Thoughts | American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar

Why did I purchase this book? 'Dervish'... The word 'Dervish' got me. I'm naturally drawn to anything Tasawwuf related. And why not be? Sufism nourishes me, it is the energy that inspires me towards good. I had expected this to be somewhat similar to Pir-e-Kamil in that it was a novel based around Sufism with certain key points to learn from. There was similarity in how sexual elements were not censored - although to an extent it was in Pir-e-Kamil. The rest was far off.

To summarise it is the journey of Hayat, a young Muslim Pakistani in America, who starts as a hafiz and ends up as a non-Muslim. The first two parts in my opinion are a waste of time, then the last third section becomes interesting and only towards the very end a true element of Sufism comes through in the form of a struggle that one of the main characters, Mina, takes on.

The book disappointed me. There was a lot of unnecessary information. The story dragged as a lot of amazon reviewers would agree. The worrying thing about this book was that it portrayed how hateful the Muslim community is and backs it up with out of context quotations from the Holy Quran. In reality, I can never imagine some of the events it described actually happening. Culture wise, there was some truth in it however it definitely did not portray Sufism as what it really is and it saddened me to know that this book could be the only insight of islam a non muslim might choose to take. If anyone every wishes to know what Sufism is really about, they should read Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak.

So would I recommend this book? NO. Don't bother. There was nothing about this book until the very last chapter that had me wanting to find time to read. The only motivation I had to finish it was that I payed for it.

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Thoughts | Pir-e-Kamil by Umera Ahmed

This book was suggested to me roughly around two years ago if I'm correct. For some strange reason I kept delaying it until I completely forgot. I don't even remember how I remembered but I'm so glad that I did.

I managed to download a free pdf in English. It wasn't so excellently translated but it was good enough for me to understand most of what was going on. There were only minor mistakes such as grammar and on one or two occasions, the wrong name in the wrong place. I have no idea what website it was from and I advise that you are careful because most of the sites offering the free download are full of viruses. If you can read urdu well, that's just brilliant, you can purchase this book in urdu on Amazon.

What is the book about ?
"Imama belongs to Ahmedi religion, a community that is deemed non-Muslim under the constitution of Pakistan and also Shariah laws. Salaar is young man of supreme intelligence and an IQ of 150+. Instead of using his IQ for a good purpose, Salaar considers it a curse and indulges in all kinds of sins, great and small. When a twist of fate leaves Salaar under the burden of a favor by Imama, a story takes place that has become almost an identity of Umera Ahmed. This story is primarily about Salaar and Imama looking for the right path, the straight path, a path that Imama has found and which continues to elude Salaar. It is a story of transformations and coming full circles. It is a story of lives that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)'s legacy is still mentoring." Book Description from here.

Before reading this I had no idea that it would include some sectarian issues, something I'm very familiar with from a different perspective as following tasawwuf is not such an easy ride when people from other sects find out. I also wasn't expecting how open and blunt it would be about the sins common in Pakistan today -  something that is never discussed so for me, it was all very new. I obviously haven't spent long enough in Pakistan to know of these things.

I can describe the book as dramatic, something I loved as I was actually willing to skip my daily Geo dramas for this. Generally, when i'm looking to read an islamic themed book, I read for the purpose of finding pieces of wisdom or knowledge that will have an effect on my life for the better. After reading 40 Rules Of Love I was expecting something similar. They are two very different books but I was able to find a similiar underlying purpose. The purpose of going through self realisation and bettering yourself in the name of The Almighty Allah with the love of the Beloved Prophet SAWS in your heart. If that is present in a book then it has made space on my favourites list. Let me be clear however, that Pir-e-Kamil SAWS does not contain bundles of knowledge, it contains occasional pieces of wisdom and actually teaches through the experience of the two main characters rather than handing you information on a plate.

My absolute favourite thing has definitely been that it is very much a present-day fairytale. It isn't that lovey-dovey purity from birth til marriage, everything is perfection from day one type of story. It is real. It is what is found today in the lives of our young muslim adults. The story of someone we know or in fact ourselves once having indulged in sin and woke up to come towards building a better relationship with Allah the Almighty is very common. That is what you will find with Salar. It's what makes this book relateable to whatever extent it may be. The dreamy more fairytale part about it all is that there are two people who marry with the love of the Prophet Salallahu'Alaihi wa'salam as their foundation and goal. Something that is quite rare in todays age, particularly here in the UK. As well as this it's how the characters come together, something I can't imagine happening in real life but I don't mind when so much of the book is based on reality.

There are struggles in this book, inward and out, and then there is an important message that the author so cleverly gives...
Pir-e-Kamil. What does it mean to most people? Who is their complete guide? So many people would answer with the name of a person alive today. This book tells you that although having a murshid is very helpful, your ultimate, perfect and complete guide is non other than Rasulullah Salallahu'Alaihi wa'salam. Humans are bound to make mistakes but our Holy Prophet Salallahu'Alaihi wa'salam never has or can.

So anyway, this book is currently rated 4.6 out of 5 on the goodreads website and very rightly so. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. It was one of those I couldn't pull away from and I rate this 5 out of 5 straight up. I don't even have to think about it and highly recommend it to any young muslim that has interest in their deen and/or even the floating thought of marriage or potential spouses within them. If I get married, I want to marry for the sake of being a better muslimah to someone who will help me on my path towards Allah and his Beloved Salallahu'Alaihi wa'salam. Only then, will I feel more comfortable in saying it is completing half my deen - as the saying goes. And still, only Allah knows if I will have kept the clearest intentions and am truly entitled to that.

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Dear Beloved Son by Imam Ghazali | Twenty Fourth Counsel Dua

As mentioned on the old blog, this is one of my all time favourite duas. It's the last of the chapters/counsels and so brilliantly it is worded. I really cannot recommend this book enough. It is so small but so on point in explaining things whilst staying short and simple. Sometimes the most simplified pieces of wisdom can have the most profound effect. please try to ponder on each sentence of this dua, I know for me, it is a reminder of all my ultimate goals.

O Allah, I ask you of complete blessings, lasting protection from sin, comprehensive mercy, acquisition of well being [in this world and in the next], the best provision, the happiest life, the most complete favour, the most generous blessing, the sweetest grace and the coleset gentleness.

O Allah be for us and not against us. O Allah, seal our lives with happiness and good fortune, realise our aspirations accompanied with further increase. Combine our mornings and evenings with safety and make Your compassion our return and our last resort and pour the best of your Your forgiveness over our sins and favour us with the reform of our defects. Make piety our provision and grant us interpretative judgement in Your religion, and make us depend on You and have confidence only in You.

O Allah make us firm on the path of steadfastness, and safeguard us in this world from matters that will bring shame on the Day of Judgement, and lighten for us the burden of our sins, and grant us lives of the righteous and protect us from the evil of the evil ones. save our necks and the necks of our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters from the fire of Hell by Your compassion, O Most Powerful one, Most Forgiving, Most Generous, Concealing of our faults; O You, Most Knowledgeable, Most Overwhelming, O Allah! O Allah! O Allah! By Your Mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful, O First before the firsts, Last after the lasts, O Possessor of Strength, Everlasting, Compassionate to the destitute, Most Compassionate of those who are compassionate. 

There is no god but You, glory be to You, Verilly I am of the wrongdoers. And may Allah bless our Prophet Muhammad  and all his Followers and Companions. All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord and Cherisher of all the worlds. Ameen.

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