today’s recommended reads

Posted under books, hadith, knowledge, the Prophet (saws) by rahma

I have a one and a half hour commute in the morning and evening, giving me three hours of time to fill.  Usually I’ll be listening to NPR podcasts, but alas, I’ve misplaced my ipod cord.  Thus, I can’t update or charge my ipod.  So, I’ve started to read again.  It’s mainly been fluffy novels my mom has picked up for me at goodwill, but there’s been some substance there too.  From that substance, I have two recommendations:

   Scattered Pictures: Reflections of an American Muslim

A collection of essays by Imam Zaid Shakir.  While many of them can be found online, there’s nothing quite like having a book in your hands instead of a bunch of lose sheets of printer paper.   Plus, the book contains an essay of his conversion narrative, that I haven’t found anywhere else.  That essay alone makes this book worth buying.

 

                      
The Heirs of the Prophets 

I’m actually not reading this one on the bus, since it’s a dense tome.  I tend to skim when I read, and this one requires a lot of concentration.  It’s a translation of ibn Rajab’s commentary on the hadith of Abu Darda

Abu Darda (ra) narrated that Kathir ibn Qays said: “I was sitting with Abu Darda’ in the mosque of Damascus.  A man came to him and said: “Abu Darda, I have come to you from the town of the Allah’s Messenger (saws) for a tradition that I have heard you relate from the Allah’s Messenger (saws). I have come for no other purpose.” He said: “I heard Allah’s Messenger (saws) say: ‘If anyone travels on a road in search of knowledge, Allâh will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise. The angels will lower their wings in their great pleasure with one who seeks knowledge, the inhabitants of the heavens and the Earth and the fish in the deep waters will ask forgiveness for the learned man. The superiority of the learned man over the devout is like that of the moon, on the night when it is full, over the rest of the stars. The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave neither dinar nor dirham, leaving only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion..’”  (Abu Daud 3634)

Although I’ve only just begun this book, mashaAllah I’ve benefited enormously.  It’s a kick in the behind for me to ramp up my seeking of sacred knowledge.  It made me want to leave everything where it was and hop a plane to Yemen or Jordan or Egypt to seek knowledge at the feet of the heirs of the Prophet (saws).  inshaAllah one day ya Rab!