Embark on a journey beyond the dos and don'ts to see the Muslim prophets as benchmarks or a mirror devoid of imperfection that can help us human beings see our various imperfections and reflect on our human struggles, to see and question afresh.
The heart in the Islamic understanding is the expression of a human being's spiritual existence. It is a Divine gift and Divine subtle faculty bestowed upon humanity. It is a polished mirror reflecting God. Like a general, the heart commands all other bodily organs and faculties, which are its troops, Everything that comes from a human being, whether good or bad, is a product of the heart. Mehmet Y. Seker, a scholar of Sufism and tasawwuf, studies the concept of the heart in the Islamic tradition looking at how it is approached by three prominent scholars and thinkers of Islam: Ghazali, Said Nursi, and Fethullah Gulen. Being the first in English to take as its focus the human heart from an Islamic spiritual, this book comparatively analyzes classical and modern age interpretations and evaluations on the concept and adds to the rich literature of spirituality in the Islamic tradition.
Research scholars have lamented the fact that most of the extant studies on religious responses to the COVID-19 pandemic focus on a particular religious group, typically Christian. This book fills this lacuna by providing some useful insights into how one Muslim religious institution responded to the pandemic. It portrays the sermons, advice, and guidance provided to the Claremont Main Road Mosque (CMRM) congregation in Cape Town, South Africa, by its Imams and elected board of governors during the course of the pandemic. The book carries a concluding chapter by Professor R. Scott Appleby, an expert in the study of lived religion, who critically reflects on this collection of sermons and the response of the mosque by providing some independent ruminations on the themes of religion, science, and the human person.
A collection of inspiring stories describing the moment when people received personal proof God exists Have you ever experienced a miracle? A prayer was answered or an accident was averted? For many, these mysterious and inspiring events are proof positive that God exists. This collection of life-changing stories celebrates the breakthrough moments when the hand of a divine power is felt: A doctor opens the chest of a dying heart patient to discover her heart is healed; Marines watch as a fellow soldier in Iraq is hit by a powerful explosion but remains uninjured; a young woman loses her boyfriend on 9/11 and receives a message that brings her peace. Reassuring, hopeful, and unforgettable, these amazing confirmations of divine intervention will lift your spirits and leave you wondering–and even remembering–when your life was touched by a miracle. “A wide range of heavenly touches, everything from quiet hugs to stunning out-of-body experiences.” —Joan Wester Anderson, author of Where Angels Walk and Angels and Wonders “Reading this book is a touching and soul-penetrating experience.” —Mark Victor Hansen, cocreater of the #1 New York Times bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series and coauthor of The One Minute Millionaire “A bouquet of inspiring stories...for the believer and nonbeliever alike.” —Julia Cameron, bestselling author of The Artist’s Way
What miracles do we miss when we close our eyes to the wonder of everyday moments? In this busy, jaded world of ours, we often take for granted what we see every day. We may set aside time to spend with God in a quiet room, but we struggle to see his hand in a traffic jam or while walking the dog. But for Karen Wingate, sight itself is something extraordinary, and what our eyes can reveal is even more astounding. Karen lived most of her life with severely limited sight due to a cluster of disorders stemming from a genetic defect. But through the chance outcome of a surgery, she regained sight in one eye that doubled her visual acuity—and allowed her to see things she had never seen before. And as she discovered a more detailed world for the first time, she also began to see God in every new discovery—from the prosaic numbers of a bathroom scale to the glory of sunsets. With Fresh Eyes invites readers to not only celebrate the gift of their own sight but also reawaken the wonder of what they observe in creation—great and small—and how God is working in everyday moments. In each of her sixty meditations, Karen's humor and whimsy draw a connection between physical sight and spiritual understanding that will leave readers with a renewed joy and delight in what is good and beautiful, and will reassure them that God still works in the lives of his people.
This book contains the opening words of a New Message from God. In the pages that follow, God is speaking to humanity anew, providing a warning, a blessing and a preparation for the great change that is coming to the world. God has spoken again at a time of great need and difficulty worldwide. This is a Divine answer to the growing crises of war, unrelenting climate change, religious conflict, and human suffering and deprivation now escalating around the world. The New Message from God is a living communication from God to the heart of every man, woman and child on Earth. The Word and the Sound are in the world again. We are living at a time of Revelation.
Sufism is all too often associated just with 'mysticism' in the West. The author of this new textbook, a former pupil of Annemarie Schimmel, suggests that conflating Sufism and mysticism is only partially valid. He shows that the vast majority of Sufi practice, both historically and in the contemporary world, has little or nothing to do with a esoteric transcendence but is rather focused on contemplative activity. Such practice might involve art, music, devotional shrine visitation - even politics and psychology. Placing Sufism in a wider Islamic contemplative context enables Arthur F Buehler to examine Sufi history, as well as current application, against a backdrop that is richer and more inclusive than that portrayed in many competing introductory surveys. Discussing the origins of Sufism; the development of Sufi lineages (via three founder figures); Sufi lodges and the role of Sufism in colonial resistance; Sufi poetry; Sufi shrines, and Sufism in the West, the author rescues his topic from the idea that it means only union with the divine. In this original new treatment, Sufism emerges as complex and multi-layered.
In the Islamic tradition, fiqh (Islamic law) is generally regarded as the science of furū'al-dīn (matters complementary to the Islamic faith), as opposed to kalām (Islamic theology) which is known as the science of uṣūl al-dīn (matters primary to the Islamic faith). Over time, however, fiqh has significantly surpassed Kalām in terms of cognitive maturation and epistemic development. In The Higher Objectives of Islamic Theology, Mohammed Gamal Abdelnour argues that far too little attention has been paid to parallel developments in Islamic theology. Consequently, the theological project in the Islamic tradition has largely become limited to definitions and deliberations about the nature and qualities of the transcendent God, and has barely developed as a systematic discipline devoted to the higher objectives of Islamic theology, similar to those of Maqāṣid al-Sharī?a (higher objectives of Islamic law). Addressing this gap and drawing on the full-fledged genre of Maqāṣid al-Sharī?a, this study aims to develop a genre of Maqāṣid al-?Aqīda (higher objectives of Islamic theology) based on a scheme of core values (Truth, Justice, Beauty), instead of a scheme of .hudūd (penalties). Arguing that the tradition's current overemphasis on law (Justice) has relegated both theology (Truth) and Sufism (Beauty) to the periphery of the tradition, Abdelnour illustrates how this marginalisation of theology and Sufism leaves less room for an "ethical Islam" and instead prioritises "legal" and "political Islam." In shifting the focus from law to theology, the book thereby grapples with such questions as: why did Islamic theology fail to develop a systemic genre of Maqāṣid al-?Aqīda? How do we chart out a map to guide the process of founding such an area? In what ways can the emerging Maqāṣid al-?Aqīda benefit from the well-established Maqāṣid al-Sharī?a? What are the ramif underdeveloped theology?
A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.
When the daughter of a high-profile businessman disappears from an exclusive girls' boarding school, police detective Cate Reilly is tapped for an undercover assignment. It doesn't take her long to realize that beneath the veneer of polish and wealth, things are not as they seem at Ivy Hill Academy. But the biggest surprise of all? The only man she ever loved is also working at the school. Zeke Sloan has never forgotten Cate, but now isn't the best time for their paths to cross again. When their two seemingly disparate agendas begin to intertwine--and startling connections emerge among the players--the danger escalates significantly. But who is the mastermind behind the elaborate ruse? And how far will they go to protect their house of cards? Queen of romantic suspense Irene Hannon invites you to scale the heights of human folly and plumb the depths of the human heart in this second gripping book in the Triple Threat series.