A simple, easy-to-read guide to Islamic spirituality that helps to explain Islam’s ongoing conflict with the Western world.
Translation and exegesis of a classic treatise of Islamic mysticism.
Baghdad wasn’t always a bombed-out, bullet-scarred city. In the ninth century, it was the center of the Islamic world and an academic mecca, embracing scholars translating classic Greek, Roman, Syrian Christian and Indian texts into Arabic. In this milieu, Imam al-Muhasibi wrote Treatise for the Seekers of Guidance, which, in a nutshell, is a explanation of Islamic spiritual development that emphasizes the importance of Muslims cleansing their hearts from worldly attractions and maintaining Taqwa, or a God-consciousness that manifests itself in purposeful action. Shakir, translator and tour guide, walks the reader through the document, sometimes line by line, providing context and clarification through constant references to the Qur’an and Hadith (or prophetic tradition). Occasional illuminating tangents on Islam in the contemporary world, especially post-9/11, break up some of the monotony and redundancy of the treatise, making the translation more readable and relevant to non-Muslims. Through it, the reader can see Islam as a double-edge scimitar. Slicing through the garish material excess and social and moral decay that characterizes a lot of the modern capitalist world, the treatise explains that Muslims were created to worship God and serve others. It’s a simple, beautiful message that makes it easy to understand why Islam is the world’s most popular religion. However, the flip side of the proverbial sword reflects a conundrum. To be saved and make it to paradise in the afterworld, one must maintain a real and present fear of God and endure trials and tribulations while on earth. Shakir is to be lauded for his commentary, bold at times. He criticizes some contemporary Muslims for hypocrisy, as well as slandering, vilifying and despising their brethren, and cites an inability of Muslims to give sincere advice to other Muslims as a cause of ongoing troubles. But he also casts judgment on Western society’s tendency to commoditize everything, making it difficult for Muslims to recast their gaze from earthly delights upward to more divine endeavors.
A simple, easy-to-read guide to Islamic spirituality that helps to explain Islam’s ongoing conflict with the Western world.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9792281-3-1
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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