I am addictive to the books of Mr.Gulen because he does not only line up the words but also he assigns his feelings into the words. Mr.Gulen has a very unique and effective way of writing and telling. He pictures the life of the Prophet in his book as if he was with the Prophet 1400 years ago and involved in the incidents that he described with Him and His companians (PBUH). I personally recommend this book and the 1st volume to any person who would like to taste the sweetness of the life of the Prophet Mohammed SAV.

It is the best book that talks about prophet muhammed. before this nobody could tell about him in that way.His perfect life is firstly stated perfectly in this book. after I read the book I loved the prophet more and more than before. to know the perfect life and the mission of prophet muhammed this book must be read by everybody.

Actually I should say that I have read this book twice. The explanation of the book is specific and I claim that it is objective because it introduce you usually the events that are part of life of Prophet Muhammed (SAV) and Mr. Gulen analyzes these events. Here the role of the author takes place; the authors language is very well, while you read, you do not want to have a break. After you finish the book you can say that "OK I know how Hz.Muhammmed could manage this great revolution." For all these reasons and some other reasons that I could not explain due to lack of place I strongly advise everybody who concerns Islam and Prophet Muhammed (SAV)

Secrets Upon Secrets: Sh. Nazim description of one of many unveilings "He prayed the Dawn Prayer and I prayed behind him. Outside I could hear the bombardment of the two armies. He gave me initiation in the Naqshbandi Order and he said to me, 'O my son, we have power that in one second we can make our murid reach his station.

As soon as he said that he looked into my heart with his eyes, and as he did so they turned from yellow to red, then to white, then to green and black. The color of his eyes changed as he poured into my heart the knowledge associated with each color.

What are the Nine points , What are the Colors, Who are the Saints in Charge of Those Points, Meditations Practices etc..all inside this masterpiece
For More Secrets you have to buy the book !

This book by Shaykh Hisham is a wonderfully produced and poetic work, beautifully presented, about the Most High Naqshbandiyya Order of Sufis. It gives detailed biographies--not available elsewhere in English--of some of the greatest Muslim saints who were part of this chain. Also, as the Naqshbandiyya Order is uniform up to Hazrat Muhammad Mas'um (May Allah sanctify his secret!) in the names of its Masters, only then splitting up into different sub-orders, this is a good history book also of the Naqshbandiyya in general and of the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya in particular. Beautiful!!

This is a miracle. Words cannot express the praise of this book. It needs a soft and pure heart to be appreciated in its full strength. The honorable Shaikh Hisham Kabbani has done the impossible. He captured the divine realizations of the pure hearts in words of ink. Therefore the heart of reader shall smell the divine fragrance of the pure hearts an will be illuminated and decorated with heavenly buties

I am shocked that so much could be in this powerful little book. I am grateful that I got this book. I use a little something from it everyday. It has helped me in marriage. The book is simple, easy to understand and follow.

I recommend it to everyone!

How to be a woman's best friend is a spirit filled book for both men and women. It's for anyone who is looking for real solutions to the crisis facing male-female relationships and family values. I couldn't put it down.

Well thought out and very interesting

LOVE Muhammid Ali - always have - didn't know alot about the young 19 year old Cassius Clay. The boy who becomes the man who is Muhammid Ali - This book tells some interesting stories about Cassius - I'm not sure why I'm suprised, or how I seperated the two in my mind...I mean...they are the same person...and you can see how Cassius is Muhammid - think to when you were 19 and imagine if your greatest qualities grew and become better etc -

Anyway - the book is really good - not 5 star, but 4 - I would have liked MANY more pictures of Cassius and more stories too - I was left wanting more - which is normally a good thing - but here it felt somewhat incomplete

Don't missunderstand - I would buy this again and buy it as gift for folks - if you don't have it - get it - it will make you smile

If you are a fan of Muhammad Ali or sports photography, you'll find this book a joy to read. The book focuses on Flip Schulke's black and white photographs of Ali that were taken on a few occasions from the early to mid-1960s. Flip's comments about the photos and Ali provide rare glimpses into Ali's early penchant for showmanship and the racial prejudice that affected his views. If you admire Ali for his impact in the boxing, social and political arenas, this book will bring tremendous joy to your heart.

This is a book that's hard to put down. Just when you've thought you had read all you can read about Ali, a book like this comes along. The pictures make you feel as if as though you were there yourself. This was one of the best gifts I've ever received. I plan to pass this treasure on to many for Christmas.

I have read the 'Message of the Qur'an' by Muhammad Asad from beginning to end. I have also read translations of Islam's sacred text by other translators, including the great Maulana Muhammad `Ali (Lahori Scholar), Dr. TB Irving (Ta`lim `Ali), Allama Yusuf `Ali, Ahmed `Ali, Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, NJ Dawood, AJ Arberry, Professor Majid Fakhry, and Drs. Muhammad Hilali and Muhammad Muhsin Khan, among others.

In my view, Muhammad Asad in his greatest work, Message of the Qur'an, has undoubtedly presented the most encyclopedic interpretation of Islam's Holy Book in print, supported by the most comprehensive footnotes to date. The author obviously carried out massive historical research of the classical scholars, and his interpretation brought a freshness to an ancient text that compels the reader to read on, and on, and on ....!

As a true scholar, whenever and wherever he differed from traditional orthodoxy, he clearly articulated his reasons for doing so. And this, in my view, has added authenticity to his magnus opus.

A word of caution to unwary: Unlike Pickthall, Asad's Translation is not literal but interpretative, a literary technique that explains the text to the reader from the translator's point of view, as is generally the case. Asad's English is also decidedly tough (unlike Dawood's). When reading Asad, one must master his complex construction.

One clear weakness in this book, however, is the absence of an index of any kind, which when added, would make the Message truly complete and encyclopedic in scope. Another point to be noted here is that Asad has studied the writings of the late Lahori Scholar, Maulana Muhammad Ali; hence, it is no surprise that the two hold almost identical views on many of the polemic issues associated with the Noble Qur'an, including the so-called theory of Abrogation (al nasikh wal mansukh), Jesus' Second Coming, Dress Code, Sexual Relations with those whom the right hand possessed, penalty for adultery, equality between men and women, immaculate conception of Jesus, among others.

This book should be bought and kept as a collector's item by the layman as well as the serious student of the faith. I sincerely recommend it.

I have read many translations of the Quran, including Yusuf Ali, Ahmed Ali, Ling, Pickthal to name just a few. All being great accomplishments in their own right, only Pickthal and Asad provide the most clear and uncorrupted interpretations (most likely related to the fact that both were converts who accepted faith through an understanding reached at adulthood). Not being conditioned at an early age to understand certain verses in particular ways, they had a more direct approach to the true meaning then most muslims are capable of attaining, resulting in two translations which closely resemble each other. But Pickthal provided only a translation, and one which did little in attempting to recreate the tone, rythm, and overall feel which is present in the original Arabic. Herein lies the special contribution of Asad; a translation which draws equally upon Asad's mastery of English as much as it does of Arabic. From the form of the Quran to the placement of verses to the basic differences between the two languages, Asad does an excellent job of pooling together the information contained in authentic traditions, classical commentaries,and classical arabic dictionaries to give the most complete and direct approach to the english speaking individual. May God bless him for his contribution.

This translation of the Qur'an is by far the best I have ever read because Asad, who is European, explains the scriptures in a way that a fellow westerner can understand. And he's able to get to the real meaning, since he lived in the Arab world for so long, living (for all practical purposes) as an Arab among the beduins, who at the time still spoke the classical Arabic in which the Qur'an is written. His translation and footnotes take a highly rational and intellectual approach, and this approach tends to be more appealing to the western mind than the more old-school, tradition-based explainations than often come from translators who were reared in Muslim cultures.

This book is a must for anyone seeking an objective understanding, not only of the Middle East and Islam, but also of Western Civilisation. Though chronicled at the turn of the 20th Century, his experiences and views are as valid and alive today, as they were then. Asad (born Leopold Weiss, an Austrian Jew) not only describes a personal journey of spiritual discovery, but at the same time, raises serious concerns about the destructive rush of western civilisation towards a dehumanising materialiasm, and; the Muslim world of forsaking the proven, eternal and rational values of the Divine Islamic truths for a servile and decadent aping of the West.

The Road to Mecca is not a historical book. Yet, some parts of its mystical archives are very considerable in getting a real picture about Islam and Muslims during the two era; the falling of Islamic khilafah and the beginning of the western Imperialism era.

Muhammad Asad or Asadullah von Weiss (1900-1992) was having close relationship with many leaders, scholars and fighters (mujahidin), including King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, King Faisal, King Abdullah, Reza Shah Pahlavi, Jacob Israël de Haan, Shaykh Mustafa al-Maraghi, Abul A'la al-Maududi, 'Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Sayyid Ahmad, Ash-Shaheed Umar Mukhtar and Agos Salim besides travelling a massive hundred of thousand miles to Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Persia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asian states. Hence, his long journey and great experiences wrapping in his own beautiful narrative, are the valuable 'tutorials' to be mastered.

I would like to highlight two most significant chapters. Almost the whole chapter of 'Jihad' consists of Asad's dialogue with Sidi Muhammad az-Zuwayy, Sayyid Ahmad and Umar Mukhtar, illustrating the history of Sanusi Islamic movement. It includes the dilemma of the Sanusi, whether to fight against British in Egypt or not. I concluded the lessons as:
a)The Muslim leader as well as the whole Muslim community must follow the Qur'an and the Sunnah. God help whomever help God. Whereas the utmost priority in the Muslim life should be his ad-din al-Islam.
b)Muslim brotherhood should be developed without any different, Arab, Turkish etc.
c)Without any objection, jihad is a part of Islamic teaching and obligation, in protecting Muslim faith and land.

Another chapter, 'Dajjal' was specifically written about the dajjalic modern life and Zionism, Iran and Reza Shah Pahlavi, and also about his experience in embracing into Islam. Muhammad Asad was all the time against the Zionist and any colonial power toward Muslims' land. "Although of Jewish origin myself," noted him in The Road to Mecca, "I conceived from the outset a strong objection to Zionism...I considered it immoral that immigrants, assisted by a great foreign power..."

I never regret reading it. You too.

After reading this magnificent book, I am still puzzled as to why such a remarkable personality like Mohammad Asad still remains obscure to both the Western world, and most importantly, the Muslim world. A person who has seen and experienced all of the main events of the 20th century at first hand, and has lived to describe it lucidly truly deserves to be on the map of personalities of the last century. His contribution to 20th century socities of the Middle-East is immense. A first class traveller, a journalist, a writer, a philosopher, an adventurer, a statesman, a diplomat, a scholar, and most of all a believer in the faith of Islam through experience, at least should be considered on par with lawrence of Arabia, if not above, for the sole reason that he was involved in the shaping of more than one country, not just Arabia.

Let me get to the book. This book is actually four journeys fitted into one. It is a geographical, historical, linguistic, and spiritual journey all in one.

- Geographical: for it a first class travelogue of the Middle-East region during the twenties, before the current borders ever existed or were drawn. He provides a very graphic description of places, lands, moods, cities, and people that he has come across, that virtually transports you to those times. He is not the romantic orientalist, nor is he the underminning military observer, but somehow a mixture of both with a flair of adventure. He traveled during a period of time when it was still possible to join caravans, hire horses and guides, and buy camels when embarking on a journey, which makes it all the more exciting to read.In short, even if you are not interested in the main story of the book ( his finding of the faith of islam ), to read the actual adventures he experienced, for the armchair traveler, this book is a must !

- Historical: for he has witnessed all the events that have shaped the Middle-East of today. The fall of the Othoman Empire, World War I, World War II, the creation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Zionism and the creation of the Israel, the ascending to the throne of the Shah of Iran, the creation of Pakistan, colonialism and the different resistances against it. He had been directly involved with events of early Saudi Aabia, and was one of the people who elucidated the idea of creating a Muslim nation in the Indian sub-continent with the man responsible for the idea, the poet Muhammad Iqbal. The personalities he has come face to face with testify to his involvement in those events of the first half of the 20th century. Listing them chronologically, Mdme. Maksim Gorky, Chaim Weizmann, King Ibn Saud, Prince Faisal (later King), The Shah of Iran, King Amanullah of Afghanistan, The Grand Sanoussi, Umar Al-Mukhtar, Muhammad Iqbal, to name some of them. He describes historical events that give important insight into the history of the region. For instance, the Bedouin revolt of 1929 against King Ibn Saud, the events that led to the ascension to the throne by the Shah of Iran, the Sanoussi resistance against Italian colonialism in Libya, etc. His accounts helped explain several aspects of ME history that I believe a lot of people from my generation (late twenties) are plainly not aware of.

-Linguistic: for his English prose is remarkably lucid. It is amazing that he can write such beautiful English, considerning that it is not his mother tongue, nor it is his second language, but something like his fourth or fifth, after Hebrew, Polish, German and French. His description of moods, feelings, physical aspects of a place, times of day, spiritual feelings are so vivid that you actually feel them, not just imagine them. His book is truly to learn from, the vocabulary, the prose, the lucidity, all witness to a great work of literature.

- Spiritual: Well, I leave this up to you. But in short, this journey is the main raison d'etre of this book. He describes his search for a spiritual ideology that would fill the vacancy left by the downfall of all spiritual engagements in Europe at that time. He describes the whole process gradually and in a very rational manner, but at the same time in doing so, he shows-maybe indirectly- his scholastic abilities in reasoning and his raional thinking on why he was convinced with Islam.

All in all this book I believe should be compulsory reading for all history classes in countries of the Middle-East. History text book writers could use a few tips from Muhammad Asad's book.

Before I end, I would like to say that this book has virtually changed my outlook on a lot of things, and has opened a whole new world for me. Read it and I hope you would go through the same experience....

For those who want to know about the real Ali, I recommend "The Tao Of Muhammad Ali" by Davis Miller, which offers far more about the person rather than dates and figures. I enjoyed "Muhammad Ali: His Life And Times", it had a lot of things in it I didn't know, but if you want to read just one great book about Ali, then make it "The Tao Of Muhammad Ali".

If you are a Muhammad Ali fan then you definitely need to have this book.It gives details of his life and career. These details are not only told by him but by other people who he had an influence on. You get a chance to hear from his opponents and also his entourage. This is a good buy.

Muhammad Ali has always played a large part in my life. He showed me that being black did not make me inferior at a time when almost everything and everyone said the opposite. This book gave me a fresh perspective on his achievements and his beliefs, thanks to contributions from sources as diverse as Joe Frazier and Cheryl Tiegs. The stories are wide-ranging and informative. Some were laugh out loud funny (very embarrassing when you're on a train). Some were depressing (stories surrounding Ali's entourage and the Holmes fight almost made me cry). There are even some from people who don't like Ali or see him as someone worthy of praise. All of them gave me a deeper, more rounded insight into a man that I viewed with awe and reverence. I started the book seeing Ali as some kind of distant super hero and ended it seeing him as a warm, caring human being with the same flaws and insecurities as anyone else. Along the way I laughed a lot and learned even more. The book is funny, engaging, and inspirational...just like the man himself.

If you know the story of Grameen Bank, and wanted to know more about the founder - I don't need to say anymore.

If you haven't heard of Grameen, prepare yourself to learn about a bank which has overturned the conventional wisdom about helping people who live in poverty.

Yunus' big idea can be put very simply: people who live on less than $1 per day (3 billion people) don't need to be tought how to feed themselves and survive - the very fact that they are alive is testament to their abilities.

His approach rests upon that faith in people's ability to help themselves, if given access to the very small amounts of loan capital they need to start a profitable venture - whether that is weaving cloth or repairing bicycles.

The road to reaching more than 2 million people in Bangladesh, and many other millions worldwide, wasn't smooth. What you get from reading this book is a sense that sometimes the 'homegrown' solution beats the 'imposed' ideas from the developed world.

A challenging book for liberals and conservatives alike!

I liked this book a lot. I had heard of micro-credit, but wanted to know what it was from its originator, Dr. Yunus. It is very informative about his struggles to get it started and rolling. What I liked best was that it was told like a story and it motivated me to do more research into Micro Credit.

What this is not is a how-to manual for implementing Micro-Credit programs. But it is still a great book!

Professor Muhammed Yunus, with a combination of analytical clarity and moral indignation that is too rare among economists, embarked on a personal journey to stamp out poverty back in 1976. Amazingly, from that modest beginning of a $27 mini loan, his Grameen ("of the village") Bank has now distributed the equivalent of over one billion dollars to 2 million borrowers! And their repayment rate is above 98%. Provocatively, his scathing critiques of traditional economics will mark him as an innovator who belives in a "socially-consciousness-driven private sector". Summing up, if a "Long March" of 1,000 miles begins with the first step, then reading this book will surely be happy trails for the aspiring pioneers of the new collective economy of the 21st century.

Unlike most "religious" category books, this book lacks the preachy quality that causes most readers to not absorb the text. This book insightfully breaks down barriers between different religious beliefs and simply brings forth the universal belief in a higher power. The people that Larry King and Rabbi Katsof chose to interview are made more personable and are made more tangible through their everyday prayers, which are similar to ours, and their quest to be closer to God. This book would make a fabulous holiday gift that is sure to please a recipient of any religious background.

Mr. King delved into the foundation of Spirituality and Religion and made simple an otherwise complex and controversial issue. The book focuses on the individual and his or her communication with God, while setting aside religious beliefs. I would like to recommend to friends who are too formal about prayers and to those who maybe agnostic such as Larry King in his book.

Powerful Prayers is a Must Read Reading Powerful Prayers provides you amazingly simple examples of commuincating with God through personal everyday prayer. It opens the door to an otherwise complex arena of thought. The discussion between Larry King and Rabbi Katsof is sensitive and thought provoking. The interviews add incredible depth to the discussion. They also legitimize informal prayer, and the many different ways people have found to communicate with their respective spiritual beings. I recommend this book to everyone who is open to exlporing their individual communication with God. It is a must read. It has changed my entire understanding or paradigm in regards to my relationship with God outside of a house of worship.

This Tafsir of Tabatabai is a great one but unfortunately is not a complete translation of the monumental work of his. It is very contemporary interpretation mostly based on twelver's shia hadits and Quran itself. It does not try to marry the science and religion with some strange interpretations as may be subject to change and failure or try to interpret todays social and political conditions with Quran. It is not like Al-Razi's which keeps going into linguistics and Philosopical discussions of Medieval times, or as of Ibn Kathir's based on a lot of numerous hadits from various sources, or as that of Qutb's socio-political interpretation. Tabatabai makes his tafsir sometimes with comparisons from other sect's interpratation and try to prove the validity of his views. In same book you are exposed to both views but of course only one side is defended and it is up to you to defend the other side, which is a challenge of knowledge.As I said only first 8 volumes has been translated, so you do not get the entire Tafsir but almost half of the critical concepts have been covered.You can also feel the defence of Shia concepts against Sunni concepts. As part of the belief all hadits originating from Imams are consiered as absolute truth and therefore if there is any confilicting Hadit than it is overridden.The concept of Abrogation, Muta, opening ayats that are usually is a debated issue between various sects are strongly defended.

No words could ever describe the importance and prestige of this work. I think this modern Tafsir sets an extremely high standard. The author's approach to interpretating the verses is very different from the works of Ibn Kathir and Qutb. The Tafsir also contains many essays which make it very attractive...

The exegesis of the Holy Qur'an by Allamah Tabataba'i is no doubt the greatest on the earth today since the advent of Islam and as Ayatollah Mutahhari puts it: "It will take 60 years or even 100 years for the people to realize the greatness of Al-mizan". Why is it so great? Because al-mizan does not use any extraneous factors to explain the meaning of the verses but rather uses the method recommended by the "Ahlul-Bayt" which is interpretation of the Qur'an by the Qur'an.