Angels in Your Presence by Omar Suleiman – Book Review

Thank you to Kube Publishing for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Synopsis:

Throughout your existence, there are angels in your presence. But it’s your actions that cause those angels to either praise you or disgrace you. Through this book, we will explore the actions that invite these blessed unseen beings to pray upon you, and carry your name and mention to the One who created us all.

This book is based on Imam Omar Suleiman’s Ramadan series from last year and I absolutely loved it. We are taught that angels exist and they have a role in our lives from when we are young but they are distant things that we don’t really think about much.

We never truly hear about them in the way that we are told in this book. They are so much more intertwined in our lives than we ever thought. We learn about how much they are a part of our lives and how much they aid us in our day to day.

I really loved how this book is written in such an easy to read way and divided into small sections so that you can read easily over several days or weeks to truly be able to absorb everything we learn. I read this slowly throughout Ramadan and it just helped me connect to Allah. One of the things I love about the book is that it isn’t just vague information but written in a way that we can connect it to our daily lives.

Omar Suleiman writes in such a way that it connects with our heart and soul and it really made me emotional reading some of the chapters. Especially the chapter where he talks about death and how angels descend to say Ameen to our duas for the person.

This book is inspired by his Ramadan series which he does every year and honestly I highly recommend reading it and watching the series available on youtube. I also recommend Prayers of the Pious and Allah Loves which were also Ramadan series and now available as books.

The Muslim Problem: Why We’re Wrong About Islam and Why It Matters by Tawseef Khan – ARC Review

Thank you to Atlantic Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review. I was tentatively looking forward to reading this but this book was such a disappointment.

⭐

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Why are Muslim men portrayed as inherently violent? Does the veil violate women’s rights? Is Islam stopping Muslims from integrating?

Across western societies, Muslims are more misunderstood than any other minority. But what does it mean to believe in Islam today, to have forged your beliefs and identity in the shadow of 9/11 and the War on Terror? Exploding stereotypes from both inside and outside the faith, The Muslim Problem shows that while we may think we know all about Islam we are often wrong about even the most basic facts.

The synopsis sounds like this would be a great read with a nuanced discussion however this was not what this book was. It started with talking about how Muslims celebrate Christmas and just got worse from there. It took me months to get through this book because I had to keep putting it down because it made me so mad.

The only decent thing in this book was discussing the political history which has led to the increase in Islamophobia and violence against Muslims. I actually liked how he wrote about this and truly the only good part of each chapter was this discussion. If you are going to read this book just read these parts.

I for the life of me cannot understand how he so easily insulted scholars and spoke about the companions of the Prophet (pbuh) and repeatedly stated that using common sense is enough to understand the Quran. It really isn’t because this is how people twist the words, they have no real education in any of this and go about deciding for themselves what the Quran says. He also didn’t speak to actual scholars regarding these issues, only speaking to activists isn’t enough. They have not dedicated years to understanding the Quran and the Prophet (pbuh) teachings. Especially as our first language is English we cannot truly understand the Quran unless we can read and understand Arabic which I don’t think a lot of us are. Honestly by the end of the book I was so incredibly mad about all the misinformation about Islam and the way the author dismissed and belittled over a thousand year of Islamic scholarship.

Starting the first chapter with the claim that Muslims integrate because they celebrate Christmas left me with a sense of dread as to what the rest of the book will hold because I shouldn’t have to celebrate another religions, religious festival to be considered as integrated into society. This is assimilation, the irony is that he actually discusses assimilation in a later chapter yet doesn’t see how this is also assimilation. Also saying that he laughed at scholars who have explained why we don’t celebrate Christmas, and called it inane remarks is not the progressive thinking that you think it is.

I completely lost all faith in this book when he started to say how hadith are unreliable and came after the companions of the Prophet (pbuh) saying that they were oppressive and unreliable. Truly I don’t know where he found this because the ones he specifically mentioned are known for their reliability and standing up for justice.

There was also an undertone that is incredibly problematic which was regarding “conservative Muslims” and how they were an issue. He even grouped Islamophobes and them together as if they are the same. Just because someone chooses to practice Islam in a way that you aren’t comfortable with that doesn’t make them wrong or bad. There are parts of Islam that aren’t completely compatible with the western culture and you know what that is okay. You can’t change or water down Islam and claim that this is the correct thing and look down on others. There was several instances of humble bragging that had me rolling my eyes too and I just…it’s safe to say that I did not enjoy this book, at all.

I am tired of books being published that have so much misinformation or written in a way that makes Islam palatable to non-Muslims because what is even the point of these books. If you are going to write about Islamic beliefs and integral parts of the faith then at least go speak to the actual scholars about it.

This book is called the Muslim problem and yet all it does is create more problems. People reading this will look at me and say why am I not celebrating Christmas and that I am not integrating. It’s awkward enough as it is to explain why I don’t want to take part in Christmas celebrations without other Muslims claiming it is absolutely fine. The fact that the reviews I’ve seen so far that praise this book is all from non-Muslims and the reviews from Muslims are all discussing the issues in this book and how it is not a great book to deal with these issues should tell you all you need to know about how reliable the information about Islam really is.

Book Recommendations for Ramadan

Ramadan is fast approaching and it seems that we will be having a second Ramadan in lockdown. As we can’t go to the masjid and attend halaqahs or iftars, it can seem like we can’t benefit in the same ways as before.

Though we can still build our relationship with Allah on our own, through reading some great Islamic books. So here are some recommendations of books I have read and benefited from.

40 On Justice by Omar Suleiman

A History of Islam in 21 Women by Hossein Kamaly

Lessons from Surah Yusuf by Yasir Qadhi

Allah Loves by Omar Suleiman

Show Up by Naima B Robert

Angels in Your Presence by Omar Suleiman

Reclaim Your Heart by Yasmin Mogahed

Al Muhaddithaat by Akram Nadwi

Lessons from Surah Kahf by Yasir Qadhi

Prayers of the Pious by Omar Suleiman

Love and Happiness by Yasmin Mogahed

There are lots of amazing books that will be of benefit so please do share any recommendations!

Lots of these books are also available on scribd and you can use my link where you will get 2 months free and I will also get a month free.

Friday Favourites – Non-Fiction Book Recommendations

This week’s Friday Favourites is about non-fiction books! I love reading non-fiction books from history to feminism to mental health topics and so much more. I find them fascinating to read though they do take longer than my fiction books especially as I annotate and highlight away.

So here are some of my faves:

The Five by Hallie Rubenhold – The most read of mine and one that had me burning with rage at the way people and history has treated these women while glamourising jack the ripper.

Amazing Muslims Who Changed the World by Burhana Islam – A book that go back to again and again and full of incredible people throughout Islamic history

Allah Loves by Omar Suleiman – A spiritually uplifting book which I benefit from reading again and again

Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig – I really love his books and this is no different.

Period Power by Nadya Okomoto – I loved the discussions around periods and especially how it affects women differently in different parts of the world.

Reclaim Your Heart by Yasmin Mogahed – This book is my absolute favourite and one that I go to again and got me through some really difficult times.

Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez – Another book that left me screaming in rage because this world is truly made only for men.

Boys Will be Boys by Clementine Ford – A follow up book of Fight Like A Girl which I had to read in small chunks because it was just so rage inducing but also discussing difficult topics that were often very difficult to read too but conversations need to happen about them.

Also I am currently reading The Muslim Problem by Tawseef Khan which is interesting so far and will be out in March.

Non Fiction Book Recommendations

It’s non fiction November so I thought I would share some books that I have really loved reading. I read quite a wide range of non fiction but I especially love books about female empowerment, self development, mental health and world history, specifically Islamic history so I will share some that I have read recently and really benefitted from.

Amazing Muslims Who Changed the World by Burhana Islam – I loved reading through this book and it’s one that I can go back to again and again. You can read my full review here

Fighting Hislam by Susan Carland – This was a really interesting book and while I didn’t necessarily agree with everything it had some great points too.

The Bystander Effect by Catherine Sanderson – This was a really interesting read though I did find some chapters more interesting than others.

Allah Loves by Omar Suleiman – A book I loved so much and one I will read again and again. My full review is here

Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig – I found this book really beneficial and definitely recommend reading

Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement by Nadya Okamoto – This is one of the few books that acknowledges the differences in different cultures and more without being condescending to those that are different to the western “norm”

Mysogynation: The True Scale of Sexism by Laura Bates – By the end of this book I was mad as heck

Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez – Another book that made me incredibly angry but also discussed many things that needed to be said. I wish there was more information on women of colour though as I’m sure those stats would be different to white women.

Love and Happiness by Yasmin Mogahed – A book that I constantly refer back to. One that you can flick through and no matter what page you read it will be spiritually and emotionally beneficial for you

A History of Islam in 21 Women by Hossein Kamaly – A really interesting read about many women in Islamic history. Some I knew about and others I didn’t. My full review is here

Fight Like a Girl by Clementine Ford – I really loved this book and I related a lot to things that are discussed. My review is here

The Hormone Diaries: The Bloody Truth about our Periods by Hannah Witton – One of the first books I read that openly discusses sexual health problems and more that we don’t know about.

I Will Not Be Erased: Our Stories about Growing Up as People of Colour by Galdem – Full of incredible stories that we need to hear more. My review is here

Lost Islamic History by Firas Al Khateeb – A history that most people aren’t taught in schools but should be

Reclaim Your Heart by Yasmin Mogahed – This book has gotten me through some incredibly difficult times and gave me the perspective I needed. I literally recommend this book for the spiritual and emotional help we all need sometimes.

I recommend all of these books and I hope you will find something that you enjoy reading. Do recommend me some of your favourite non fiction books!