Review by Hamzah Vargas Simon Armitage’s translation of the Alliterative Morte Arthure from around 1400 covers the final adventure of the legendary king of Britain and his epic battle against Lucius, the Emperor of Rome. The author of the original is unknown and only a single copy of the original manuscript remains in the library…
Reviewed by Abdul Hai “In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Gracious.” “I say to the one who finds fault in blackness with foolishness, and in blackness, there are certainly those who find fault in it and those begrudge it. If the fault you find is the blackness itself, then know that…
Reviewed by Abdul Hai “In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Gracious.” Joseph Kasule is a research fellow at Makerere University, Uganda. He is the author of the article entitled “The Restrictive Immunity Doctrine under the 2004 U.N Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property: the Need for a Human Rights…
Reviewed by Haris Ali Tariq Samira Haj’s main argument is to seek to understand the Islamic tradition according to its own terms, categories and rationalities. Within this argument however is another aim which is to show the dynamic nature of tradition. The former is the argument of the book generally, while the latter informs the…
Reviewed by Abdul Hai Human nature as understood by Islam, is naturally good. Their transformation into something that is unnatural occurs when the environment and greed take hold of them. Their lower selves (an-nafs al-ʾammārah) then further enhances their transformation. Ideologies emerging from the unnatural self will only lead to destruction, although they may start…
Dr. Mustafa Sibai Reviewed by Abdul Hai “Hand the secular Arab a glass of urine, and tell him that it is wine. He will not only pretend to enjoy it, he will enjoy it.”Abdal Hakim Murad “What did the Muslims and Arabs do for the world?” was the passionate cry of an Arab secularist on…
Reviewed by Abdul Hai Huda Saharawi (1879-1947) was Egypt’s famous feminist, who gave birth to the Egyptian Feminist Union (EFU) in 1923 to fight the so-called male-controlled society and establish an equal platform for the women of Egypt. Its aims were also to redefine or even reject some of the Islamic teachings and values concerning women. Many…
Reviewed by Abdul Hai Lila Abu-Lughod’s (2013) publication Do Muslim Women Need Saving? builds on her 2002 article Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological reflections on Cultural Relativism and its Others. As an Anthropologist and ethnographer, Abu-Lughod sets out to study the lives, social and cultural world of Muslim women, who in the Western discourse…
Reviewed by Prof Imtiyaz Ismail Raji al-Faruqi (1921–1986) was an encyclopedic scholar of Islamic studies in the modern age. He along with his three Muslim academic friends and colleagues viz., Fazlur Rahman (1911–1988) and Seyyed Hossein Nasr (b. 1933) was a trailblazer in Islamics or Islamic studies both in the East and West. Since the…
Reviewed by Abdul Hai First published in 1966, Season of Migration to the North by the Sudanese novelist Tayeb Salih is a fictional novel based in the village of Wad Hamid on the Nile in the 1950s. The novel was considered by many Arab writers and critics as the most important Arab novel of the…
By Nazir Ahmad Zargar Reviewed by Dr Tauseef Ahmad Parray Da‘wah (preaching of Islam) is one of the notable topics in Islam and a significant genre of Islamic scholarship, to which both Muslims and non-Muslims have contributed significantly. Numerous works have been written on the subject of Da‘wah—its philosophy, methodology, pedagogy, prominence, tactics, discourse, and other…
By Abu Zayed Al Hasan Al-Sirafi Reviewed by Abdul Hai Allama Syed Sulaiman Nadvi’s book the ‘Arab Navigation’ highlights the historical relationship that existed between the Arabs and the sea; although this relationship existed from the pre-Islamic era, however, the post-Islamic era saw this relationship blossom, to such an extent that almost all major cities…
Install this application on your home screen for quick and easy access when you’re on the go or offline.
Islamic Literary Society
© Islamic Literary Society. All rights reserved.
Install the Islamic Literary Society website as a Web App on your home screen.
The Web App will be easily accessible at any time and available even when you’re offline.
1. Click above on
2. Choose Add to Phone
Install the Islamic Literary Society website as a Web App on your home screen.
The Web App will be easily accessible at any time and available even when you’re offline.
1. Click above on
2. Choose Add to Home Screen
Install the Islamic Literary Society website as a Web App on your home screen.
The Web App will be easily accessible at any time and available even when you’re offline.
1. Click below on
2. Choose Add to Home Screen
Stay updated with our latest news, promotions, and special offers straight to your inbox!
Subscribe now and enjoy: