In this gripping narrative history, Lesley Hazleton tells the tragic story at the heart of the ongoing rivalry between the Sunni and Shia branches of Islam, a rift that dominates the news now more than ever. Even as Muhammad lay dying, the battle over who would take control of the new Islamic nation had begun, beginning a succession crisis marked by power grabs, assassination, political intrigue, and passionate faith. Soon Islam was embroiled in civil war, pitting its founder's controversial wife Aisha against his son-in-law Ali, and shattering Muhammad’s ideal of unity.    Combining meticulous research with compelling storytelling, After the Prophet explores the volatile intersection of religion and politics, psychology and culture, and history and current events. It is an indispensable guide to the depth and power of the Shia–Sunni split.

My Life with the Taliban is the autobiography of Abdul Salam Zaeef, a former senior member of Afghanistan's Taliban and a principal actor in its domestic and foreign affairs. Translated for the first time from the Pashto, Zaeef's words share more than a personal history of an unusual life. They supply a counternarrative to standard accounts of Afghanistan since 1979.Zaeef shares his experiences as a poor youth in rural Kandahar. Both his parents died when he was young, and Russia's invasion in 1979 forced Zaeef to flee to Pakistan. In 1983, Zaeef joined the jihad against the Soviets, fighting alongside several major figures of the anti-Soviet resistance, including current Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. After the war, he returned to his quiet life in Helmand, but factional conflicts soon broke out, and Zaeef, disgusted by the ensuing lawlessness, joined with other former mujahidin to form the Taliban, which assumed power in 1994. Zaeef recounts his time with the organization, first as a civil servant and then as a minister who negotiated with foreign oil companies and Ahmed Shah Massoud, the leader of the Afghani resistance. Zaeef served as ambassador to Pakistan at the time of 9/11, and his testimony sheds light on the "phoney war" that preceeded the U.S.-led intervention. In 2002, Zaeef was delivered to the American forces operating in Pakistan and spent four and a half years in prison, including several years in Guantanamo, before being released without trial or charge. His reflections offer a privileged look at the communities that form the bedrock of the Taliban and the forces that motivate men like Zaeef to fight. They also provide an illuminating perspective on life in Guantanamo. (1/25/10)

Accompanied by a CD that includes short surahs from the Qur'an, this book includes such essentials of Muslim faith as virtues, wudu, ghusl, adhan, and salat.

Amidst the roil of war and instability across the Middle East, the West is still searching for ways to understand the Islamic world. Stéphane Lacroix has now given us a penetrating look at the political dynamics of Saudi Arabia, one of the most opaque of Muslim countries and the place that gave birth to Osama bin Laden.The result is a history that has never been told before. Lacroix shows how thousands of Islamist militants from Egypt, Syria, and other Middle Eastern countries, starting in the 1950s, escaped persecution and found refuge in Saudi Arabia, where they were integrated into the core of key state institutions and society. The transformative result was the Sahwa, or “Islamic Awakening,” an indigenous social movement that blended political activism with local religious ideas. Awakening Islam offers a pioneering analysis of how the movement became an essential element of Saudi society, and why, in the late 1980s, it turned against the very state that had nurtured it. Though the “Sahwa Insurrection” failed, it has bequeathed the world two very different, and very determined, heirs: the Islamo-liberals, who seek an Islamic constitutional monarchy through peaceful activism, and the neo-jihadis, supporters of bin Laden's violent campaign.Awakening Islam is built upon seldom-seen documents in Arabic, numerous travels through the country, and interviews with an unprecedented number of Saudi Islamists across the ranks of today’s movement. The result affords unique insight into a closed culture and its potent brand of Islam, which has been exported across the world and which remains dangerously misunderstood. (20110320)

Mini Mu'min Du'a Series- (Adi'yaa and manners related to eating)2nd Edition, 2009 Looking for something good to eat? Well, then take a trip to Bilal's very special bakery! Bilal has all kinds of delicious Halal treats. But Bilal also likes to remind us of how a Muslim eats. Learn the manners related to eating, the du'a before eating, the du'a for forgetting to make du'a before eating, and the du'a made after eating. "I have had a look at your books and Masha-Allah they are amazing!The best children's books that I have come across!”

As modern life consumes more and more of our time, the Muslim today seems to have even less time to devote to worshipping his Lord. In this collection of authentic hadith, Dr. Ali presents Muslims with valuable and efficient ways to maintain a good relationship with Allah and even how to surpass others in virtue and reward with Allah. It is a collection that every Muslim should be familiar with and Dr. Ali's commentaries on several of the hadith add even more depth and understanding to these precious pearls of prophetic wisdom.

From the ancient struggles between Zoroastrian Iran and Christian Rome, to those between Sunni and Shia empires in the Muslim era, geopolitical contests in the Middle East have always been framed in overtly religious terms. While most Sunni and Shia Muslims around the world seek religious coexistence, vacuums of power, such as those that occurred during the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990) and in post-war Iraq, have forced believers to retreat into their respective ethnic, sectarian, tribal and political camps. It is exactly during times of crisis that regional leaders can exploit sectarian identities and force civil strife upon an entire country. Today, with the rise of a pro-Iranian government in Iraq, the Middle East finds itself once again in the midst of a regional power struggle: one between Iranian-allied Shias and the Sunni-Arab governments that oppose them. It is only by understanding the political dynamics of sectarian conflict that the United States and the international community will have a chance to help Iraq achieve a lasting peace. Moving beyond tired descriptions of the Middle East as an exotic land of ideological purists, Nathan Gonzalez provides a realist account of the history of the Sunni-Shia conflict--a schism of political interests that now threatens to escalate into a regional war.