Book Excerpts & Reflections

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The Heart's Firmness During the Tempests of Trials - Winning the War Within by Umar Quinn - The Islamic Book Cafe

The Heart's Firmness During the Tempests of Trials | A Book Excerpt from Winning the War Within

What happens to the heart when fitnah strikes — not once, but wave after wave? The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, described it in one of the most powerful similitudes in all of the Sunna...

The Good Deed and the Bad Deed | Ibn Taymiyyah on Humility, Tawbah and the Heart

The Good Deed and the Bad Deed | Ibn Taymiyyah on Humility, Tawbah and the Heart

A scholarly reflection from Ibn Taymiyyah on how a sin can lead a servant to Paradise through humility and tawbah, while a good deed performed with arrogance can lead to destruction — and the two w...

Book of the Month: Women around the Messenger by Muhammad Ali Qutb

Book of the Month: Women around the Messenger by Muhammad Ali Qutb

Introducing our Book of the Month series with Women around the Messenger by Muhammad Ali Qutb — biographies of the first generation of Muslim women and the vital roles they played in early Islamic ...

Acknowledged by the People of the Book | An Excerpt from The Illustrious Life of Muhammad

Acknowledged by the People of the Book | An Excerpt from The Illustrious Life of Muhammad

A book excerpt from The Illustrious Life of Muhammad by Ibn al-Jawzi on how the Jewish scholars of Madinah recognized the Prophet from their own scriptures — yet jealousy and tribalism prevented ma...

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True Belief Requires Surrendering and Contentment

True Belief Requires Surrendering and Contentment

A book excerpt from Captured Thoughts by Ibn al-Jawzi on true belief, surrendering to Allah's decree, and the difference between enduring hardship and fully submitting to the will of the Owner of a...

The Manner of Entering Paradise | The Key to Paradise

The Manner of Entering Paradise | The Key to Paradise

A book excerpt from The Key to Paradise by Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali on the conditions of La ilaha illallah and why saying the shahada is not enough without fulfilling its obligations and requirements.

A Crying Man Who also Makes Others Cry | Disturber of The Hearts

A Crying Man Who also Makes Others Cry | Disturber of The Hearts

A book excerpt from Disturber of the Hearts by Ibn al-Jawzi on Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir — a scholar whose tears over a single ayah of the Qur'an moved everyone around him. A powerful reminder of wh...

The Meaning of Sabr | Excellence of Patience & Gratefulness

The Meaning of Sabr | Excellence of Patience & Gratefulness

A book excerpt from Excellence of Patience and Gratefulness by Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah on the precise definition of sabr — what patience truly means in the Arabic language and in Islamic underst...

Moving at a Measured Pace | A Book Excerpt from Developing Khushu in the Prayer

Moving at a Measured Pace | A Book Excerpt from Developing Khushu in the Prayer

A book excerpt from Developing Khushu in the Prayer by Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid on the importance of moving at a measured pace during salah — and why rushing is described by the Prophet as steali...

Aminah bint Wahb | A Book Excerpt from Women around the Messenger

Aminah bint Wahb | A Book Excerpt from Women around the Messenger

A book excerpt from Women around the Messenger by Muhammad Ali Qutb on Aminah bint Wahb — the mother of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him — and the divine wisdom behind her sele...