Each person is born in a religious environment that is not of his/her own choice. From the very beginning of human existence in this world, they are assigned the religion of their family or the ideology of the state. By the time individuals reach their teens they usually accept the beliefs of their parents or that of their particular society. However, when some people mature and are exposed to other beliefs and ideologies, they begin to question the validity of their own beliefs, and search for the truth.
Author: Majed S. Al-Rassi - Majid Bin Sulaiman Al-Russi
Reveiwers: Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
The author said in its introduction, "Nothing offends more the Christians than to cast doubt about the doctrine of the Trinity, the fountainhead of their faith. Since I grew up as a Christian, I know by heart that it will surely injure a devout follower of Christianity something he knew as true. But to lend a blind eye when I know better is far from righteousness since I am bound by the God's Commandments to guide those mislead by the false doctrine. It is a basic right of every individual to know the truth that will lead him to the right path.
The conditions for giving Zakat and who should receive Zakat and explainations of certain Quranic verses.
Author: Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
Reveiwers: Muhammad AbdulRaoof
Publisher: http://www.bilalphilips.com - The Official Website of Shaikh Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
The science of hadeeth terminology and assesment is a particularly difficult field of study. Dr. Bilal Philips has managed in this text to simplify this topic and to make it quite relevant to our times by addressing some of the most challenging questions raised by those who question the validity of hadeeth literature in general.
Author: Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
An summarised text detailing the rules governing the Criticism of Hadeeth. From its introduction -'A hadith (pl. ahadith) is composed of two parts: the matn (text) and the isnad (chain of reporters). A text may seem to be logical and reasonable but it needs an authentic isnad with reliable reporters to be acceptable; 'Abdullah b. al-Mubarak (d. 181 AH) is reported to have said, "The isnad is part of the religion: had it not been for the isnad, whoever wished to would have said whatever he liked." During the lifetime of the Prophet (SAS) and after his death, his Companions (Sahabah) used to refer to him when quoting his sayings. The Successors (Tabi'un) followed suit; some of them used to quote the Prophet (SAS) through the Companions while others would omit the intermediate authority - such a hadith was known as mursal (loose). It was found that the missing link between the Successor and the Prophet (SAS) might be one person, i.e. a Companion, or two persons, the extra person being an older Successor who heard the hadith from the Companion.'
Author: Mahmood Al-Tahaan
Introduction to history of polytheism and monotheism: Allah (glory be to him) created all people as Muslims and monotheists but devils came to them and changed and distorted their religion. Allah said in a qudsi hadith, “I created all my slaves as haneefs (monotheists), but the devils came to them, made them deviate from their religion, forbade them that which I had permitted to them, and commanded them to join partners with me for which I has given no authority.” As soon as people commit a type of polytheism, Allah sends his prophets to call them to the suitable type of monotheism.
Author: Ameen Al-Ansaari
Publisher: A website Knowing Allah : http://knowingallah.com