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Saladin is the greatest hero of the Middle East, a legendary figure admired and revered to this day. This is the first serious biographyin over 20 years and the first ever by a non-western scholar in English. It shows that Saladin's genius was not in warfare but in giving the people of Middle East a spiritual vision.
The first known inhabitant of St Helena – long before Napoleon – was a 16th-century Portuguese renegade. In 1506 Fernão Lopes, a member of his country’s minor nobility, travelled to Goa in search of honour and wealth. There he converted to Islam, married a Muslim, fought his former countrymen, and was eventually captured – his nose and hands publicly cut off for treachery. Eventually sailing for home, he jumped ship at St. Helena, becoming the island’s first inhabitant, with only a black cockerel for company. News of Lopes reached the King of Portugal. Picked up by a ship sent especially for him, Lopes so impressed the King, and the Pope in Rome, that he was granted one wish. He requested his return to St Helena. Based on brand new research by A R Azzam, author of the acclaimed Saladin (Longman, 2007), The Other Exile is at once a historical adventure story and a meditation on solitude. It is a story about redemption in one of the darkest periods in Europe and the tale of the haunting relationship between man and wild nature.
Narrating the life of Saladin, this groundbreaking biography places the 12th-century sultan of Egypt and Syria in historical context against the backdrop of the 10th- and 11th-century Sunni Revival, a powerful sweeping intellectual renaissance that transformed every field of Islamic thought. Islamic scholar A. R. Azzam contends that Saladin was not just the brilliant military commander of popular imagination but that his true greatness lay in his political and spiritual vision. Famous for driving the crusaders out of Jerusalem and for his bitter war of attrition with Richard the Lionheart, and fabled for his chivalry and generosity, he became the most powerful man in the Islamic empire, but died penniless, without enough money to line his coffin. In telling his fascinating and complex story, this study introduces readers to Saladin’s society and the men with whom he surrounded himself, analyzing the vital religious, military, intellectual, and administrative roles they played.
This translation into English of a great Islamic classic offers the western world a simple yet profound interpretation of Islam. Drawing upon years of unparalleled experience in diplomacy and government, Azzam examines the social and economic ramifications of the Muslim state, one based on humane ideals of law and justice expressed in the Qur'an, and one which can provide the foundation for a just society. Abd al-Rahman Azzam (1893-1976) is generally considered as the father of the Arab League. He served as the League's first Secretary-General between 1945-52 as well as distinguishing himself in a long career as an ambassador and parliamentarian. As Vincent Sheean points out in his introduct...
Traces Abdallah Azzam's path from a West Bank village to the battlefields of Afghanistan and explains why jihadism went global.
Published as DalÄ«l al-Muslim al-á ̧¥azÄ«n ilÄ muqtada-l-sulÅ«k fÄ«'l-qarn al-Ê¿ishrÄ«n in 1983, this book remains a timely and important read today. It explores the interaction between pre-Islamic tradition and modern supporters of continuity, reform and change in Muslim communities.
This children's book on the life of the Prophet Muhammad is taken from traditional Muslim biographical literature, including hadith. Passages from the Qur'an are used throughout to reinforce the stories. The material is authentic and the style lively and attractive. Although the book has been written for children of 10 to 15 years of age, it can be usefully read by anyone as an introduction because of its completeness and clarity. There are 32 colour illustrations although there has been no attempt to portray either the Prophet or his Companions. The illustrations are representative of traditional Islamic life as lived in many Arab countries and portray scenes that have occurred in those countries for over a thousand years. RECOMMENDED BY THE EDUCATION GUARDIAN JANUARY 1992
This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Examines terrorists¿ involvement in a variety of crimes ranging from motor vehicle violations, immigration fraud, and mfg. illegal firearms to counterfeiting, armed bank robbery, and smuggling weapons of mass destruction. There are 3 parts: (1) Compares the criminality of internat. jihad groups with domestic right-wing groups. (2) Six case studies of crimes includes trial transcripts, official reports, previous scholarship, and interviews with law enforce. officials and former terrorists are used to explore skills that made crimes possible; or events and lack of skill that the prevented crimes. Includes brief bio. of the terrorists along with descriptions of their org., strategies, and plots. (3) Analysis of the themes in closing arguments of the transcripts in Part 2. Illus.
Though U.S. leaders try to convince the world of their success in fighting al Qaeda, one anonymous member of the U.S. intelligence community would like to inform the public that we are, in fact, losing the war on terror. Further, until U.S. leaders recognize the errant path they have irresponsibly chosen, he says, our enemies will only grow stronger. According to the author, the greatest danger for Americans confronting the Islamist threat is to believe-at the urging of U.S. leaders-that Muslims attack us for what we are and what we think rather than for what we do. Blustering political rhetor.
Illuminating the Darkness critically addresses the issue of racial discrimination and colour prejudice in religious history. Tackling common misconceptions, the author seeks to elevate the status of blacks and North Africans in Islam. The book is divided into two sections: Part l of the book explores the concept of race, 'blackness', slavery, interracial marriage and racism in Islam in the light of the Qur'an, Hadith and early historical sources. Part ll of the book consists of a compilation of short biographies of noble black and North African Muslim men and women in Islamic history including Prophets, Companions of the Prophet and more recent historical figures. Following in the tradition of revered scholars of Islam such as al-Jahiz, Ibn al-Jawzi and al-Suyuti who wrote about this topic, Illuminating the Darkness is structured according to a similar monographic arrangement.