Dear Almaghrib Brothers and Sisters, Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah

I am thankful to Allah for allowing me to spend two uplifting and blessed days with such dedicated and intelligent Muslims sisters and brothers in faith. I enjoyed teaching you and learning from you; your questions and thoughts are invaluable for me, and will continue to make me think more and strive better.

I had promised a few things during the lectures. From what I can remember, these were: the lecture presentations (attached) and a list of recommended books (provided below).

Please feel free to remind me if I am forgetting something. I’d love to hear thoughts, questions and suggestions from each one of you; feel free to use the email address I have provided uwaymir at yahoo dot com. Some of you had particular questions or requests; please feel free to contact me, I’d love to be of help if I can.

For anyone interested in spiritual writings of Ibn Taymiyya or Ibn al-Qayyim in translation, please contact me directly. For many reasons that you can guess, there is a lack of good books on or by Ibn Taymiyya in English on either his political thought or spirituality. Ibn Taymiyya is a very challenging writer because of his encyclopedic knowledge full of references that common Muslims are not familiar with. Ibn al-Qayyim, the most brilliant and devoted disciple of Ibn Taymiyya, is easier and more organized. I have been translating his Madarij al-Salikin for Aljumuah Magazine for the last five years; I could send you a subset of those writings if you are interested—although I suggest reading the whole magazine. Also, I have some more advanced articles on Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Taymiyya’s spiritual writings, which I can provide upon request.

A list of recommended books

On Ibn Taymiyya,

Ibn Taymiyya Expounds on Islam by Abdul Haqq Ansari (available for download at http://www.scribd.com/doc/16603238/Expounds-on-Islam-by-Ibn-Taymiyyah?autodown=pdf) This one is the best and most extensive anthology of his writings to my knowledge.

The Hanbali School of Law and Ibn Taymiyyah: Conflict or Conciliation (Culture and Civilization in the Middle East) by Abdul Hakim I. Al-Matroudi. This is a very decent academic but accessible study by a Saudi scholar of Ibn Taymiyya’s jurisprudence.

Public Duties in Islam: The Institution of the Hisba by Ibn Taymiyya

Ibn Taymiyya: Muslims under non-Muslim Rule by Yahya Michot (Interface Publictions, 2006). This is an example of how Ibn Taymiyya’s writings have been misused in the contemporary Muslim world. The author is Prof. at Hartford Seminary, a respected Muslim scholar and convert, whose own bias is evident in the book.

Sayyid Abul A`la Mawdudi, The Islamic Movement: Dynamics of Values, Power and Change, ed. By Khurram Murad (Islamic Foundation, 1998)

Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Islamic Awakening: Between Rejection and Extremism

Winning the Modern World for Islam, by Abdessalam Yassine (Justice and Spirituality Publishing, 2000)

On Muslim women in particular,

Al-Muḥaddithāt By Muḥammad Akram Nadwī. This is one of the best and most learned accounts I come across of early Islamic tradition on women in good English, very inspiring.

In Arabic, I had mentioned to some sisters Abd al-Haleem Abu Shaqqa’s Tahrir al-mar`a fi `ahd al-risala

Ma`a salamatillah,

Your brother in faith,

Uwaymir Anjum