Which books do you keep near your bedside or near you? For me they are

1. “Call on me, I answer you” dua book.
2. The Psalms of Islam
3. Biography on Imam al-Mahdi (a)
4. Greater Sins
5. Nahjol Balagha
6. Sayed Sistani’s Islamic Laws

how about you?

Sallam Alykum, 

if you enjoy reading Islamic books you can get a pretty good list of online books covering many topics here http://lightoftheheavens.com/booklist

I’ll try to update the list as much as possible, but for now their are plenty of amazing books to read! ;)

Sallam Alykum,

I have just completed a book “Ali The Magnificent” by Yousus N. Lalljee. This book, as can be seen by the title, is a biography of Imam Ali (as) from the beginning of Islam till the martyrdom of the the Holy Imam. The first 100 pages or so discuss the birth of Ali, his youthful years, his disciple of the Prophet (saw), his marriage with Fatima (as), the battles he participated in, the missionary work he did for Islam, his status in Ghadeer Khum, and where he was and what he did during the last days of Prophet Muhammad (saw). What I loved about this book was that it discussed Prophet Muhammad (saw) as much as it discussed Imam Ali (as) in the first 100 pages. It is as the author was saying that you can’t mention Ali (as) without first mentioning Muhammad (saw) because these two were almost inseparable. The next 100 pages or so discuss Ali (as) after the death of Muhammad (saw) and the issue of caliphate and what Ali (as) had to deal with and the battles he was forced to partake in. The book then ends with the martyrdom of Ali (as) and then discusses his virtues such as his knowledge, piousness, and his views on life. 

The book was very enjoyable to read and the author even used hadeeths to back up some of the points he was making. It gave a fairly detailed description of the life of Ali (as) which only makes you love and respect him more. I would definitely recommend this book to every Muslim and non-Muslim to learn more about a man who not only lived his life to better Islam, but to better humanity also. He was not an Imam just for Shia Muslims, but for all of mankind. He is undoubtedly the best human being to have ever lived after Prophet Muhammad (saw) with such an elevated status that the angels themselves know of his status.

I would recommend you buy a physical copy of the book because it is just that good. But if you are unable to then you can read it online for free (The PDF is 100 pages but is still the complete book):

http://www.ziyaraat.net/books/AliTheMagnificent.pdf

university.etrat.net/EtratLibrary/Beleifs/AliTheMagnificent.pdf

Sallam Alykum, another personal rant post=]

I ordered some Islamic books so can’t wait to get them. They are some pretty big title books like Kitab al-Irshad by Sheikh Al-Mufid - one of the earliest biography works on Ahlul Bayt (as).

I also caught a cricket in my room that makes too much noise, trying to eat iftar with a cricket going off is super annoying but I found it after an hour or two!

I hope every ones fasting is going well, remember shahr Ramadan is more than just not eating; you have fasting of the eyes, ears, tongue, and hands as well. Read as much as possible to gain knowledge - don’t let a day go by wasted. 

I am hoping to have a small book review by tomorrow if I can finish this reading on Imam Ali (as) inshAllah. So look forward to that=]

How are you?

I think I might have come up with a new possible hobby, reading - especially fiction books. I’ve always read books from time to time and I actually do enjoy it. It is a great way to escape this world and take on the role of some fictional character - whether it is being a Jew in a Nazi Camp living day to day wondering if you will ever escape or a wizard or a young African American who has run away from home to find refuge with strangers who treat you better than your own family.

I don’t really have much to escape from my life - but it’s the lack of that I want to escape from. Not much goes on so reading an adventurous books is well… adventurous. I always hate when I reach the last page, because I always wanted the stories to continue on forever. I form a connection with the characters as if I’ve known them my entire life and when the last page of a book is finally before me it is sad to let go of the story and the characters.

This one book which was recommended to me “House Rules” by Jodi Picoult reminded me why I love reading. It is about an 18-year-old boy with Asperger’s syndrome and a murder trail. After finishing the 500+ pages within 3 days (the font was pretty big though lol) I decided to always read be a book, fiction and non-fiction. 

I am currently reading a book on Imam Ali (as) and it is an amazing read. InshAllah will put up a small review of it within a few days.

Reading is an amazing hobby. You learn many new things and its like watching a movie - but much more enjoyable lol. There are millions of people who make it a hobby of reading so making friends is easier when two people share the same interests. Plus during shahr Ramadan, reading is a great way to pass the time and be productive!

Sallam Alykum,

I have recently finished a book titled “The Shi’ites Under Attack” by Muhammad Jawad Chirri, a well known and respected Lebanese scholar who studied and graduated from the Islamic Institute of Najaf in Iraq. This book tackles many misconceptions against Shia Muslims and offers sources to bring forth the truth. It is a short book, my PDF version was 81 pages, but the information was greatly valuable nonetheless.  I would recommend this to book to anyone, especially the Sunni brothers and sisters who have little knowledge about Shia Islam. It covers topics such as the Qur’an being incomplete (God Forbid), authority of the infallible Imams (as) on the universe, the character of ibn Saba, among other interesting topics. 

You may read this book here: http://www.al-islam.org/underattack/