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The doctrinal creed of the largest denomination of Muslims that came to be known as 'The Adherents to the Sunna and the Congregation' found staunch defenders in the school of the 'Arch-master of guidance' (Imam al-huda) and 'Standard-bearer of guidance' (Alam al-huda) of Samarqand, Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (d.333/945), who codified the theology of 'the Greatest Leader' (al-Imam al-A'zam) Abu Hanifa.

This work is a survey of the most important Maturidi authorities and their doctrinal textbooks with a condensed overview of the bio-bibliography of Maturidi scholarship in descending order of antiquity.

It highlights their resolutions (taqrirat) as the defining parameters of Sunnism and can serve both as an introductory synopsis of the great themes of Maturidism and as a tool for the study of the school's theology from its early founders to our time.

This is not a scholarly tome, but neither is it a free, modern expression of mystical half-truths. Translated by a practising poet in the Sufi tradition, along with a scholarly-minded lover of Hafiz from Shiraz, it is as true to the original texts that are known as is possible, whilst still being readable English poetry. The original Farsi and a transliteration are included. There is a brief commentary on each ghazal, in English. Verses that are disregarded by modern scholars are included in a separate section only as translations. There is a short introduction to Hafiz’s little known life and a glossary of terms for the English reader. Contains ghazal number 301 through 400.

Thanks largely to the matchless collection of mystical hymns in the local language of Siraiki, Khwaja Ghulam Farid (1845-1901), of Chacharan in the former princely state of Bahawalpur, continues to enjoy an enormous local reputation. In each area of Pakistan, there is one great figure of the literary past who has achieved the status of a patron saint and a symbol of local identity; and in the Siraiki-speaking area, this figure is unquestionably Ghulam Farid. Comprised of a collection of both his teachings and poems, the present translation brings the wider public direct access to one of the greatest figures in the literary and spiritual past of Pakistan.

The Teachings, recorded first-hand by the Khwaja’s devoted disciple Rukn ud-Din, capture the unblurred vividness of the Khwaja talking to his disciples in a way that leads the mind gradually and seamlessly into the world of classical Islam. Through these lessons, the Khwaja proves himself to be a scholar with wide intellectual interests as well as a spiritual dignitary of the firmest orthodoxy. A master of the poetic form of the kafi, the present work also exposes the reader to the Khwaja’s sensitivity to beauty and magical ability to handle language through poems which appeal to the emotions as much as they convey religious teaching and profound mystical awareness. The blend of traditional Sufi allegories with the Khwaja’s refreshing originality results in the kind of all-embracing poetic language which can perhaps emerge only once in the history of any given literature.

The Chronicles of Lamis is a three book epic a novel in the style of Tolkien. In a strange and magical world, a young girl sets off on a quest to recover four lost treasures needed to defeat the darkness that is slowly covering not just their lands, but the whole world. After answering the riddles of the dragons in the dragon chamber and earning both their friendship and rewards she continues on with her constant companion, Najputih.

Through one hardship after another, she finds and recovers each of the four lost treasures and, in the process, learns many secrets and is both burdened and entrusted with powerful hidden gifts.

A story of friendship and betrayal, compassion, love and sacrifice and the eventual triumph of good over evil. A book where every page contains a twist to the story the reader will find great difficulty in putting this book down.

In the Muslim community, the Prophets and Messengers are held in the highest regard as the pinnacle of God’s creation—the best of the best and sinless. Unfortunately, within the Muslim community there are misunderstandings regarding the Prophets. Whether it be the famous movie about Islam entitled The Message or the self-titled television series which aired in 2012 about the life of ʿUmar b. al-Khattāb, many Muslims are not quite sure about how to approach the religiously-sensitive issue of depicting religious figures, particularly the Prophets.

Written by Imam Muhammad Ali Al-Sabuni, a leading scholar of Sunni orthodox Islam and author of Safwat al-Tafasir, one of the most widely accepted tafsirs of the Qur’an in the modern era.

The book also includes an introduction from renowned academic and spiritual guide, Shaykh Muhammad b. Yahya al-Ninowy. Both scholars provide consistent references to Qur’anic verses and precise exegeses to demonstrate the validity of their argument.

This single volume contains the Arabic edition, English translation and notes by Dr. Gibril Fouad Haddad of 'Abd Allah b. 'Umar b.Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Baydawi's first hizb of Anwar al-Tanzil wa-Asrar al-Ta'wil (The Lights of Revelation and the Secrets of Interpretation). As a revised and improved version of al-Zamakhshari’s landmark Tafsiral-Kashshaf, Anwar al-Tanzil contains the most concise analysis of the Quranic use of Arabic grammar and style to date and was viewed early on as a foremost demonstration of the Qur'an’s essential and structural inimitability (i'jaz ma'nawi wa-lughawi) in Sunni literature.

Anwar al-Tanzil is important and significant, because of its fame and influence. In Dr. Haddad’s own estimation, this work “became and remained for seven centuries the most studied of all Tafsirs,” and it is to be regarded as “the most important commentary on the Qur'an in the history of Islam.”

This single volume contains the Arabic edition, English translation and notes by Dr. Gibril Fouad Haddad of 'Abd Allah b. 'Umar b.Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Baydawi's first hizb of Anwar al-Tanzil wa-Asrar al-Ta'wil (The Lights of Revelation and the Secrets of Interpretation). As a revised and improved version of al-Zamakhshari’s landmark Tafsiral-Kashshaf, Anwar al-Tanzil contains the most concise analysis of the Quranic use of Arabic grammar and style to date and was viewed early on as a foremost demonstration of the Qur'an’s essential and structural inimitability (i'jaz ma'nawi wa-lughawi) in Sunni literature.

Anwar al-Tanzil is important and significant, because of its fame and influence. In Dr. Haddad’s own estimation, this work “became and remained for seven centuries the most studied of all Tafsirs,” and it is to be regarded as “the most important commentary on the Qur'an in the history of Islam.”

This presentation of Hafiz’s Divan does not pretend to be a work of scholarship in any sense, but is intended for the general reader with a genuine interest in mysticism and mystical poetry. Accompanied by the original Farsi and for those unable to read the original there is transliteration in ‘roman’ script to aid the recitation in Farsi. With footnotes to elucidate the meaning further this is surely one of the most accessible books on Hafiz’s poetry ever published.

This is not a scholarly tome, but neither is it a free, modern expression of mystical half-truths. Translated by a practising poet in the Sufi tradition, along with a scholarly-minded lover of Hafiz from Shiraz, it is as true to the original texts that are known as is possible, whilst still being readable English poetry. The original Farsi and a transliteration are included. There is a brief commentary on each ghazal, in English. Verses that are disregarded by modern scholars are included in a separate section only as translations. There is a short introduction to Hafiz’s little known life and a glossary of terms for the English reader. Contains ghazal number 151 through 300.

This is not a scholarly tome, but neither is it a free, modern expression of mystical half-truths. Translated by a practising poet in the Sufi tradition, along with a scholarly-minded lover of Hafiz from Shiraz, it is as true to the original texts that are known as is possible, whilst still being readable English poetry. The original Farsi and a transliteration are included. There is a brief commentary on each ghazal, in English. Verses that are disregarded by modern scholars are included in a separate section only as translations. There is a short introduction to Hafiz’s  little known life and a glossary of terms for the English reader. Contains ghazal number 401 through to 489.

It is the year 707 CE and young Florinda goes to live at the Royal Court of Spain. When cruel King Roderick throws her into prison, she finds a clever way to get a message to her father, Count Julian in North Africa.

Count Julian meets the Muslims and finds them good hearted and noble. After tricking Roderick into freeing his daughter, Julian joins forces with General Tarek ibn Ziyad by giving him four boats to overthrow the cruel king.

The crossing of the Muslim army will change Spain forever.

The Burning Boats deals with both historical facts and legend pertaining to the actual moments leading to and following through the conquest of Spain.

About the authors

Shaykh Ṣaliḥ al-Ja’fari (d.1979) was one of the most famous scholars of the Azhar, the Muslim world’s premier institution of religious learning and its most authoritative voice, in the 20th century. He was also the imam of its mosque and a famous teacher and spiritual guide. He authored 15 works on various Islamic sciences, edited many others, and composed 12 volumes of poetry.

Shaykh Abd al-Ghanial-Jafri (d.2012) followed his father’s footsteps, becoming one of the greatest spiritual guides and teachers of his time. He oversaw the building of more than seventy mosque complexes throughout Egypt, as well as in Libya and Malaysia, most of which include Qur’an schools and provide health care and other social services.

Around 1720 in Fez Aḥmad b. al-Mubārak al-Lamaṭī, a religious scholar, wrote down the words and teachings of the Sufi master ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh. Al-Dabbāgh shied away from official religious studies but, having reached illumination and met with the Prophet Muḥammad, he was able to explain any obscurities in the Qurʾān, ḥadīths and sayings of earlier Sufis. The resulting book, known as the Ibrīz, describes how al-Dabbāgh attained illumination and access to the Prophet, as well as his teachings about the Council of the godly that regulates the world, relations between master and disciple, the darkness in men’s bodies, Adam’s creation, Barzakh, Paradise and Hell, and much more besides.

MALFUZAT: WORDS OF WISDOM SERIES

The Malfuzat series is a unique genre of books that records the utterances emanating from the lips of the sage through the pen of the devoted disciple. These words of wisdom are not only a source of guidance for the initiated but will provide inspiration and edification for the general reader.

The first and foremost representative of a literary genre that attained great popularity among South Asian Sufis, Fawaid al-Fu’ad or Morals for the Heart, contains the conversation of a major India saint, Shaykh Nizam ad-din Awliya (D.1325). Though recorded by a poet-disciple Amir Hasan, they were edited by the saint himself, and reflect his chaste, understated tone. In its style Morals for the Heart exemplifies the virtue of Persian prose as a didactic instrument. It communicates the numerous skills, the diverse moods, and the remarkable sensibilities of its austere subject. It captures the spirit of Shaykh Nizam ad-din’s towering presence, his absolute loyalty to his spiritual master, his taste for poetry and music, and his empathy with the sufferings of others. We see him crying and laughing and praying. Passionate in his quest for God, he has left in Morals for the Heart a spiritual legacy that still animates and satisfies others who ever Knew him. Here Muslims discover one more treasure from their pre-modern past. Here non-Muslims encounter an Islam that brings peace and spiritual insight. Here all humanity is stilled by the saga of a Muslim exemplar who enshrined sacrifice and love as the highest goals of human existence when framed by faith in God.

Composed between 1984 and 2016, this selection of poems is loosely based on the theme of voyaging. Part 1 deals with the inward journey: part 2 was inspired by the poet’s journeys through Asia and North Africa.

Ron Geaves is a retired professor of religion, whose travels have taken him to India, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Tunisia and Morocco. In these places he discovered an inspiration that has stayed with him throughout his life. He remains a visiting professor in the Centre for the Study of Islam in Britain based at the University of Cardiff. In 1994 he published the biography of Abdullah Quilliam, the iconic British convert to Islam who founded the first mosque and Islamic centre in Liverpool in 1893.

The Young Muslim’s Guide to Modern Science is aimed at high schoolers, university students and teachers, and anyone wanting to understand what modern science says. This book presents a wide range of topics, from the Big Bang to genetic engineering, in simple, clear, and scientifically accurate language, but also showing the Muslim or religious reader how this all fits with his/her beliefs and cultural background. Dr Nidhal Guesssoum shows how it is possible to uphold both one’s religious teachings and the scientific education that we acquire in schools, in total harmony and without sacrificing one or the other. 

Pickthall is a wonderful storyteller. He brings us straight into the narrative, with sharply drawn personalities, dealing with dilemmas to which we can relate. He builds a picture of the physical environment - buildings, flowers, the landscape - that is convincing. His central characters may be rogues and cheats, religious fanatics, bandits or hypocrites, but they are all drawn as the result of acute observation. We see the world from the perspective of an Egyptian soldier, a Syrian peasant, an Ottoman official.

His use of language is remarkable. In his Middle East fiction, novels and stories, he uses an archaic English, comprehensible but unfamiliar. It is as if the world he is reproducing is alien, and needs to be clothed in words and phrases that take the reader right away from his or her world.

The lands in which Pickthall's stories are set, have since his time, undergone changes that have been violent and unprecedented. Wars, revolutions, displacement and emigration, voluntary and forced, have been the lot of Syrians, Palestinians, Egyptians and Turks since Pickthall's time. These people are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the men and women among whom Pickthall travelled, whom he loved and whose lives he has reconstructed for our enlight- enment and delight.

Oriental Encounters is the best introduction to Pickthall's work, a fictionalised account of his experiences, including tales he heard during his travels in Syria. Full of freshness and high spirits, Oriental Encounters details Pickthall's first encounters with the Middle East, his alienation from his fellow-Englishmen and his affection for the people of Syria and Palestine. Thanks to his two remarkable companions, Rashid and Suleyman, Pickthall smiles genially at the encounters and slowly discards his own European perspective.

Since the birth of this millennium the concept of compassion has gone viral. There is an increasing interest world-wide in the place of compassion within individuals’ lives, within society, and within education. The founding of an increasing number of local and global organisations and charities—including the CoED Foundation which is dedicated to bringing compassion into education and learning and which has a growing reputation in this field—are both a symptom of this increasing interest and the associated need to provide related material and activities.In part inspired by advances in neuroscience and the science of compassion, more and more books have been published on compassion in a variety of fields. There is however sadly little work on compassion and education. This book will help meet that need.

The novel is a rare example of contemporary English fiction drawing on traditional Moroccan folklore. Written in gripping English prose fused with Arabic words, the novel gives an authentic insight into a Westerner’s experience of modern Moroccan society, whilst simultaneously exposing the reader to the country’s rich cultural history by weaving classic Moroccan folk takes and the mysteries of Sufism into its fabric. The book not only explores the point where East and West merge, but the collision of the human world with the world of the djinns - mysterious shape-shifting creatures of an unseen realm.

SANDY McCUTCHEON is a New Zealander but lived most of his adult life in Australia as an author, playwright, actor, broadcaster and journalist. He has written twenty plays and a number of novels, including Black Widow (2006) which won the Christina Stead Award for Literature, and The Magician’s Son (2005), an autobiographical work on the true nature of his ancestry. Hecurrently resides in Morocco where he has close ties with a Sufi brotherhood, and has a large following on his website ‘The View from Fez’ which he runs with his wife, the photojournalist Suzanna Clarke.

Muslim Supplementary Classes presents one of the most significant pieces of ethnographic research of Muslims in Britain of recent decades. In this monograph, Gent’s research combines years of professional experience in education with a sensitivity towards one of the most time-honoured traditions of Muslim learning: the recitation and memorization of the Qur’an. Using sound methodology, Gent successfully navigates the often controversial arena of Muslim supplementary schooling in Britain with an integrity and sympathy that never compromises his academic rigour. The present work is of general interest and academic value, appealing to educationalists, sociologists and Muslim leaders alike; but also holds a particular significance for secular educators, who may be acquainted with, but little exposed to the world of Muslim education.

At once timely and essential, the findings of this ground-breaking study will be of relevance for years to come.

ABOUT THE BOOKSince the publication of Nature Power in the year 2000, there has always been a demand for a subsequent book of this kind, to help readers identify the medicinal plants pictorially. This book aims to serve as a workbook for students, teachers, and practitioners in the field of ethnobotany and ethnomedicine. It documents the plants that are traditionally used by the local population, the history of local use, and the traditional beliefs around the use in Nigeria. At a time when so much attention is being given to phytochemical screening of plants, there is a temptation to overlook the philosophy of ethnomedicine and cultural use of plants, thereby losing the link between plants and the community. This plant album will help herbal medicine practitioners to identify the local plants available in Nigeria, and also give them some basic knowledge of the chemical constituents. It is a welcome addition to the existing body of literature on Nigeria’s plants and flora. The chapter on Nigerian grasses, which is a much-neglected area of research, contributes to the book’s uniqueness.

ABOUT THE AUTHORAnselm Adodo is a member of the Benedictine order of the Catholic Church. He was ordained a priest in 1997. Father Anselm Adodo is foremost herbal research Institute, the Pax Herbal Clinic and Research Laboratories, popularly called Paxherbals, and Ofure (Pax) Centre for Integral Research and Development (OFIRDI). He has over twenty years’ experience of research in the fields of Ethnography, Ethnobotany, Epidemiology, Phytomedicine and Medical Sociology. He is a prominent advocate of African herbal medicine research, indigenous knowledge systems, rural community development, health policy reform and transformation of education in Africa. He has authored a number of books which include: Herbs for Healing (1997), Healing Radiance of the Soul (2003), New (2005), Herbal Medicine and the revival of African Civilization (2010), Disease and Dietary patterns in Edo Central Nigeria (2013), in Africa. Communitalism as an Alternative to Capitalism (2017) and the best-selling Nature Power. Fr. Anselm is a visiting lecturer at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, where he teaches African Transformation studies and Research (NIMR), a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Botanists, and a Senior Research Fellow at Trans4m centre for Integral Development, Geneva, Switzerland.