Tag: book review
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Sharīʿah in the Modern World: Reviewing Mashal Ayobi’s ‘The Light We Lost’
A Book Review of The Light We Lost: Grappling with Shariah in the Modern World by Mashal Ayobi The aftermath of the catastrophic Bondi shooting, and the start of Zohran Mamdani’s term as Mayor of New York, has put Muslims, terrorism, the Sharīʿah and the like back into the limelight of oriental focus, the favored…
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Post-Liberal Musings of John Gray: A Book Review of The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism
A Book Review of The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism by John Gray Borrowing the title from R.G. Collingwood’s classic, The New Leviathan (1942), English Philosopher John Gray structured his work, The New Leviathans: Thoughts After Liberalism, around Thomas Hobbes’ seminal work Leviathan (1651), which laid the foundation of the ‘social contract’ tradition used to justify…
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Negotiating Allegiances: Muslim Universities in the Making of Postcolonial India
Laurence Gautier’s “Between Nation and Community” examines Muslim universities in post-colonial India, especially Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, as crucial spaces for identity negotiation and nation-building, addressing communal anxieties while fostering secularism and pluralism amidst political complexities.
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Islam and Democracy in the Twenty-first Century
Tauseef Parray’s recent study, “Islam and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century,” offers a comprehensive examination of the relationship between Islam and democracy. The book comprises seven chapters, excluding the introduction, drawing from the insights of thinkers and scholars from the nineteenth to twenty-first century, particularly those from Arab and South Asian regions. Despite recognizing elements…
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From Darkness to Light
God gave humanity a special kind of life, unique from the attribute of life associated with the rest of His creation to test their ability to submit to His Will and act in conformance to His Command. This temporary life is punctuated by death, and then the afterlife, where one will reap what they sowed—virtue,…
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Vultures in the House of Silence: A Masterpiece of Islamic Fantasy
In the ever-evolving landscape of fantasy literature, A. R. Latif’s “Vultures in the House of Silence” emerges as a groundbreaking work, poised to become the “Harry Potter” of the burgeoning Islamic fantasy genre. Set against the backdrop of the Arabian peninsula in the aftermath of the Mongol invasion—one of history’s most catastrophic events—this novel incorporates…
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Islamic Fiction and Crafting a Muslim Hero: A Book Review of Blood of the Levant
Defining a “Muslim” or “Islamic” fiction genre can be challenging due to considerations of permissibility, creativity, and purpose. Omar Braun, the protagonist of Abdullah Yousef’s debut novel, Blood of the Levant, exemplifies this perfectly. The world of Blood of the Levant is part historical-fiction and part military fiction, with a dose of fantasy.
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In Defense of the Miraculous Creation of Prophet Adam
The notion of common ancestry of all species — including humans — seems to be irreconcilable with the traditional account of Adam’s miraculous creation without ancestors.
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Reflections on the Palestinian Struggle: A Comprehensive Exploration by Shaykh Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi
“Muslims and the Palestinian Cause” by Shaykh Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi provides a profound exploration of the Palestinian struggle, intertwining Quranic wisdom, historical context, and contemporary observations. This review aims to illuminate the key themes and contributions Shaykh Nadwi brings forth, shedding light on the challenges faced by the Palestinian people.
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The Lure of Excess: A Review of Aldous Huxley’s ‘The Brave New World’
Published in 1932, Aldous Huxley’s fictional microcosm within Brave New World is set in the novel’s “year of stability,” 632 years after the commercial advent of American car magnate Henry Ford (d.1947). Ford’s widely successful Model T was the first automobile manufactured solely through mass-production using methods such as the conveyor belt assembly process. Ford…