Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Book suggestions???

I am trying to add a new habit to my life every 30 days... Do something useful every day for 30 minutes until I have a new habit. This month, study religion for 30 minutes every day. So, any books I should read??? Audiobooks, podcasts, internet videos are all especially welcome. Thoughts? What are your favorites? Of course something that requires thought, but not anything too dry. I know, I'm asking a lot when we are talking translations for the most part I know... And any tips on reading without freaking out over poor grammar and misused words obviously gleaned directly from the pages of an Arabic to English dictionary are always welcome!LOL

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I have a suggestion. It may not be exactly what you had in mind but I always recommend; The Gift Poems by Hafiz.
Just a suggestion from a lover of Sufi Poetry.

Rere said...

I dunno if you've watch Baba Ali in Ummah Films, but if you haven't you can see it in ummahfilms.blogspot.com or just check it out on youtube. :)

Sacrifice4Allah said...

As Salaamu 'alaikum,

Nice blog mashaAllah!

Aside from the Qur'an, i would recommend "You can be the happiest woman in the world" by Sh. Dr. A'idh Al Qarni.

"The Friends of Allah and the friends of Shaytaan" by Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him).

"Great Women of Islam"

An excellent, excellent site i would strongly recommend is www.kalamullah.com

Anonymous said...

The Quran
for me, it started off as a to read every night before bed until i read the whole Quran. once done though, i stopped reading and really missed it. I am trying to get back into the that habit.
Find a translation that you are comfortable with though.

Anonymous said...

I second Hafiz poems in the book The Gift. The translator is great! I hate poetry, but love the way he translates Hafiz.

Anything by Hamza Yusuf, Zaid Shakir is great, especially since it will be well written and footnoted.

Sometimes compilations of Islamic texts geared for College level class are great because they cut through all the labels (sufi, wahabi, salafi, etc) and give a good selection. I mean you can read a little of everything from everyone, and often you get selections translated just for the book, or things that you'd never find on your own. "Windows on the House of Islam" is a great example and it is on amazon. I found another compilation from the 80's next to a dumpster once and this is also packed with gems.
I often hit up the used books stores because I like reading random finds on Islam, and it's always hodge podge.

Taliba said...

Lovely blog :)

Check out http://www.darulqasim.org/
Located in Chicago. Excellent teachers (you can read founder Sh Amin's scholarly credentials on the website. Many of the durus can be downloaded online.

Just two cents from another Egyptian's wife :)

Jules UmmEmJoey said...

A friend recommended to me the book "To Honor God" by Timothy Bowes. It is fairly new. I would like to read it but since the library doesn't have it and I don't have funds for it right now, lol, I can't.

Freda Shamma said...

It would help to know where you are at in terms of reading Islamic material. For a different but excellent overall look at the Islamic world view, I like "Islam the Nature Way". For a short but very important read, I suggest Imama Al Ghazali's "Duties of Brotherhood". There are several translations and most are good.

Irving said...

Try my book, Master of the Jinn: A Sufi Novel, if you are interested in spiritual adventure tales :)

http://www.masterofthejinn.com

Ya Haqq!