IMPORTANT BOOKS AND READINGS

Reviews and recommendations on important books about Quran, Islam, Science, History and Life itself.
Arnold Yasin Mol

IMPORTANT BOOKS AND READINGS

Post by Arnold Yasin Mol »

Here is my book on the word Jinn, what it means in Arabic and how it is used in the Quran. This book is only the first version. A new revised one will come soon inshAllah:

JINN AS UNDERSTOOD
THROUGH THE QURAN


It will show how the traditional approach has made the Quran mahjoor, immobilized and made to no account as a cow bound horn to leg.
Arnold Yasin Mol

IMPORTANT BOOKS AND READINGS

Post by Arnold Yasin Mol »

Here is my small book on the concept of Jannah and Jahannam as shown by the Quran.

Djenna and Jahannam


"People are brought up with the concepts of heaven and hell, like it are physical places. But when you study the subject, it shows that this is an old idea which was taken in by the muslims. Most early commentators of the Quran, came from different backgrounds, Persian, Christian and so on, and took in their concepts of Djenna and Gehenna in the interpretation. Instead of letting the Quran explain itself, they already had a prenotion of the meanings. This preconcieved idea became the overall meaning, and has clouded the true meaning."

I hope I have accomplished to give a small glimps on the true meaning.

Here are 2 responses on this writing:

Dr. Shabbir:


Dear AY

>> When the believers go through trials, when they have experienced it, they will feel process of their Nafs. They experience the trial, the fitnah=purifying experience as a victory. Rejecters will experience their fitnah, lessons, as something bitter and as a defeat. So whatever you choose, the accept or reject, Allah has made the Creation as such that no one will escape the purification of his being. But a believer will experience it as something liberating, a rejecter as something entrapping him. <<

I have been reading this fascinating thought all my life from different authors with inadequate references to the Qur'an. Where did you derive it from?


And:

Maurice Abdullah Buddin

Salam Dear Friends
What an absolutey wonderfull gathering seems to be taking place. Truly an enlightening article.
Allah bless you all.
Life student
Maurice Abdullah Buddin
alaikum salam
Arnold Yasin Mol

IMPORTANT BOOKS AND READINGS

Post by Arnold Yasin Mol »

Here is my book on the rejection of miracles in the Quran and how the stories of the Prophets must be understood:

The Evolution of Thinking


Here is the introduction from the book:

"A lot of times person ask me why I don't believe the Quran supports supernatural miracles. Why do I translate them so differently? Well we have to bring in Psychology and the Arabic into this. One person asked me:

"If you claim Islam and the quran can be explained in an empirical scientific way then you do away with one of the core ideas of religion (and 99% of Islam.) by promoting disbelief in the 'supernatural'......"

Indeed a good question, so let's see what were the factors involved with the Quranic interpretations. The idea that Islam must believe in a God that supports the supernatural is wrong. But in the last 1400 years the belief in the supernatural dominates Islam. How can this be? There are 2 factors involved which I’ll discuss. First of all, this is normal, as most people in that those times were in a mythological phase of thinking. Their concept of power or divinity was connected by miracles and the supernatural as they themselves understood little of the creation. Because they didn't see the world and the whole universe as evidence enough for Allah's power, they demanded things that went beyond their direct doing.
The thing is, it is not that God cannot do it, the question is, will God do it? Throughout the Quran, God says that no miracle will convince people and that He will not break His laws. This includes the Laws of Nature. Throughout the Quran, God refers to reason and observation, we have to look at the creation, at our own bodies, how miraculous everything works and fits. God has the power to do anything, this is not being questioned. If we are truly convinced by miracles is the question. Do we need them to believe? Does this make our believe in God's power less? Does this makes the power and intelligence that was involved to create the universe less? When I talk with people about the verses being translated wrong and are twisted into miracles, they always end up with: 'Don't you believe God can do these things?'

And then we finally end up at the question why people defend miracles. It is because their God's image is based on a supernatural God. Instead of God being present direct here in all that exists, He having create all that exists through such precise Laws, on slight deviation and we would not be here. They do not base God's power on the creation itself, but on breaking the laws they cannot break themselves."

Dr.Shabbir's comments:

I could read only 10 pages last night - too many phones!
But wow! - it's marvelous X 10 - will finish reading tonight
.

He didn't change his mind after finishing it either.

And M.Qasmi. His reaction is exactly what I tried to achieve by writing this book. I hope it will cause the same with you:

Hey,
To start with, I think it is a brilliant piece of work...

You know what scares me most?

1) What would I have demanded from our exalted prophet, had I been a common man of that time and met him trying while to understand God's message?

2) All my knowledge and understanding of the universe and man's history kept aside, where does my intellect stand when it comes to absorbing a supernormal message? The Quran is Mubeen, yes, but one needs to have a certain threshold of knowledge and intellect , or at least be a bit susceptible to it. One cannot be so without knowledge at least, and to be able to process that knowledge effectively.

Mahmood
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Post by Our Beacon Group »

Salam Aleikum,

Here is very interresting book by MA Malek:

A Study of the Quran


It is a very important read on how to approach and study the Quran. We highly recommend you all in reading this work.

Here is the introduction:

"A Study of the Qur'an
The Universal Guidance for Mankind.
By Mohammed Abdul Malek.
Synopsis:

This book makes the following claim: the Qur'an is a book of universal guidance for the whole of mankind. This statement will appear dogmatic to many people – particularly to non-Muslims. This study is an attempt to justify this claim through presenting the teachings of the Qur'an afresh and in the context of the claims it makes both for itself, and with regard to our human lives, both as individuals and as a collective entity.

Any serious study of the Qur'an must include knowledge of Arabic since it is only by this means that we can approach an understanding of those verses which have been mistranslated due to tradition, prejudice, or lack of knowledge of established scientific facts. In approaching this book, therefore, it is crucial to have a mind prepared to judge the facts on their own merits.

While the treatment of the topics covered in A Study of the Qur'an is by no means exhaustive, it is hoped that this book will be a valued starting point for the genuine student who wishes sincerely to consider the Holy Qur'an as a source of guidance for his or her life."
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Post by Our Beacon Group »

Article on Hadith by Muhammed Asadi:

Rational inquiry into Hadith

Introduction:

"HADITH ARE THEY AUTHENTIC??
Hadith are the various traditions contained in specific books, believed in by the majority of Muslims to be the sayings of the prophet Muhammed. These in the major part are extra Koranic, i.e from outside the Koran. They either contradict or add to the Koran. They are sometimes presented by Muslims as an explanation of the Koran or as an integral part of Islamic law, even though they are not confirmed by the Koran.
A minority among the Muslims do not accept the various books of Hadith as being an accurate representation of what the prophet Muhammed said. They take the Koran as Criterion (Furqaan in Arabic), according to the Koran's own claim (2:185), accepting only those hadith which the Koran confirms and attests in totality. I represent that view in this paper."
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Post by Our Beacon Group »

The explanation of the word As-Salat in the Quran by Alamma G.A. Parwez. Its meaning given by the Arabic dictionaries and how the Quran uses it:

Explanation of the word As-Salat
Our Beacon Committee
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Post by Our Beacon Committee »

Link to:

khutbat-e-Ahmadiyah, by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan R

________________
Taseer Cheema,MD
New York.
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Arnold Yasin Mol

IMPORTANT BOOKS AND READINGS

Post by Arnold Yasin Mol »

I have collected my explanations and others of my articles on PDF:

Short Articles of Arnold Yasin Mol
Arnold Yasin Mol

IMPORTANT BOOKS AND READINGS

Post by Arnold Yasin Mol »

Important quotes on Islam from Alamma Muhammed Asad, collected on PDF:

Muhammed Asad on Islam
Ahmed Mateen
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Post by Ahmed Mateen »

Quran Words

Only 2000 distinct words in Quraan:

An excellent guide to lead you to the basic understanding of the Quranic Arabic. All you need to do is… SPEND 5 to 10 MINUTES PER DAY and inshaAllah WITHIN A YEAR you will have the basic understanding of most of the Quran. Is that not an effort worth Investing!

It may be emphasized here that there are around 80,000 words in the Qur’an but the actual words are only around 2000!!! This could also be termed as one of the many miracles of the Qur’an. Accordingly, if a reader decides to learn only 10 new words everyday, he can understand the basic message of the Qur’an within a period of seven months! So it is indeed very easy to understand the Qur’an, provided one is willing to learn it. These statistics should give you a strong push to go ahead and continue memorizing till the end of this book, inshaAllah.

SET-1 SET-2 SET-3 SET-4 SET-5 SET-6 SET-7 SET-8

A Sample:


Source of above Work
Ahmed Mateen
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Post by Ahmed Mateen »

Word for Word Quran - English Language

It may be emphasized here that there are around 80,000 words in the Qur’an but the actual words are only around 2000!!! This could also be termed as one of the many miracles of the Qur’an. Accordingly, if a reader decides to learn only 10 new words everyday, he can understand the basic message of the Qur’an within a period of seven months! So it is indeed very easy to understand the Qur’an, provided one is willing to learn it.

Even though there are many translations of the meanings of the Qur’an, they do not help the reader in linking the Arabic words to their meanings. The only purpose of this word-for-word translation is to facilitate learning the language of the Qur’an. Even though a few word-for-word translations exist but the format of the present work is different from them.

Sample:


by courtesy of Dr. Shehnaz Shaikh
tammyswofford
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Post by tammyswofford »

I just purchased a book via mail titled:

Islamic Rulings for Incarcerated Muslims. It is a compilation of verdicts and rulings by various ulamaa of Ahlis-Sunnah Wal-Jamaa'ah. (At least that is what it says)

Personally, I do not recognize the names of any of the (self-styled?) "Shaykh" listed on the back so not sure if the reading will be an accurate reflection of thought. I would feel more comfortable if there was a recognizable name.

Has anyone on the forum read this small book and if so does it rightly reflect the topic? Are there any other books on this topic?

Thank you.

Tammy Swofford
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Post by tammyswofford »

I apologize, readers. Last night I opened the aforementioned book and discovered it to be a first edition from May 2007. This thing is so new, that it is doubtful many have read it. Not sure how I got so lucky on this one.
Normally, I am dusting off books, instead of smelling the distinct freshness of a new page!

If you wish to read along it can be purchased at:
orders@tarbiyyahbookstore.com which publishes in Dallas, Texas.

For some reason there are two ISBN and I am not sure why, but here they are:

ISBN 10:0-9779581-5-8
ISBN 13: 978-0-9770581-5-0

It states this book is in cooperation with "Authentic Statements" so my guess it is geared to the Ahadith sciences. I read about four pages and laid it down. Too tired to read last night.

Tammy Swofford
Damon

IMPORTANT BOOKS AND READINGS

Post by Damon »

Here is the link to another word-for-word Qur'an translation from Arabic to English. It is formatted a little differently from the one at emuslim.com

http://www.quraninenglish.com/cgi-local/pages.pl?/quran
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Post by UmeAimon »

Salam,

Alarms went off in my head and I stopped when I saw the name Bilal Philip :!:

jazakAllah
tammyswofford
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Post by tammyswofford »

Salaam,

Yes, that would be the same Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Phillips, I presume. I have a book of his from Tawheed Publications on my shelf. I have found it invaluable in some regards.

The book is interesting, giving me some insight which I did not have, and has some portions with which most of this forum would be in disagreement. Some of the Ahadith would certainly make "the A list" in a book such as that of Dr. Shabbir "The Criminals of Islam". They are not even in the Sahih category, rather dubious and should be discarded.

Of interest though to me, because as someone who is a guest in your community, there is much I do not understand culturally and constantly trip over my feet. So the small nuances I gain give me a better foothold to not be the proverbial "Ugly American" on tour. I do not consider myself a casual tourist.

It does have a section on "The Beard".... which has been an infamous and popular topic on this site in the past.... smile

Tammy Swofford
Arnold Yasin Mol

IMPORTANT BOOKS AND READINGS

Post by Arnold Yasin Mol »

http://free-minds.org/books/evaluate.htm

In the Name of GOD, The Almighty, The All-Merciful

"We sent down to you THIS BOOK (the Quran) truthfully, authenticating all previous scriptures, and superseding them. You shall judge among them according to what is sent down from GOD (the Quran), and do not follow their wishes if they deviate from the truth.... You shall judge among them according to what is sent down from GOD (the Quran); do not follow their wishes, and BEWARE lest they divert you from that which is sent down to you from GOD (the Quran).... Would they seek the laws of ignorance? WHO IS BETTER THAN GOD as a law-maker, for those who sincerely believe?" (Quran 5:48-50)

"And the messenger will say, 'My Lord, my people have deserted THIS QURAN.' We thus set up against every prophet enemies who are wicked. Your Lord suffices as a guide and supporter." (25:30-31)
Arnold Yasin Mol

IMPORTANT BOOKS AND READINGS

Post by Arnold Yasin Mol »

http://free-minds.org/books/shahroor.htm

The Book & The Quran
Dr. Mohammed Shahroor is a Syrian national who has been causing much controversy in the Middle East due to some of his publications.

In 1990, Dr. Shahroor published "The Book & The Quran" which took a very NEW look at GOD's holy book by trying to look within the Quran for answers to all of life's questions.

Dr. Shahroor's book has been banned from nearly all Arab countries with the exceptions of Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. More recently, Dr. Shahroor has been the subject of various television debates and interviews in which his book is examined and cross examined for all the controversy and shattering of traditions that it contains.

Below are excerpts from the book which we have translated at Free-Minds in order to bring non-Arabic readers with a fresh batch of ideas.

The Nature of the Book
The Straight Path
Quranic Limits
Women's Dress Code
Interest (Ribaa)
What is GREATER Than Salat?
Noah's Son is NOT Noah's!
Arnold Yasin Mol

IMPORTANT BOOKS AND READINGS

Post by Arnold Yasin Mol »

http://free-minds.org/books/kassim.htm
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