I loved this book. I read another biography of Muhammad (PBUH) by Karen Armstrong. It wad part of the Eminent Lives Series. It was good, but more focused on historical facts. In the Footsteps of the Prophet really attempted to show Muhammad's (PBUH) human side, his vulnerability and strength. His love for all of Allah's creation from plants and animals to human beings. I feel like I have a deeper understanding of the kindness and humanity of Muhammad (PBUH) after reading this book. Highly recommended.

Justice and Tolerance in the Qur'an

by Harun Yahya

When we talk about justice, everybody shares essentially the same basic concepts, and these are accepted by the majority of people right away.

This justice will include people from all walks of life, with no discrimination between them. It will allocate resources fairly among people, without taking their race, religion and language into consideration and will aim to create a world in which the superior is the one who is right, not the powerful.

What often distances people from justice is their rejection of it. They may concur in principle, but they reject it when it conflicts with their own interests. Everyone, for instance, spurns bribery and in theory agrees that taking bribes is immoral. However, faced with an attractive offer of a bribe, some people fabricate "justifications" and violate the principles they theoretically agree with.

Similarly, everybody knows and agrees that in finding out the truth and in the establishment of justice, the authenticity of witness statements are of major importance. In courts, however, some people whose evidence is given may readily lie and mislead the jury when their own interests or the interests of someone they love are at stake. These people accept justice in principle, yet see no reason not to violate it when the truth and their personal interests turn out to be at odds. Alternatively, everybody agrees that public resources should be shared equally. However, the recipients of an "aid campaign" may attempt to take a greater share and even tread over others to accomplish that. In this case, too, personal interests supersede justice.

The examples are legion. Yet we ultimately face the very same truth: even if some people believe in the necessity of justice, they may violate it when their interests are at stake. Since some people with such mentalities are in the majority in some societies, justice remains an illusionary concept.

For due administration of justice over the world, a morality which will enable people to set aside their personal benefits for the sake of justice is needed.

This morality is the values of the Qur'an which Allah commands and instructs us with in the Qur'an. That is because the values of the Qur'an command an absolute justice that makes no discrimination between people, that sides only with what is true and just.

http://www.harunyahya.com/justice1.php

selamu aleykum firends

A book "The Seal of Wisdom" by Muhiyyid'd-din Ibn al-'Arabi  (1) is his magnum opus

brief of Ibn 'Arabi
ibn ‘Arabī was born into a respectable family in Murcia, Taifa of Murcia on the 17th of Ramaḍān 561 AH (27th or 28 July 1165 AD). Muḥyiddin Muḥammad ibn ‘Alī ibn Muḥammad ibn ‘Arabī was widely known as al-Shaykh al-Akbar; in medieval Europe he was called Doctor Maximus.(2)

a part of the book

"All the Divine Names contained in in the divine form4 appear in this human organism. Thus it possesses the rank of containing and integrating this existence. It was by this that Allah set up the proof against the angels,5 so remember that! Allah admonishes you through others. Look at where that originates and where it ends up. The angels did not realise what was implied by the organism of the khalif, nor did they realise what the presence of the Truth demanded as 'ibâda 6 (worship). Each one only knows from Allah what his essence accords him. The angels do not possess the universality of Adam, and they did not understand the Divine Names with which he has been favoured, and by which he praises Allah and proclaims His purity. They only knew that Allah had names whose knowledge had not reached them, so they could not praise Him nor proclaim His purity through them. What we mentioned overcame them and this state overpowered them. They said about this organism, "Why put on it one who will  cause corruption on it?" (2:30) This is only the argument which they were voicing.

What they said regarding Adam is exactly the state they were with regard to Allah. Had it not been that their nature was in accord with it, they would not have said what they said in respect of Adam, "and yet they were not aware." If they had had true recognition of themselves, they would have had knowledge, and had they been in possession of knowledge, they would have been protected and would not have resisted by belittling Adam and thus exceeding their claim of what they possessed of His praise and glorification. Adam was in possession of Divine Names which the angels did not have, so that their praise and glorification of Him was not the same as Adam's praise and glorification of Him. Allah describes this to us so that we may ponder it and learn adab7 with Allah, and so that we will not lay claim to what we have not realised or possessed by pinning down. How can we allege something which is beyond us and of which we have no knowledge? We will only be exposed. This divine instruction is part of AllahÕs discipline of those of His slaves who are well-mannered, trusting and khalifs."

i think this book should be read slowly and carefully cuz it could be misunderstood

"The degree of Necessary Existence is so stable and real, and contingent existence is so insubstantial and pale that many of those who have investigated creation, like Muhyiddin al-Arabi, have reduced the other levels of existence to the level of delusion arid imagination; they said: "There is no existent save Hirn." That is, it must not be said of other things that they have existence in relation to the Necessary Existence. They stated that they are not worthy of the title of existence."(20. Letter, Risale-i Nur)

im reading it nowadays i found it difficult to understand

may it be easy

(1) http://bewley.virtualave.net/fusus.html
or  http://www.ibnularabi.com/ma20.pdf

(2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Arabi


Edited by poRTfoxtr - 15 March 2012 at 12:27pm

10 Books Every (English-Speaking) Muslim Should Read

by Imam Sohaib Sultan
Muslim Life Coordinator and Chaplain,
Princeton University

My top 10 list of books that Muslims should read and have in their library.

Obviously this list isn't comprehensive. It's only meant as a conversation starter and to highlight some great books.

The Qur’an (Oxford World’s Classics), M.A. Abdel Haleem
The most accessible translation of the Qur’an to date.

The Story of the Qur’an: Its History and Place in Muslim Life, Ingrid Mattson
 Goes beyond introduction and really explores the role of the Qur’an in shaping Muslim life and society.

Our Master Muhammad. The Messenger of Allah: His Sublime Character and Exalted Attributes, Imam Abdullah Sirajuddin Al-Husayni, Trans. Khalid Williams. (Vol. 1 and 2)
The best portrait of who the Prophet (s) was and how he lived.

Provisions for the Seekers, Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf
A beautiful collection of succinct hadith that one can use to live by.

The Spiritual Teachings of the Prophet: Hadith with Commentaries by Saints and Sages of Islam, Tayeb Chouiref
A marvelous exploration of the spiritual gems from our Beloved Messenger (s).

The Book of Assistance, Imam al-Haddad Trans. Mostafa Badawi
Comprehensive guide to living Islam internally and externally.

The Vision of Islam, Sachiko Murata and William C. Chittick
One of the best books to introduce Islam, Iman, and Ihsan.

The Spirit of Islamic Law, Bernard G. Weiss
An excellent book on how Islamic Law developed and evolved over the centuries.

Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering, Sherman A Jackson
Addresses one of the most pressing and difficult theological questions in modern religious discourse.

Islam: The View from the Edge, Richard W. Bulliet
A unique look at Islamic history “from the edge” rather than from the center.

http://muslimchaplain.wordpress.com/2012/12/31/10-books-every-muslim-should-read/

On-Line e-Book: Ramadan for New Muslims

Ramadan is the most blessed month of the year.

What does Ramadan mean to Muslims in general and how can a new Muslim benefit from his first Ramadan?

This e-Book will answer all your questions.

http://onislam.net/english/ebooks/reading-islam/463574-ramadan-for-new-muslims-free-ebook.html

Misquoting Muhammad

The Challenges and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet’s Legacy

-Dr.Jonathan Brown



Named as one of the top books on religion of 2014 by The Independent…! Misquoting Muhammad takes the reader back in time through Islamic civilization and traces how and why such controversies developed, offering an inside view into how key and controversial aspects of Islam took shape. From the protests of the Arab Spring to Istanbul at the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and from the ochre red walls of Delhi’s great mosques to the trade routes of Islam’s Indian Ocean world, Misquoting Muhammad lays out how Muslim intellectuals have sought to balance reason and revelation, weigh science and religion, and negotiate the eternal truths of scripture amid shifting values.


http://www.drjonathanbrown.com/2014/misquoting-muhammad

Quotes from the book...

“Many Americans and Western Europeans proudly trumpet the diversity of cosmopolises like London and New York without realizing that cosmopolitanism does not mean people of different skin colors all sitting around over wine at a bistro table complaining about organized religion. It means people who hold profoundly different, even mutually exclusive, beliefs and cultural norms functioning in a shared space based on toleration of disagreement.”


“Not lightly should you transport aluminum trays of oily Pakistani food in the back of your mother’s car. This is one of many lessons I learned as part of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) in university. Through tragically not reflected in catering, a glorious diversity has generally characterized attendance at MSA events across the varied campuses of North America’s colleges and universities: the second-generation children of Hyderabadi physicians suffering toward medical school themselves, well-heeled scions of Syrian engineers from the Midwest on break from serial brunching, African-American Muslims bemused by immigrant angst, occasional pompously coiffed upper-crust Pakistanis expiating sins incurred while clubbing and the odd Saudi exchange student committed to bringing order to this religious soup.”

― Jonathan A.C. Brown, Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy

RECOMMENDED READING LIST OF PROFESSOR TIMOTHY J WINTER

Timothy John Winter (born 1960), aka Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad, is a British Muslim thinker, professor, and translator.

Winter has written about the interaction between Islam and secular issues spanning a wide range of disciplines.

He has held a number of lectureships and administrative posts in British academia having to do with theology, the intellectual history of Islamic civilization, and international academic cooperation…[Read More]

Beginners:

1. Abdel, Haleem M. A., trans. The Qurʼan (New York: Oxford UP, 2005).
2. Du Pasquier, Roger. Unveiling Islam (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1990).
3. Emre, Yunus. The City of the Heart: Yunus Emre’s Verses of Wisdom and Love. trans. Süha Faiz (Shaftesbury, Dorset: Element, 1992).
4. al-Haddad, Abdullah. The Book of Assistance (London: Quilliam Press, 1989).
5. Hammad, Ahmad Zaki. Lasting Prayers of the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad (Bridgeview, IL: Quranic Literacy Institute, 1996).
6. Hofmann, Murad Wilfried. Islam: the alternative (Reading: Garnet, 1993).
7. Ibrahim, Izzedien and Denys Johnson-Davies. trans. Forty Hadith (Beirut, 1983).
8. Khan, Maulana Wahiduddin. Islam and Peace (New Delhi: Goodword, 1999).
9. Lawrence, Bruce. The Qur’an: a biography (New York, 2007).
10. Lings, Martin. Muhammad: his biography based on the earliest sources (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1986).
11. Maqsood, Ruqaiyyah Waris. The Muslim Marriage Guide (London: Quilliam, 1995).
12. Masri, Al-Hafiz Basheer Ahmad. Animal Welfare in Islam (3rd ed. Leicester: Islamic Foundation, 2007).
13. Murad, Abdal Hakim. Muslim Songs of the British Isles, Arranged for Schools (London: Quilliam Press, 2005).
14. al-Nawawī, Yaḥyā Ibn-Šaraf. Al-Maqasid: Imam Nawawi’s Manual of Islam. trans. Noah H. Keller (Evanston: Sunna Books, 1994). English translation and appendices by Sheikh Noah Ha Mim Keller.
15. Schleifer, Aliah. Mary the Blessed Virgin of Islam (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1998).
16. Shalabi, Abdul Wadod. Islam Religion of Life (London: Quilliam Press, 1990).
17. Stockton, Peter. Transcending Jerusalem (Stockton, 2008). Web. <http://www.transcendingjerusalem.com>.
18. Tawfiq, Idris. Gardens of Delight: A Simple Introduction to Islam (London: Stacey International, 2007).
19. Winter, Tim, and John A. Williams. Understanding Islam and the Muslims: The Muslim Family and Islam and World Peace. (Louiville KY: Fons Vitae, 2002).
20. Wolfe, Michael. The Hadj: an American’s pilgrimage to Mecca (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1993).
21. Wolfe, Michael, ed. Taking Back Islam: American Muslims Reclaim their Faith (New York: Rodale, 2002).
22. Yusuf, Hamza. The Creed of Imam al-Tahawi (Hayward CA: Zaytuna, 2007).

https://splendidpearls.org/2015/03/30/shaykh-abdal-hakim-murads-book-recommendations/