A travel guide for pilgrims visiting the holy Sh??ah cities in Iraq.

Millions of people from all over the world walk tens of kilometers across Iraq every year. Why?This book explores the historical, spiritual, social and theological basis of the world¿s biggest annual peace gathering: Arbaeen.Drawing on his own personal experiences of the walk, the author probes into:The significance of the number 40Islamic emphases on walkingRemarkable benefits of the journeyEssential tips for those taking partPersonal experiences from around the world!Reflections and etiquettes of the ziyarah (visitation) and much more.. This book is a must-read for anyone wanting to know more about the annual walk undertaken by millions of Shia Muslims.

Despite advances in modern communication and the proliferation of information, there remain areas of the world about which little is known. One such place is Somalia. The informed public is aware of a political meltdown and consequent chaos there, but few comprehend the causes of this tragic crisis. This new edition covers Somalia's origin, history, culture, and language, as well as current economic and political issues. The alphabetical arrangement of this Dictionary, with a complete chronology, list of acronyms, and in-depth bibliography provide useful information about the country in a convenient format. A vital addition to reference collections supporting undergraduate and graduate programs on Africa and the Middle East, international relations, and economics- a useful fact-filled compendium for government and public libraries, NGO's, and other special libraries

This book is a meditation on and an attempt to understand suicidal violence in the immediate context of its most recent political surge: the decade between 2001 and 2011, from the suicidal mission of Muhammad Atta and his band in the United States to the suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi in 2010 in Tunisia. After the former a devastating military strike and occupation of two Muslim countries commenced, and after the latter a massive transnational democratic uprising ensued. Suicidal violence is neither specific to Islam nor peculiar to our time. It has been manifested in practically all cultures and religions and throughout human history. But the suicidal violence we witness today is of an entirely different disposition because the bodies (both of the assailant and of the assailed) on which it is perpetrated are no longer the human body of our Enlightenment assumption. What we are witnessing is in fact the contour of a posthuman body. The posthuman body, as Dabashi here proposes, is the body of a contingent and contextual being, and as such an object of disposable knowledge; while the human body that it has superseded was corporeally integral, autonomous, rational, indispensable, and above all the site of a knowing subject.

This is the 6th Edition and 5th revised version of this translation.The Qur'ān is, in its own words, "light," which means that it is self-manifesting, with no need of an external source of illumination; other things need light to become visible and manifest. With it God guides those who pursue His pleasure to the ways of peace, and brings them out from darkness into light by His will, and guides them to a straight path (5:16).Of course, the Qur'ān is not an exception among revealed scriptures in that it is a source of light and guidance. According to the Qur'an, so were the Torah and the Gospel, scriptures given to Moses and Jesus. All scriptures of Divine origin are a source of light and guidance.Nothing is more important for man than the knowledge of the very Source of reality. Any knowledge that is not informed with this awareness is just a kind of ignorance. All effort that does not derive from this knowledge is ultimately fated to end in futility and failure. The Qur'ān claims to be the most reliable source of this knowledge and the best guide for human endeavour. It teaches that the Source of being is also the chief Source of guidance.Expert Opinions About This Translation:This is a wonderful translation. It is both faithful and fluent. [The translator has] struck a nice balance here. It is a real improvement over existing translations.--Dr Muhammad LegenhausenWhat Qarai has accomplished... is a revival of the art of translation as an adjunct to the understanding of the original, skillfully adapted to the needs of the English-speaking student of the Qur'an... He has opted always for the maximum degree of closeness to the Arabic compatible with comprehensibility, thereby coordinating translation with original in the most substantial of ways.Although Qarai envisions his translation as a paraphrase of the Qur'anic meanings, as a tool for gaining access to the original, it must be stressed that his translation reads extremely well even if regular cross-reference to the Arabic not be the purpose of the reader.The language Qarai has chosen is clear, chaste, straightforward and dignified, distant from both the archaisms and the modernisms that have been affected by other English translators of the Qur'an.... It is plain, indeed, that a serious and profound appreciation of the Qur'anic message has animated the whole of Qarai's successful labours. We warmly recommend his translation to all with a serious interest in the Qur'an.--Prof. Hamid AlgarAs a person who was part of a team that worked on a translation, I was often asked during this process what translation I recommend.... What I want to do in this video is first talk about two translations that I do recommend and I have often recommended, which are those by A. J. Arberry and the one by Ali Quli Qarai.... I really found this (Ali Quli Qarai's) translation to be quite excellent, and I was really surprised when I came upon it, because hardly anybody has spoken about it. One of the great things about this translation for somebody who is learning Arabic is that the translation has Arabic right next it, but it has it phrase by phrase--not just the whole verse, but the exact phraseis next to the exact Arabic. So if you are studying Arabic, you can use this very well to identify the exact translation and the Arabic.. . . [I]t is more accurate and more consistent than almost any other translation and more accurate than Arberry, in fact. I dont't think I found any passage where I could say that Ali Quli Qarai made an egregious mistake.--Prof. Joseph Lombard (member of the team of translators of The Study Qur'an, in a video talk)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjsyGOaWEBw

Now it is about 12 centuries passed from Imam Mahdi's hidden life, and the bothering time of his hidden life will continue up to his reappearance. According to imam Ridha (as), Imam's reappearance will be extended to the day of Doom, no one knows this but God, it is hard to people and it will happen suddenly. Therefore, any investigation to find the exact time of his reappearance is fruitless and our duty is to wait. The meaning of "waiting for" is to desire his reappearance desperately and looking forward to his reappearance; this waiting results from faith and it is rewarded. In addition, it has spiritual values. Waiting for him, like other religious practices, has practical aspects which is pointed out by our infallibles. Following infallibles' orders in this regard is the duty of people who live in the time of his hidden life. The book deals with the personality of the Hidden Imam, his occultation and everything related to him in an analytical and systematic manner and is penetrating in its subject and exceptional in its domain. Shaikh Saduq has presented strong arguments from the life-story of the Prophets regarding their occultation [ghaibah] to prove the occultation of the Twelfth Imam; and Ahadith have been quoted extensively from the Holy Prophet sawa and the Infallible Imams in support of the writer's contentions.

Al-Shaykh al-Akbar (The Greatest Master) and Khatm al-Walaya al-Muhammadiyya (The Seal of Muhammadan Sainthood) is one of a few Muslim saints who often used diagrams to convey his rich and detailed kashf (unveiling) to the reader.It is with the intention of bringing these precious renderings from the 'beyond' to readers who are lovers of Sufism, Spirituality, Art and Ibn al-'Arabi that I am motivated to compile these nineteen diagrams, translate any terms therein to English and also include the Shaykh's guide to understanding the illustrations.Aside from this preface, the titles given to each diagram and a single disclaimer in the chapter "Silent Cartography of Reality," all else in this book is Ibn 'Arabi's own words and drawings.In many ways, these diagrams serve as a visual synthesis and summary of the Shaykh's entire thought. From this perspective, this book is a gift to artists who have an interest in Sufism and spirituality. They are those who intuitively know that art, like the Unseen, is to be tasted and contemplated, as opposed to categorized and rationalized.