dayo’s identity and cultural heritage were systematically shattered by him, all in the name of making her the ideal "wife of the Sheikh"—and she wasn't the first or last convert to be abused by him.A story about what happens when Muslim women are broken by Muslim men, and find the courage to heal themselves through the real Islam, Things That Shatter aims to shed light on abuse and healing within the Muslim community, and to help female converts protect themselves from men like him. More than anything, this story is a convert's re-declaration of faith that there is no God but God, and it serves as a reminder that women have intrinsic worth in God’s eyes, beyond and outside of their relationships to the men in their lives.
Islamiat: a core text for Cambridge O-Level
David Thomas - 2011
The book also incorporates the selected Quranic surahs and ayaat, and the ahadith, along with translation and explanation of each, and questions from the 2011 sample CIE assessments. The textbook is accompanied by a teaching guide, and both components are endorsed by CIE as prescribed resources for the O level Islamiyat syllabus.
The Prophet Muhammad: A Biography
Barnaby Rogerson - 2003
In his lifetime he established a new religion, Islam; a new state, the first united Arabia; and a new literary language, the classical Arabic of the Qur'an, for the Qur'an is believed to be the word of God revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. A generation after his death he would be acknowledged as the founder of a world empire and a new civilisation. Any one of these achievements would have been more than enough to permanently establish his genius. To our early twenty-first century minds, what is all the more astonishing is that he also managed to stay true to himself and retained to his last days the humility, courtesy and humanity that he had learned as an orphan shepherd boy in central Arabia. Barnaby Rogerson's scintillating biography not only looks directly at the life of the Prophet Muhammad, but beautifully evokes for western readers the Arabian world into which he was born in 570 AD.
"Believing Women" in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an
Asma Barlas - 2002
Taking a wholly different view, Asma Barlas develops a believer's reading of the Qur'an that demonstrates the radically egalitarian and antipatriarchal nature of its teachings.Beginning with a historical analysis of religious authority and knowledge, Barlas shows how Muslims came to read inequality and patriarchy into the Qur'an to justify existing religious and social structures and demonstrates that the patriarchal meanings ascribed to the Qur'an are a function of who has read it, how, and in what contexts. She goes on to reread the Qur'an's position on a variety of issues in order to argue that its teachings do not support patriarchy. To the contrary, Barlas convincingly asserts that the Qur'an affirms the complete equality of the sexes, thereby offering an opportunity to theorize radical sexual equality from within the framework of its teachings. This new view takes readers into the heart of Islamic teachings on women, gender, and patriarchy, allowing them to understand Islam through its most sacred scripture, rather than through Muslim cultural practices or Western media stereotypes.
Even Angels Ask: A Journey to Islam in America
Jeffrey Lang - 1997
Drawing on his personal experiences as a Muslim, Professor Lang discusses conflicts between faith and reason, obstacles in converting to Islam, extremism within some Muslim communities and future outlook for American Muslims.
The Venture of Islam, Vol 1: The Classical Age of Islam
Marshall G.S. Hodgson - 1974
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.
Agenda to Change Our Condition
Hamza Yusuf - 2007
With an emphasis on Taqwa (God-consciousness) and Ikhlas (sincerity), Agenda To Change Our Condition is an indispensable handbook for all Muslims striving for excellence in character and self-refinement. Topics covered include: Taqwa: Its Definition and Its Benefits, The Heart and its Treatment, Practical Steps to Change Our Condition, a series of exercises for achieving Taqwa as well as three new appendices.In this updated for 2008 new edition of "Agenda to Change Our Condition," Shaykh Hamza Yusuf chalks out a program for all Muslims who want to rectify their current state of apathy and heedlessness of Allah's commands. The book includes sections on Practical Steps to Change Our Condition, Taqwa: Its Definition and its Benefits, The Heart and its Treatment (by Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-`Arabi), culminating with a series of exercises on how to attain taqwa.