Saved by Her Enemy

Saved by Her Enemy

Author: Don Teague

Publisher: Howard Books

Published: 2014-04-12

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781476786452

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

For her entire life, Rafraf, a devout Muslim, had been told that Americans were the enemy. Her understanding of the world, of her place in it, and of the United States had been steeped in the culture of Iraq under the rule of Saddam Hussein. Yet, in the midst of insurgents attempting to kidnap and kill her, she found herself on the receiving end of lifesaving help from those she considered her enemies. Rafraf suddenly finds herself living with a Christian family in the Bible Belt of America. Nothing had prepared her for this new reality—the life of a college student in a vastly foreign culture, in a community as far from her expectations as she could have imagined, and in a family that opens their hearts to enfold her. Saved by Her Enemy is a riveting journey of two very different people from opposite sides of the world, of faith, of experience, and of expectations. The dramatic intersection of their lives and their journey together is an inspiration to those who have ever felt there was more to life than the world they knew. A young Iraqi woman, an American war correspondent, and a true tale of friendship, faith, and family against the backdrop of war and the collision of cultures This is a story of a very unlikely friendship—between American war correspondent Don Teague and Rafraf Barrak, an Iraqi college girl who won a job as a translator for NBC during the early months of violence in the wake of the American invasion of Iraq. While covering a story together, the two were nearly killed by a bomb, an experience that created a bond between them that led them down a path neither could have imagined. What follows is a story of transformation, as Rafraf—from a devout Muslim family—becomes the target of terrorist threats to kidnap and murder her. Don and his fellow correspondents mobilize to help save her life and suddenly Rafraf finds herself on the receiving end of an offer for safety and a new life in the United States. Dramatically transplanted from the streets of Iraq to the Bible Belt of middle America, Rafraf finds everything that she knew—or thought she knew—about herself, her values, her world, even faith and family, turned upside down. Meanwhile, Don; his wife, Kiki; and their children discover they’ve embarked on an adventure with Rafraf that reshapes their lives. This captivating story inspires us all to join Don and Rafraf in discovering that there is far more to life than the world we know.


Hajj

Hajj

Author: Venetia Porter

Publisher:

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780674062184

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Hajj is the largest pilgrimage in the world today and a sacred duty for all Muslims. With contributions from renowned experts, this book opens out onto the full sweep of the Hajj: as a sacred path walked by early Islamic devotees, as a sumptuous site of worship under the care of sultans, and as an expression of faith in the modern world.


Islam in the Heartland of America

Islam in the Heartland of America

Author: Imam Omar Hazim

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2011-01

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 9781456857974

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"The purpose of this book is to inform and educate the general public of how Islam is taught in a mosque in the heartland of America. It includes the Friday khutbah (sermons) by Imam Omar Hazim and several other Imams (Spiritual Leaders). The hope is to help to clarify some of the misconceptions and distortions about the religion of Islam. In addition to the sermons, there will be articles from other publications, excerpts of sermons and photos. Included also is information about the diversity among the Muslim population in the Heartland of America. This book is very timely, as Islam has been reported as being the fasting growing religion in the World. For anyone who ever thought about or wondered what is taught in the Friday services at a Mosque, this book is a must read for them."


The Heart of Islam

The Heart of Islam

Author: Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2009-03-17

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 0061746606

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

As the specter of religious extremism has become a fact of life today, the temptation is great to allow the evil actions and perspectives of a minority to represent an entire tradition. In the case of Islam, there has been much recent confusion in the Western world centered on distorted portrayals of its core values. Born of ignorance, such confusion feeds the very problem at hand. In The Heart of Islam one of the great intellectual figures in Islamic history offers a timely presentation of the core spiritual and social values of Islam: peace, compassion, social justice, and respect for the other. Seizing this unique moment in history to reflect on the essence of his tradition, Seyyed Hossein Nasr seeks to "open a spiritual and intellectual space for mutual understanding." Exploring Islamic values in scripture, traditional sources, and history, he also shows their clear counterparts in the Jewish and Christian traditions, revealing the common ground of the Abrahamic faiths. Nasr challenges members of the world's civilizations to stop demonizing others while identifying themselves with pure goodness and to turn instead to a deeper understanding of those shared values that can solve the acute problems facing humanity today. "Muslims must ask themselves what went wrong within their own societies," he writes, "but the West must also pose the same question about itself . . . whether we are Muslims, Jews, Christians, or even secularists, whether we live in the Islamic world or in the West, we are in need of meaning in our lives, of ethical norms to guide our actions, of a vision that would allow us to live at peace with each other and with the rest of God's creation." Such help, he believes, lies at the heart of every religion and can lead the followers of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) as well as other religious and spiritual traditions to a new future of mutual respect and common global purpose. The Heart of Islam is a landmark presentation of enduring value that offers hope to humanity, and a compelling portrait of the beauty and appeal of the faith of 1.2 billion people.


God Can!

God Can!

Author: Calvin Rychener

Publisher:

Published: 2012-09

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780974049113

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

God Can! describes the ability of our Lord to perform amazing acts of grace and salvation in each of our lives. The book is about nine individuals or couples who have varied stories of grace and salvation through the work of the Lord and a Midwestern church. Their struggles cover a variety of issues from abandonment to alcoholism to divorce to the death of a child to suicide. The book tells their deeply personal stories prior to their acceptance of Christ, their process of conversion, and their life post-Christianity. It takes the reader into the thoughts and feelings of each individual or couple and shares the emotions of both their darkest and brightest days.


Dreams and Visions

Dreams and Visions

Author: Tom Doyle

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0849947200

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Dreams and Visions is a remarkable collection of stories directly from the world of Islam. Doyle answers the questions: Why would God use dreams to reach the Muslim world? Can dreams be trusted? What happens after these dreams or visions occur? Meet new believers in the Middle East who have truly been touched by Jesus in the most miraculous way.


Muslims of the Heartland

Muslims of the Heartland

Author: Edward E. Curtis IV

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2023-11-07

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1479827223

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Uncovers the surprising history of Muslim life in the early American Midwest The American Midwest is often thought of as uniformly white, and shaped exclusively by Christian values. However, this view of the region as an unvarying landscape fails to consider a significant community at its very heart. Muslims of the Heartland uncovers the long history of Muslims in a part of the country where many readers would not expect to find them. Edward E. Curtis IV, a descendant of Syrian Midwesterners, vividly portrays the intrepid men and women who busted sod on the short-grass prairies of the Dakotas, peddled needles and lace on the streets of Cedar Rapids, and worked in the railroad car factories of Michigan City. This intimate portrait follows the stories of individuals such as farmer Mary Juma, pacifist Kassem Rameden, poet Aliya Hassen, and bookmaker Kamel Osman from the early 1900s through World War I, the Roaring 20s, the Great Depression, and World War II. Its story-driven approach places Syrian Americans at the center of key American institutions like the assembly line, the family farm, the dance hall, and the public school, showing how the first two generations of Midwestern Syrians created a life that was Arab, Muslim, and American, all at the same time. Muslims of the Heartland recreates what the Syrian Muslim Midwest looked, sounded, felt, and smelled like—from the allspice-seasoned lamb and rice shared in mosque basements to the sound of the trains on the Rock Island Line rolling past the dry goods store. It recovers a multicultural history of the American Midwest that cannot be ignored.


A Fez of the Heart

A Fez of the Heart

Author: Jeremy Seal

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 9780156003933

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The author recounts his adventures traveling through Turkey in search of the history of the fez, using it as a key to understanding the country's history and culture.


Heart to Heart—The Journey Outward

Heart to Heart—The Journey Outward

Author: Robert P. Vande Kappelle

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2023-01-20

Total Pages: 165

ISBN-13: 1666768103

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Whether religiously theists, atheists, agnostics, or simply seekers, each of us is on a journey of faith, spiraling through stages, seasons, or phases of spirituality. On this journey, we discover that spirituality is more caught than taught, and that faith, enriched more by subtraction than by addition, is more about unlearning than learning. At the center of Jesus' life and message stands the exhortation to receive and share divine love. The two volumes of Heart to Heart, excerpted from Dr. Vande Kappelle's published writings, examine the meaning and implications of the biblical Great Commandment to love God and others as oneself. Whereas the first volume examines the spiritual journey inward, this companion volume examines the journey outward. Ultimately there is only one spiritual journey--the journey Godward--and there is only one commandment. Divine love is the key to everything. Unloved people misbehave, fail to love, or fail to change. Loved people aren't concerned with rules, regulations, or beliefs. Rather, because they are loved, they take proper care of themselves, and in so doing, care for nature and others as extensions of themselves. Heart to Heart is written for those who affirm the value of lifelong spiritual growth, realize the limits of logic, and embrace the paradoxes in life. If you are willing to commit less than ten minutes a day over a seven-month period, you will undertake a spiritual journey of epic proportions, guaranteed to transform you morally and spiritually. In addition, you will come to embrace Christianity as the transformative movement envisioned by Jesus for humanity, a way of life grounded in compassion, justice, service, humility, and love of others.