Search Results for: Ramadan

The Mysteries of the Prayer and Its Important Elements

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali
M. Abdurrahman Fitzgerald
$19.95 – $26.95

In the Mysteries of the Prayer and Its Important Elements (Kitāb asrār al-ṣalāt wa-muhimātiha), book 4 of the forty books of the Revival of the Religious Sciences (Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn), Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī explains the inner and outer meanings of the prayer, a  central practice for Muslims. This is one of five books that deal with the inner dimensions of Islamic worship; books 3, 5, 6, and 7 address purification, zakāt, fasting, and pilgrimage, respectively.

Al-Ghazālī begins with a discussion of the merits of the prayer, the prostration, the importance of reverence, and the mosque. He explains the acts involved in the outward elements of the prayer and outlines which of these acts are obligatory and which are sunna. He then discusses the inward requisites of the prayer—the practices of the heart— and presents practical remedies for a distracted heart. Al-Ghazālī explains the role of the imām who leads the group prayer and the merits of the Friday prayer; he addresses supererogatory prayers, the daily sunnas, and the weekly prayers, including recommendations for each day of the week, and for each night. Al-Ghazālī discusses the annual prayers (the two ʿīds and the tarāwīḥ prayers during Ramaḍān), and finally, the prayers and supplications related to events such as eclipses, the prayer for rain, guidance, and need.

This readable yet comprehensive work covers an array of issues from the essential outward aspects of how to pray, to the inward aspects of the state of the heart during the prayer and how to humble oneself completely. As a practical, yet profound book, it is essential reading for Muslims who seek a deeper comprehension of prayer, and for all those interested in understanding the meaning and place of prayer in Islam. Continue reading →

Dr. Susan Douglass

Posted on

Ms. Douglass joined the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies in June 2014 as the Center’s Education Outreach Coordinator. She received her PhD in world history at George Mason University in 2016, and has an M.A. in Arab Studies from Georgetown … Continue reading →

Rumi: The Wings of Love

$24.95

creened in several international film festivals, as well as the Musée de L’Homme in Paris, this film takes viewers into a secret world rarely seen by outsiders. Nearly eight centuries after his death, Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi, Sufi master and mystical poet, is ever-present in the whirling ceremony of today’s Mevlevi dervishes.

The Halveti zikr, Mevlevi semas, and the Gharib, or secret, sema-not seen for over 100 years-were filmed in Cairo, Istanbul, and the Garden of Rumi in Konya.
This unique footage set to Mevlevi music is enhanced by interviews with Sheikh Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din (Martin Lings), Islamic philosopher and author Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and Sheikh Omer Tugrel Inancer, who reveals the hidden meaning of the reed flute. Continue reading →

Caesarean Moon Births: Calculations, Moon Sighting and the Prophetic Way

Hamza Yusuf
$7.95

The contemplation of the celestial orbs and their movements provided early man with the most direct connection to his Lord. In the Qur’anic story of Abraham, it is his observance of heavenly phenomena that leads him to his certainty of God’s unity and transcendence. Since the time of the Seljuq Turks, the crescent moon has been a sign of Islam. Continue reading →

Treatise on the Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence – Al Shafi’i’s Risala

Majid Khadduri
$57.99

Written in the second Islamic century by al-Imam al-Shafi’i, the founder of one of the four Sunni schools of law, this important work gives the fundamental principles of Islamic jurisprudence and how its influence continues to the present day.

During the early years of the spread of Islam, the exponents of Islamic legal doctrine were faced with the problems raised by ruling and administering a diverse and rapidly growing empire. In Medina and Kufa as well as other cities of early Muslim rule, schools of law had to be developed, but it took the genius of Muhammad Idris al-Shafi’i, born in the year 150H/767CE, to establish the principles by which the various legal doctrines could be synthesized into a coherent system. In The Risala, which laid down the basis for such a synthesis, al-Shafi’i established the overriding authority, next only to the Qur’an, of the Sunna of the Prophet Muhammad as transmitted in the traditions. Professor Majid Khadduri has done an admirable service in making this valuable work available in English, His excellent translation uses not only the original manuscripts of Ibn Jama’a and al-Rabi, found at Dar al-Kutub, the National Library in Cairo, but also authoritative editions published earlier in this century, namely the Bulaq and Shakir editions.
In his introduction, Professor Khadduri outlines the historical background of the Risala and gives a biography of al-Imam al-Shafi’i as well as annotated, detailed summaries of the composition, structure, substance and argument of the text. He also includes a list of transmitters of traditions, a glossary of the most important Islamic legal terms and a select bibliography. For this new edition, the index has been expanded and a small corrigenda added. Continue reading →