The Revival of the Religious Sciences
Ihya Ulum ad-Din or The Revival of the Religious Sciences was written in the 11th century by Al Ghazali.
Among some of the most respected Sufi leaders in the world Ihya Ulum ad Din is said to be the best book for the study of Sharia, particularly for western converts because the volumes work as a summary to much of the scholarship concerning Sharia. I am considering the inclusion of more detail about this foundational work in later parts of the Sulayman series but for now I have included this text as an example of the sorts of books that would be references in an ideal school of Islamic knowledge and mysticism. From the scholars that I do know I have learned that when this subject is approached with the context and depth of a work like The Revival of the Religious Sciences that the subject of Sharia is more easily understood and more difficult to twist into an oppressive and inappropriate system which is why the best scholarship must be included in an ideal school of mysticism.
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This text is but is but one example of the sort of book I would like to highlight in the Sulayman series, but I need your help. The MOST common complaint that I hear is that there is so little translated about the importance of ladies in Islam and I completely agree. What I have read is unsatisfying and very poorly explained even if translated. It is my hope that this unfortunate situation changes with time but one of the strengths of popular fiction is that attention can be drawn to a problem and give people a cause to rally around.
I would like to welcome any of our followers and in particular our Shaykhas to participate in this conversation and add suggested books to what you consider part of an ideal curriculum so that the voices of ladies are included. I may consider adding the reference in one of the books if the synopsis suits the plot of one of the Sulayman books in our series. I am particularly interested in any important spiritual works written by Lady Awliah (saints) or scholars. Even if the work is not translated an idea of the synopsis may be enough to use as a passing reference. The reason I would like to do this is that part of the purpose of the Sulayman series is to popularize works that might be translated if there was more demand. I recently researched the cost of translations to see if Sulayman and the Green Lamp could be translated into a few other common languages but quickly saw that the cost could be between $10,000 and $20,000 dollars for a text of this length. In order for more important scholarship concerning important ladies in Islam to be translated there must be a more widespread demand.
If you know any lady scholars, or ambitious students of Arabic who could be called upon to comment and raise awareness about the lack of resources on the history of ladies in Islam I would greatly appreciate it.
For now I would suggest any of our titles including The Tree of Light series, The Secret Blessing: The Data’il al Khayrat for Children and The Illuminated Quran where I have tried to emphasize the stories and histories of ladies as much as possible from the sources available to me. In our new story I hope to give a more dynamic view of ladies in Islam and stir more interest in most foundational books of spiritual Islam and with your help I hope to do both.
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