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› Find signed collectible books: 'Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey'
Naipaul's controversial account of his travels through the Islamic world was hailed by The New Republic as "the most notable work on contemporary Islam to have appeared in a very long time."
From the Trade Paperback edition. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey'
Naipaul's controversial account of his travels through the Islamic world was hailed by The New Republic as "the most notable work on contemporary Islam to have appeared in a very long time."
From the Trade Paperback edition. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X'
Malcolm X's searing memoir belongs on the small shelf of great autobiographies. The reasons are many: the blistering honesty with which he recounts his transformation from a bitter, self-destructive petty criminal into an articulate political activist, the continued relevance of his militant analysis of white racism, and his emphasis on self-respect and self-help for African Americans. And there's the vividness with which he depicts black popular culture--try as he might to criticize those lindy hops at Boston's Roseland dance hall from the perspective of his Muslim faith, he can't help but make them sound pretty wonderful. These are but a few examples. The Autobiography of Malcolm X limns an archetypal journey from ignorance and despair to knowledge and spiritual awakening. When Malcolm tells coauthor Alex Haley, "People don't realize how a man's whole life can be changed by one book," he voices the central belief underpinning every attempt to set down a personal story as an example for others. Although many believe his ethic was directly opposed to Martin Luther King Jr.'s during the civil rights struggle of the '60s, the two were not so different. Malcolm may have displayed a most un-Christian distaste for loving his enemies, but he understood with King that love of God and love of self are the necessary first steps on the road to freedom. --Wendy Smith [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X'
Malcolm X's searing memoir belongs on the small shelf of great autobiographies. The reasons are many: the blistering honesty with which he recounts his transformation from a bitter, self-destructive petty criminal into an articulate political activist, the continued relevance of his militant analysis of white racism, and his emphasis on self-respect and self-help for African Americans. And there's the vividness with which he depicts black popular culture--try as he might to criticize those lindy hops at Boston's Roseland dance hall from the perspective of his Muslim faith, he can't help but make them sound pretty wonderful. These are but a few examples. The Autobiography of Malcolm X limns an archetypal journey from ignorance and despair to knowledge and spiritual awakening. When Malcolm tells coauthor Alex Haley, "People don't realize how a man's whole life can be changed by one book," he voices the central belief underpinning every attempt to set down a personal story as an example for others. Although many believe his ethic was directly opposed to Martin Luther King Jr.'s during the civil rights struggle of the '60s, the two were not so different. Malcolm may have displayed a most un-Christian distaste for loving his enemies, but he understood with King that love of God and love of self are the necessary first steps on the road to freedom. --Wendy Smith [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Battle for God'
About 40 years ago popular opinion assumed that religion would become a weaker force and people would certainly become less zealous as the world became more modern and morals more relaxed. But the opposite has proven true, according to theologian and author Karen Armstrong (A History of God), who documents how fundamentalism has taken root and grown in many of the world's major religions, such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Even Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism have developed fundamentalist factions. Reacting to a technologically driven world with liberal Western values, fundamentalists have not only increased in numbers, they have become more desperate, claims Armstrong, who points to the Oklahoma City bombing, violent anti-abortion crusades, and the assassination of President Yitzak Rabin as evidence of dangerous extremes.
Yet she also acknowledges the irony of how fundamentalism and Western materialism seem to urge each other on to greater excesses. To "prevent an escalation of the conflict, we must try and understand the pain and perception of the other side," she pleads. With her gift for clear, engaging writing and her integrity as a thorough researcher, Armstrong delivers a powerful discussion of a globally heated issue. Part history lesson, part wake-up call, and mostly a plea for healing, Armstrong's writing continues to offer a religious mirror and a cultural vision. --Gail Hudson [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'Beyond Belief: Islamic Excursions Among the Converted Peoples'
"For sheer abundance of talent, there can hardly be a writer alive who surpasses V. S. Naipaul. [He is] the world's writer, a master of language and perception."--The New York Times Book Review
"A superlative traveler who misses nothing worth the record."--The Times (London)
Beyond Belief is a book about one of the more important and unsettling issues of our time: the effects of the Islamic conversion of Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, and Malaysia. It is not a book of opinion. It is--in the Naipaul way--a very rich and human book, full of people and stories.
Islam is an Arab religion, and it makes imperial Arabizing demands on its converts. In this way it is more than a private faith, and it can become a neurosis. What has this Arab Islam done to the histories of these converted countries? How do the converted peoples, non-Arabs, view their past--and their future? In a follow-up to Among the Believers, his classic account of his travels through these countries, V. S. Naipaul returns after seventeen years to find out how and what the converted preach.
In Indonesia he finds a pastoral people who have lost their history through a confluence of Islam and technology. In Iran he discovers a religious tyranny as oppressive as the secular one of the Shah, and he meets people weary of the religious rules that govern every aspect of their lives. Pakistan--in a tragic realization of a Muslim re-creation fantasy--inherited blood feuds, rotting palaces, antique cruelty; then President Zia installed religious terror with $100 million of Saudi money. In Malaysia, the Muslim Youth organization is alive and growing, and the people are mentally, physically, and geographically torn between two worlds, struggling to live the impossible dream of a true faith born out of a spiritual vacancy.
A startling and revelatory addition to the Naipaul canon, Beyond Belief confirms the author's reputation as a masterly observer, a "finder-out" of stories, as well as a magnificent teller of them. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror'
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, many Americans yearned to understand why Muslim extremists felt such passionate animosity toward the Western world, particularly the United States. Since that historic attack there have been many books and discussions about this very question, but few of them offer such a readable and relevant response as this excellent offering by renowned historian Bernard Lewis (What Went Wrong?). For modern Westerners, Islam is an especially foreign religion and culture to understand. For instance, Westerners typically dismiss things as unimportant when using the expression "thats history." But for those raised in Muslim households, historyeven ancient historyis just as important (if not more important) as the present. And to better understand the hostilities rooted in this historyone could start with recognizing the long-standing resentment the Islamic community harbors from having its homelands torn apart and re-packaged into random political states by occupying Europeans (Westerners). Or stretch back in time to the brutality of the Crusades. Or go straight to the U.S. political meddling in the region throughout the latter 20th century.
This is not a pity fest for Muslims. Lewis even-handedly explores the sources of Islamic antagonism toward the West while also explaining how a supposedly peace-worshipping religion could be so distorted by violent extremism. He notes that the American way of lifeespecially that of fulfillment through material gain and sexual freedomis a direct threat to Islamic values (which is why night clubsplaces where men and women publicly touch one anotherare targets of bombings). But it is basic Western democracy that especially threatens Islamic extremists, notes Lewis, because within its own community more and more Muslims are coming to value the freedom that political democracy allows. For anyone wanting an intelligent and accessible primer on the Islamic-Western conflict, this is an excellent place to begin. Gail Hudson [via]More editions of The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror:
› Find signed collectible books: 'Die Satanischen Verse'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Essential Rumi'
No translator could do greater justice to the gorgeous simplicity of Rumi's poetry than Coleman Barks has done here. These exquisite renderings of the 13th-century Persian mystic's words into American free verse capture all the "inner searching, the delicacy, and simple groundedness" that characterize Rumi's poetry while remaining faithful to the images, tone, and spiritual message of the originals. Barks's introductions to each of the 27 sections (described as "playful palimpsests spread over Rumi's imagination," and "meant to confuse scholars who would divide Rumi's poetry into the accepted categories") are themselves wonderful achievements of a poetic imagination; searching explanations of unfamiliar concepts and funny stories provide colorful background and frame the selections as no dry historical exegesis could.
While Barks's stamp on this collection is clear, it in no way interferes with the poems themselves; Rumi's voice leaps off these pages with an ecstatic energy that leaves readers breathless. There are poems of love, rage, sadness, pleading, and longing; passionate outbursts about the torture of longing for his beloved and the sweet pleasure that comes from their union; amusing stories of sexual exploits or human weakness; and quiet truths about the beauty and variety of human emotion. More than anything, Rumi makes plain the unbridled joy that comes from living life fully, urging us always to put aside our fears and take the risk to do so. As he says: "The way of love is not / a subtle argument. / The door there is devastation. / Birds make great sky-circles / of their freedom. / How do they learn it? / They fall, and falling, / they're given wings." --Uma Kukathas [via]

› Find signed collectible books: 'Glorious Koran'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Glorious Qu'Ran'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Glorious Qu'Ran'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Glorious Qur'an'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Glorious Qur'an: Arabic Text and English Rendering'
Translator's forward: The aim of this work is to present to English readers what Muslims the world over hold to be the meaning of the words of the Qur'an and the nature of that Book, in not unworthy language and consiely, with a view to the requirements of English Muslims... [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Glorious Quran: Its Meaning'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam'
Armstrong, a British journalist and former nun, guides us along one of the most elusive and fascinating quests of all time--the search for God. Like all beloved historians, Armstrong entertains us with deft storytelling, astounding research, and makes us feel a greater appreciation for the present because we better understand our past. Be warned: A History of God is not a tidy linear history. Rather, we learn that the definition of God is constantly being repeated, altered, discarded, and resurrected through the ages, responding to its followers' practical concerns rather than to mystical mandates. Armstrong also shows us how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have overlapped and influenced one another, gently challenging the secularist history of each of these religions. --Gail Hudson [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A History of the Arab Peoples'
Encyclopedic and panoramic in its scope, this fascinating work chronicles the rich spiritual, political, and cultural institutions of Arab history through 13 centuries. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Holy Qur'Aan/English/Arabic'
The Holy Qur,an was the revealation given to Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) from Allah (God)by way of the Angel Gabriel (S.R.A.) approx. 1400 A.D. [via]
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This DELUXE GIFT EDITION is a Hard Cover - A Must Library Collection and includes:
AN INTRODUCTION to the following topics:
Rank of Women in Islam
Concept of Jihad (The Holy War)
One Religion: Interfaith Understanding
The Religion of Peace
The Holy Qurân: Mirror of the Laws of Nature
Why The Holy Qurân was Revealed in the Arabic Language?
Language and Diction of the Holy Qurân
Standards of the Correct Translation & Interpretation of the Holy Qurân.
The Holy Qurân: Its Preservation and Arrangement
Factors which warranty the Purity of the Holy Qurân
Role of Reason in the Holy Qurân and much more.
This Deluxe Gift Edition also includes:
Hand Written Arabic Text, Subject Index, Glossary and Introduction to the Holy Quran Gold Guilding, Gold Stamping [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Holy Qur'Aan: Text, Translation and Commentary'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Holy Quran'
Every endeavour has been made and steps have been taken, as far as humanly possible, to avoid any error in this Holy Quar'an. In spite of this, there is likelihood of errors, having inadvertenly been overlooked, to err is human.
The readers are earnestly requested that, in case they come across any errors, they will please point these out to us so that these may be corrected. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Holy Quran'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Holy Quran'
The Holy Qur'an (also known as The Koran) is the sacred book of Islam. It is the word of God whose truth was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years. As it was revealed, so it was committed to memory by his companions, though written copies were also made by literate believers during the lifetime of the Prophet. The first full compilation was by Abu Bakar, the first Caliph, and it was then recompiled in the original dialect by the third Caliph Uthman, after the best reciters had fallen in battle. Muslims believe that the truths of The Holy Qur'an are fully and authentically revealed only in the original classical Arabic. However, as the influence of Islam grows and spreads to the modern world, it is recognised that translation is an important element in introducing and explaining Islam to a wider audience. This translation, by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, is considered to be the most faithful rendering available in English. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Holy Quran: An English Translation'
This translation of the Holy Quran is now available in Leather-like HARD COVER edition. See ISBN #0963206710. A MUST LIBRARY EDITION. Available in BLACK only.
Amazon.com also carries a Leather-like economical Edition of this translation without golden page edges. See ISBN# 0963206729. Available in BROWN color [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Interpretation of the Meaning of the Glorious Qur'an'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Islam: A Short History'
The picture of Islam as a violent, backward, and insular tradition should be laid to rest, says Karen Armstrong, bestselling author of Muhammad and A History of God. Delving deep into Islamic history, Armstrong sketches the arc of a story that begins with the stirring of revelation in an Arab businessman named Muhammad. His concern with the poor who were being left behind in the blush of his society's new prosperity sets the tone for the tale of a culture that values community as a manifestation of God. Muhammad's ideas catch fire, quickly blossoming into a political empire. As the empire expands and the once fractured Arabs subdue and overtake the vast Persian domain, the story of a community becomes a panoramic drama. With great dexterity, Armstrong narrates the Sunni-Shi'ite schism, the rise of Persian influence, the clashes with Western crusaders and Mongolian conquerors, and the spiritual explorations that traced the route to God. Armstrong brings us through the debacle of European colonialism right up to the present day, putting Islamic fundamentalism into context as part of a worldwide phenomenon. Islam: A Short History, like Bruce Lawrence's Shattering the Myth and Mark Huband's Warriors of the Prophet, introduces us to a faith that beckons like a minaret to those who dare to venture beyond the headlines. --Brian Bruya [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey'
In this timeless, haunting portrait of the people and the politics of Nicaragua, Rushdie brings to life the palpable human facts of a country in the midst of a revolution. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Koran'
The Qur'an, a masterpiece of immense religious and literary value, is presented in a convenient, affordable edition for a new generation of readers. The earliest known work in Arabic prose, the Qur'an is divided into 114 "suras", or chapters, containing the religious, social, civil, commercial, military, and legal codes of Islam. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Koran'
The Koran , as N. J. Dawood states, is 'not only one of the most influential books of prophetic literature but also a literary masterpiece in its own right'. Universally accepted by Muslims to be the infallible Word of God as revealed to Mohammed by the Angel Gabriel nearly fourteen hundred years ago, the Koran still provides the rules of conduct fundamental to the Arab way of life. N. J. Dawood's masterly translation, first published in the mid-1950s and now completely revised in the light of a life-long study of the language and style of the Koran, presents the English reader with a clear, fluent and authoritative rendering, while fully reflecting the characteristic flavour and rhythm of the original. The present edition follows the original sequence of the Koranic suras, and is provided with a comprehensive index. [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Koran'
The Koran, the holy scripture of Islam, is the record of Muhammad's oral teaching delivered between the years immediately preceding the Hegira in AD 622 and the Prophet's death in AD 632. It has exerted untold influence upon the history of mankind. Apart from it's specifically religious content, inspiring the triumphant arms of Islam throughout vast areas of Asia, Africa and southern Europe, it was the starting point of a new literary and philosophical movement which powerfully affected the most cultivated minds among both Christian and Jews in the Middle Ages; and the movement inaugurated has resulted in some of the finest products of genius and learning. Alan Jones has restored the traditional ordering of the Sutras, enabling the reader to trace the development of the Prophet's mind from the early flush of inspiration to his roles of warrior, politician and founder of an empire. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Koran Interpreted'
358 page paperback edition of The Koran Interpreted. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Koran Interpreted: A Translation'
No other book ever written, with the possible exception of the Bible, has so dramatically influenced the course of civilization as the Koran. Yet this important text remains little understood in the West. Since its first publication in 1955, Professor A.J. Arberry's translation has been the finest one available, its magnificently written verse making the Koran accessible to a Western audience. Professor Arberry has rendered the Koran into clear and lyrical English while carefully preserving the incomparable artistry of the Arabic original. "The Koran Interpreted" is universally recognized as not only the most authoritative translation but also the most beautiful one in the English language. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Koran Or, Alkoran of Mohammed the Bible of the Eas'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Koran: With a Parallel Arabic Text'
The Koran, as N. J. Dawood states, is 'not only one of the most influential books of prophetic literature but also a literary masterpiece in its own right'. Universally accepted by Muslims to be the infallible Word of God as revealed to Mohammed by the Angel Gabriel nearly fourteen hundred years ago, the Koran still provides the rules of conduct fundamental to the Arab way of life. N. J. Dawood's masterly translation, first published in the mid-1950s and now completely revised in the light of a life-long study of the language and style of the Koran, presents the English reader with a clear, fluent and authoritative rendering, while fully reflecting the characteristic flavour and rhythm of the original. The present edition follows the original sequence of the Koranic suras, and is provided with a comprehensive index.
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Meaning of the Glorious Koran'
An Explanatory Translation. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Meaning of the Glorious Koran: An Explanatory Translation'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Meaning of: The Glorious Koran/an Explanatory Translation by Marmaduke Pickthall'
(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)
While in the service of Indias Nizam of Hyderabad, Marmaduke Pickthall converted to Islam and, with the help of Muslim theologians and linguists, produced this clear and lovingly precise English interpretation of the Holy Koran. His work is honored by believer and non-believer alike for its unique combination of piety, scholarly rigor in its translation and explanatory notes, and deep feeling for the poetic beauty and moral grandeur of its Arabic original.
With an Introduction by William Montgomery Watt [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'an'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Meaning Of The Holy Quran'
This is a new 11th edition of the best-seller translation of the Meaning of The Holy Qur'an by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, published by Amana Publications. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Meaning of the Holy Quran'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Meanings of the Glorious Quran: English Translation With Original 'Arabic Text'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Muhammad : A Biography of the Prophet'
FROM THE BACK COVER: "NOW IN PAPERBACK FROM THE ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF HOLY WAR AND A HISTORY OF GOD, A FRESH, EVENHANDED BIOGRAPHY OF THE FOUNDER OF ISLAM, THE RELIGION THAT CONTINUES TO HAVE A DRAMATIC EFFECT ON THE WORLD TODAY. "A METICULOUS QUEST FOR THE HISTORICAL MUHAMMAD....THIS SYMPATHETIC, ENGROSSING BIOGRAPHY PORTRAYS MUHAMMAD AS A PASSIONATE, COMPLEX, FALLIBLE HUMAN BEING--A CHARISMATIC LEADER POSSESSED OF POLITICAL AS WELL AS SPIRITUAL GIFTS, AND A PROPHET WHOSE MONOTHEISTIC VISION INTUITIVELY ANSWERED THE DEEPEST LONGINGS OF HIS PEOPLE."---PUBLISHERS WEEKLY "RESPECTFUL WITHOUT BEING REVERENTIAL, KNOWLEDGABLE WITHOUT BEING PEDANTIC, AND ABOVE ALL, READABLE. IT SUCCEEDS BECAUSE (ARMSTRONG) BRING MUHAMMAD TO LIFE AS A FULLY ROUNDED HUMAN BEING."--THE ECONOMIST "THIS PORTRAYAL OF THE PROPHET OF ISLAM AND THE SETTING FROM WHICH HE EMERGED WILL CAPTIVATE AND ENLIGHTEN GENERAL READERS WITH A NEWFOUND UNDERSTANDING OF MODERN EVENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST."--LIBRARY JOURNAL "A FRESH, WELL-WRITTEN, AND OFTEN INSIGHTFUL ACCOUNT WHOSE TEN CHAPTERS GIVE SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE RELIGIOUS ROOTS, EXPERIENCES, AND MOTIVATIONS OF MUHAMMAD."--CHOICE." [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time'
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women'
Geraldine Brooks spent two years as a Middle East news correspondent, covering the death of Khomeini and the like. She also learned a lot about what it's like for Islamic women today. Brooks' book is exceedingly well-done--she knows her Islamic lore and traces the origins of today's practices back to Mohammed's time. Personable and very readable, Brooks takes us through the women's back door entrance of the Middle East for an unusual and provocative view. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'No God but God: the Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam'
Though it is the fastest-growing religion in the world, Islam remains shrouded in ignorance and fear for much of the West. In No god but God, Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed scholar of religions, explains this faith in all its beauty and complexity. Beginning with a vivid account of the social and religious milieu in which the Prophet Muhammad forged his message, Aslan paints a portrait of the first Muslim community as a radical experiment in religious pluralism and social egalitarianism. He demonstrates how, after the Prophets death, his successors attempted to interpret his message for future generationsan overwhelming task that fractured the Muslim community into competing sects. Finally, Aslan examines how, in the shadow of European colonialism, Muslims developed conflicting strategies to reconcile traditional Islamic values with the realities of the modern world, thus launching what Aslan terms the Islamic Reformation. Timely and persuasive, No god but God is an elegantly written account of a magnificent yet misunderstood faith. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Qur'an'
More editions of The Qur'an:
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Qur'an'
One of the most influential books in the history of literature, recognized as the greatest literary masterpiece in Arabic, the Qur'an is the supreme authority and living source of all Islamic teaching, the sacred text that sets out the creed, rituals, ethics, and laws of Islam. Yet despite the growing interest in Islamic teachings and culture, there has never been a truly satisfactory English translation of the Qur'an, until now.
This superb new translation of the Qur'an is written in contemporary language that remains faithful to the meaning and spirit of the original, making the text crystal clear while retaining all of this great work's eloquence. The translation is accurate and completely free from the archaisms, incoherence, and alien structures that mar existing translations. Thus, for the first time, English-speaking readers will have a text of the Qur'an which is easy to use and comprehensible. Furthermore, Haleem includes notes that explain geographical, historical, and personal allusions as well as an index in which Qur'anic material is arranged into topics for easy reference. His introduction traces the history of the Qur'an, examines its structure and stylistic features, and considers issues related to militancy, intolerance, and the subjection of women.
Clearly written and filled with helpful information and guidance, this brilliant translation of the Qur'an is the best available introduction to the faith of Moslems around the world. [via]
› Find signed collectible books: 'The Qur'an'
Paperback that was first published in 1934 in Lahore, Pakistan. Since that time Yusuf Ali books have been published several times. This is the modern English translation. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Qur'an: A New Translation'
This is a new and complete translation of the Qur'an -- the Muslim scripture -- by one of the premier translators of religious texts in the world. The meanings of this sacred text are rendered into the English language with subtle touches of poetry, allowing for the opportunity to fully understand the spirit and soul of the Qur'an. This direct and timely rendition is an essential source for the modern seeker. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books'
An inspired blend of memoir and literary criticism, Reading Lolita in Tehran is a moving testament to the power of art and its ability to change and improve people's lives. In 1995, after resigning from her job as a professor at a university in Tehran due to repressive policies, Azar Nafisi invited seven of her best female students to attend a weekly study of great Western literature in her home. Since the books they read were officially banned by the government, the women were forced to meet in secret, often sharing photocopied pages of the illegal novels. For two years they met to talk, share, and "shed their mandatory veils and robes and burst into color." Though most of the women were shy and intimidated at first, they soon became emboldened by the forum and used the meetings as a springboard for debating the social, cultural, and political realities of living under strict Islamic rule. They discussed their harassment at the hands of "morality guards," the daily indignities of living under the Ayatollah Khomeini's regime, the effects of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, love, marriage, and life in general, giving readers a rare inside look at revolutionary Iran. The books were always the primary focus, however, and they became "essential to our lives: they were not a luxury but a necessity," she writes.
Threaded into the memoir are trenchant discussions of the work of Vladimir Nabokov, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Austen, and other authors who provided the women with examples of those who successfully asserted their autonomy despite great odds. The great works encouraged them to strike out against authoritarianism and repression in their own ways, both large and small: "There, in that living room, we rediscovered that we were also living, breathing human beings; and no matter how repressive the state became, no matter how intimidated and frightened we were, like Lolita we tried to escape and to create our own little pockets of freedom," she writes. In short, the art helped them to survive. --Shawn Carkonen [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Satanic Verses : A Novel'
No book in modern times has matched the uproar sparked by Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, which earned its author a death sentence. Furor aside, it is a marvelously erudite study of good and evil, a feast of language served up by a writer at the height of his powers, and a rollicking comic fable. The book begins with two Indians, Gibreel Farishta ("for fifteen years the biggest star in the history of the Indian movies") and Saladin Chamcha, a Bombay expatriate returning from his first visit to his homeland in 15 years, plummeting from the sky after the explosion of their jetliner, and proceeds through a series of metamorphoses, dreams and revelations. Rushdie's powers of invention are astonishing in this Whitbread Prize winner. [via]
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call For Reform In Her Faith'
This "call for reform" reads like an open letter to the Muslim world. Irshad Manji, a Toronto-based television journalist, was born to Muslim parents in South Africa. Her family eventually fled to Canada when she was two years old. Manji shares her life experiences growing up in a Western Muslim household and ask some compelling questions from her feminist-lesbian-journalist perspective. It is interesting to note that Manji has been lambasted for being too personal and not scholarly enough to have a worthwhile opinion. Yet her lack of pretense and her intimate narrative are the strengths of this book. For Muslims to dismiss her opinions as not worthy to bring to the table is not only elitist; it underscores why she feels compelled to speak out critically. Intolerance for dissent, especially women's dissent, is one of her main complaints about Islam. Clearly, her goal was not to write a scholarly critique, but rather to speak from her heartfelt concern about Islam. To her fellow Muslims she writes:
I hear from a Saudi friend that his country's religious police arrest women for wearing red on Valentines Day, and I think, Since when does a merciful God outlaw joyor fun? I read about victims of rape being stoned for "adultery" and I wonder how a critical mass of us can stay stone silent.
She asks tough questions: "What's with the stubborn streak of anti-Semitism in Islam? Who is the real colonizer of the Muslims-America or Arabia? Why are we squandering the talents of women, fully half of God's creation?" This is not an anti-Muslim rant. Manji also speaks with passionate love and hope for Islam, believing that democracy is compatible with its purest doctrine. Sure, she's biased and opinionated. But all religions, from Christianity to Buddhism to Islam should be accountable for how their leadership and national allegiances personally affect their followers. One would hope that this honest voice be met with a little more self-scrutiny and a little less anti-personal, anti-feminine, and anti-Western rhetoric. --Gail Hudson [via]
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Bernard Lewis is the West's greatest historian and interpreter of the Near East. Books such as The Middle East and The Arabs in History are required reading for anybody who hopes to understand the region and its people. Now Lewis offers What Went Wrong?, a concise and timely survey of how Islamic civilization fell from worldwide leadership in almost every frontier of human knowledge five or six centuries ago to a "poor, weak, and ignorant" backwater that is today dominated by "shabby tyrannies ... modern only in their apparatus of repression and terror." He offers no easy answers, but does provide an engaging chronicle of the Arab encounter with Europe in all its military, economic, and cultural dimensions. The most dramatic reversal, he says, may have occurred in the sciences: "Those who had been disciples now became teachers; those who had been masters became pupils, often reluctant and resentful pupils." Today's Arab governments have blamed their plight on any number of external culprits, from Western imperialism to the Jews. Lewis believes they must instead commit to putting their own houses in order: "If the peoples of Middle East continue on their present path, the suicide bomber may become a metaphor for the whole region, and there will be no escape from a downward spiral of hate and spite, rage and self-pity, [and] poverty and oppression." Anybody who wants to understand the historical backdrop to September 11 would do well to look for it on these pages. --John Miller [via]
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Bernard Lewis is the West's greatest historian and interpreter of the Near East. Books such as The Middle East and The Arabs in History are required reading for anybody who hopes to understand the region and its people. Now Lewis offers What Went Wrong?, a concise and timely survey of how Islamic civilization fell from worldwide leadership in almost every frontier of human knowledge five or six centuries ago to a "poor, weak, and ignorant" backwater that is today dominated by "shabby tyrannies ... modern only in their apparatus of repression and terror." He offers no easy answers, but does provide an engaging chronicle of the Arab encounter with Europe in all its military, economic, and cultural dimensions. The most dramatic reversal, he says, may have occurred in the sciences: "Those who had been disciples now became teachers; those who had been masters became pupils, often reluctant and resentful pupils." Today's Arab governments have blamed their plight on any number of external culprits, from Western imperialism to the Jews. Lewis believes they must instead commit to putting their own houses in order: "If the peoples of Middle East continue on their present path, the suicide bomber may become a metaphor for the whole region, and there will be no escape from a downward spiral of hate and spite, rage and self-pity, [and] poverty and oppression." Anybody who wants to understand the historical backdrop to September 11 would do well to look for it on these pages. --John Miller [via]
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