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Book Review: Gems of Wisdom, Heart of Gold
03/07/2001
Author: Javed Mohammed
Publisher: Pyramid Connections, 2000
Num. Pages: 144 (paperback)
Cost: $14.95 @ Amazon.com
At this time in the West, one gets the impression that everyone seems to have an opinion of Muslims, and no one seems to be at a loss for words in expressing those opinions. Unfortunately, many of those opinions do not favor either Muslims or Islam. The books written about Muslims are frequently laced with biased language and are written with the purpose of swaying public sentiment about Islam and Muslims to the negative side of the pendulum. As such, there is no shortage of works detailing the perceived threat of terrorism or the "oppression" of women in Muslim cultures…as well as a host of other critiques that cast a shadow on the light and truth of Islam.
Given this lopsided state of affairs, it is truly noteworthy when someone chooses to produce a literary work that uplifts the image of Islam and reaches out to people in an effort to touch some place in their hearts that could possibly by softened by the message of Islam. Javed Mohammed has endeavored to just this with
Gems of Wisdom, Heart of Gold.
Mohammed's approach is simple: Provide the reader with inspiring words of merit. As simple as this approach may be however,
Gems of Wisdom is so much more than a book of quotes. Going far beyond being just a compilation, it has an eclectic nature to it that makes it more organic than a collection of Ahadith or famous sayings from the great men and women of Islam. Mohammed chooses, instead, to bring to the reader everything from parables, speeches, and Ahadith, to
ayat (verses) from the Qur'an and small pieces of advice from the author himself.
Consider the following excerpts:
"The biggest failures are those who have failed to win friends, but even bigger failures are those who lose the friends they have made." -- Ali ibn Abu Talib (raa).
"There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue-eyed blondes to black-skinned Africans. But all were participating in the same ritual displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe could never exist between white and non-white. America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem." -- El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Malcolm X.
"Do not see other Muslims, whether organized groups or individuals, as competitors or antagonists. Rather, see them as brothers, and work with them or separately with amicable relations, the least of which is giving the greetings with a smile." -- Imam Hamza Yusuf.
With Gems of Wisdom, Javed Mohammed gives the reader the opportunity to sample from simple pearls of knowledge or to read the book as a complete work. The book is organized in such a fashion that it follows clear thematic chapters which readers can take either as a whole or piecemeal. But, however one chooses to read this book, the most important thing is that Muslims simply put it on their bookshelves. It is important that writers providing such positive influence through their words be supported, so that they might continue in that work.
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