Wardah @ World Book Fair ‘05
May 22, 2005
Wardah Books will be at the World Book Fair ‘05 at Suntec Expo, 28 May to 5 June. Opening hours 11 am to 10.00 pm daily. Our Booth is located at the Religion and Philosophy Pavilion (Booth No. 4Q35 & 4Q37).
Our theme for the event is: ‘Celebrating Islamic Tradition’. Our feature books include:
Me & Rumi: A Biography of Shems Tabrizi
Sufi Sage of Arabia: A Biography of Imam Abdullah ibn Alawi al-Haddad
Keys to the Divine Presence | Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
As this is the School Vacation season, we have also increased our range of children’s books.
Wardah Activities at the Book Fair include:
1. Meet-the-Author Session
Book: Estate Planning For Muslims
Author: Sadali Rasban
Time: 5pm – 6pm, 3 June
2. Book-signing
Book: Let’s Celebrate: Islam in Poems and Art
Author: Kamariah Ahmad
Time: 4pm – 5pm, 5 June
The Book of Illumination
May 21, 2005
In this age of conspicuous consumption and capitalist greed, a translation of the Book of Illumination has special value. It upholds the spiritual value of work while urging readers to simplify their reliance on material means and question their obsession with possessing and craving. It argues for a spirituality of living in the world without relying on the world, a spirituality that is more relevant now than ever.
— Publisher’s Description
Title: The Book of Illumination
Author: Ibn Ata’ Illah al-Iskandari
Muhammad: The Messenger of Islam
May 18, 2005
People often ask me what is the best book on the Prophet (s.a.w.). I often reply, “The Qur’an”. While this may not have been the answer the questioner was expecting, I think it is important for us to have this understanding. The Last Prophet (s.a.w.) is also described in every book revealed to man.
You can find books written about the Prophet (s.a.w.) in virtually every language. A huge body of Islamic literature is dedicated to him (s.a.w.). The Shamail of Imam Tirmidhi, the as-Shifa’ of Qadi ‘Iyad, the Dala’il al-Khairat of Imam Jazuli, the Burdah of Imam Busiri, and the Sirah an-Nabi of Imam Dibae are just some of the luminous works describing and praising the Noble Prophet (s.a.w.). These works are so beautiful that, in traditional Muslim homes, they are often recited in gatherings. In our time, we have the works of Martin Lings, Haykal, and Siddique.
Why are there so many books on the Prophet (s.a.w.)? The answer is simple: It is love. If love is the ink, the lover’s pen will never dry.
Award to him whatever you want in terms of praise, and stand by it, and ascribe to his person whatever you want in terms of nobility and ascribe to his power every greatness you want, for the excellence of the Messenger (s.a.w.) of God has no limit so that anyone who speaks with his mouth could express it completely.— The Burdah of Imam al-Busiri
Back to the question I began with, the one that people often ask me. Well, it is really very hard for me to value one book over another, especially since they are all written out of love. But one book does stand out from the rest. The book is Muhammad: The Messenger of Islam — His Life and Prophecy by Hajjah Amina Adil. The author’s previous works include Lore of Light, Volumes 1, 2 and 3. The Lore of Light series describes the life histories of the eminent 24 Prophets; from Adam (a.s.) to Isa (a.s.). The book Muhammad, must be seen as the final instalment of the Lore of Light.
Reading this book has affected me deeply in two ways. Firstly, the author’s narrative style is descriptive, impressionistic and above all, moving. She does not simply list events like a historian, but rather fleshes out stories connected to the Prophet (s.a.w.) and strings them together to breathtaking effect. She also shifts her focus now and again to the Noble Companions and describes their love for the Prophet (s.a.w.). One simply cannot read this book and remain unmoved. However, I am not saying that her writings are all emotion and no detail. In fact, the description of the Mi’raaj is the most detailed I have ever come across in the English language.
Secondly, her writings depict the Prophet (s.a.w.), not solely as a historical figure within a specific period in history, but as a reality that is unconfined by time. She liberally juxtaposes her narration with modern-day doctrinal dilemmas such as the issue of the permissibility of celebrating the Prophet’s Day of Birth (Maulud Nabi). She also pauses between sections to discuss lessons that can be gleaned from a particular story. By doing so, she forces the reader to think about the Seerah and its immediate relevance to the ‘modern’ milieu we find ourselves in.
Nowadays when people ask me, I reach for the book whose cover bears a photograph of the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) holy relics in the Topkapi Museum, Istanbul.
{Hajjah Amina Adil, passed away peacefully earlier this year. May Allah bless her soul. Al-Fatiha.}
Title: Muhammad: The Messenger of Islam — His Life and Prophecy
Author: Hajjah Amina Adil
Al Qaeda and What It Means to Be Modern
May 18, 2005
Al Qaeda sees itself as an alternative to the modern world, but the ideas on which it draws are quintessentially modern. As Karl Kraus said of psychoanalysis: radical Islam is a symptom of the disease of which it pretends to be the cure.
— Al Qaeda and What It Means to Be Modern, John Gray
Islam — Religion of Life
May 16, 2005
The number ‘2′ bus plies a route I have known for years. It gets me where I need to be in predictable Singaporean efficiency. Comforted with the fact that I’ll reach my destination without any incident, I stare blankly out the window.
‘Opium for the masses,’ was how Karl Marx described religion: an escapist fancy to help the downtrodden bear their burden and accept their lot. I wonder what Marx would say if he were alive today. As society tends towards non-religiousness, are our consciousness sharpened? Or are we more dulled in narcotic stupor? Where, then, are we heading?
This little book, Islam — Religion of Life completely answers this idle question of mine. I shall begin where the book ends:
“Our sports cars, holidays and pension plans, all the status symbols of the modern manner of living, seem tasteless and without meaning. The reason is understood intuitively by many, but few know how to respond. We have lost contact with the mystery that lies within ourselves; we have forgotten what we are… Science cannot tell us how to live. ‘The blank space in the modern heart,’ said scientist Julian Huxley, ‘is a God-shaped blank. And life without the transcendent is not only desultory and without meaning, it is miserable, as the Quran tells us. We can only become robots, anaesthetized by television, drink, and our leisure preoccupations if we fail to hear the insistent inquiry of the Quran: ‘Where, then, are you going
What intrigues me about this little book is the fact that it draws the reader into a world within a world. We forget, for a moment, the collective state the umma is in. We are allowed a long, inspiring glimpse at the majesty and beauty of Islam. No. It is no opiate. Rather it injects energy into the reader both outwardly and inwardly.
Insightfully written by the former deputy Shaykh of al-Azhar and edited by eminent Cambridge scholar and historian, Abdal Hakim Murad, this book seeks to show the true nature of the deen and challenges stereotypes which reduce Islam and Muslims to caricatures. It describes the fundamentals of Islam (not, I must add, by mere listing of do’s and do not’s) as the bedrock of Muslim life, as a means through which Muslims attain peace in a maddening milieu. I found the following description on prayer to be exceptionally breathtaking: “Five times in every day the Muslim turns his back on whatever has been preoccupying him and bows and prostrates in submission before his Creator. In ten minutes’ time, he will be back at work, but with an evident burden lifted and a new expression on his face. For the regular act of Salat is a powerful aid to the constant, unceasing remembrance of the eternal presence of God. Islam forbade monasteries: it never needed them…”
Islam is not an opiate. Rather it is more vital than oxygen. We now live in a time when the killer does not know why he kills and the dead do not know why they are killed. We must climb out of our stupor. We will never be able to do it, if left to our own devices. Perhaps this is why the first step into Islam is to recognise that Man is in complete need of God.
Passing of Dr Martin Lings
May 16, 2005
“No more I say: Would it had been!
For I have seen what I have seen
And I have heard what I have heard.
So if to tears ye see me stirred,
Presume not that they spring from woe:
In thankful wonderment they flow.
Praise be to Him, the Lord, the King,
Who gives beyond all reckoning.”
— from ‘Collected Poems’ of Martin Lings, whose soul returned to
the Most Merciful on the
11th of May, 2005. Al-Fatiha.
The Interview- New Blogger Employed
May 11, 2005
The Wardah Staff just interviewed someone for the job of Wardah Blogger/Reviewer. This is the transcript of the interview:
Wardah: Please state your name.
None: My name is None {pronounced NO-Knee}. None the Wiser.
Wardah: Thats an usual name, can you tell us more about it?
None: Well I have two other brothers, Nay the Sayer and Ril the Wise. I am considered wiser than Ril.
Wardah: Do you realise that your name can mean two completely opposite things? It can mean that you are wiser than other people or it could mean that you are not wise at all.
None: My name may mean many things to many people. But as far as my true nature is concerned, I am None the Wiser.
Wardah: Hmm. Well, let’s move on. What makes you think you can be the resident Wardah blogger?
None: I read widely. Writing is a natural extension to reading. As one reads, one increases one’s vocabulary of words and also of ideas. Writing is a way of ordering these words and ideas. I have also written reviews of various books in some magazines. But the most important reason why I believe I would do well in the Wardah Blog is because I believe that our community is not reading adequately. I am always promoting the reading habit to friends and family. I have also noticed that people who read widely are also more tolerant of the views of other people.
Wardah: What are your favorite books?
None: I generally love books that are written from the heart, that are sincere. The sincerity of a writer really shines through his writing. One book in particular springs to mind for its sheer sincerity, The Book of Assistance of Imam al-Haddad.
Wardah: You got the job None!
