The Prick Of A Thorn (H/B)

Festivals and celebrations are occasions of joy and happiness. They have their distinctive spirit in all societies and cultures, and are eagerly awaited and heartily welcomed by everyone.

The feeling of excitement associated with these occasions, however, causes people to introduce uncommon, strange or even bizarre practices during them.

Islam regulates the occasions to be celebrated and the methods of celebrating them. It maintains their atmosphere of happiness, while redirecting

This book discusses the two annual Islaamic festivals: Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adhaa as well as the weekly Jumu’ah. It presents the Islaamic guidelines for celebration according to the Quraan and Sunnah, and warns against innovated occasions and un-Islaamic festivals.

In addition to topics that are standard to ‘Id celebration, such as the ‘Id prayer and khutbah, and ‘Id pastimes, this book discusses zakat-ul-fitr, the sacrifice, the blessed days of the month of Thul-Hijjah, and numerous other ‘Id-related issues.

The broad and thorough discussions in this book make it an important manual and complete reference on festivals and celebrations in Islam. Indeed, from Allah (swt) we seek help and acceptance.

This book examines the role of women in Islam, their education and marriage, and several controversial topics such as domestic violence, female genital mutilation and polygyny. It addresses honestly the divergence between Islamic teaching and actual culturally-influenced practices.

Shaykh Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid’s little book is perhaps one of the most widely-circulated among Muslims today. This is because the topic touches worshippers where it hurts—we know that we often lapse into an automatic sort of prayer when we lose concentration. The Shaykh points out that this loss of concentration really stems from a lack of humility and devotion—in Arabic, khushoo‘. His aim in writing this book is to help us to get back that khushoo‘. His step-by-step approach makes it simple. He gives practical advice and uses the excellent example of the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) to guide us, so that as worshippers, we can truly return to a state of humility and devotion before the Lord.