Written by Abu Hamid Ghazali in the 11th century, "The Revival of the Religious Sciences" is one of the most authoritative texts in Islamic religious literature. Offering a deeper understanding of Islam and its practices, this record contains the only English translation of an essential section from this magnum opus. Admired for the author's analytical approach and detailed exploration of the psychological and spiritual effects of prayer, this compendium will not only interest academics, but also Muslims who wish to recite the prayers in the original Arabic.

Find hope and renewal in life's natural cycle of ordinary losses and new beginnings.

"When we intentionally enter into our everyday walk through small losses, the terrain of larger losses, the valley of the shadow of death, is not totally unknown. It is not completely unfamiliar, alien, terrifying, for we have walked some of this way before with our lesser losses. We can journey through this valley of loss, for journey through it we must. And we can emerge markedly changed, but alive, on the other side." from the Prologue

Going beyond loss as a problem to be resolved, a grief to be worked through, Dr. Nancy Copeland-Payton, a spiritual director and ordained clergywoman, reframes loss from the perspective that our everyday losses help us learn what we need to handle the major losses. Weaving in spiritual and classical themes, personal and scriptural story, Dr. Copeland-Payton shows us that by becoming aware of what our lesser losses have to teach us, the larger losses of our lives become less terrifying. Each chapter includes a spiritual practice and questions for reflection to help you: Mine the hidden depths of painful losses of things and placesTraverse the devastating loss of relationships and the heart-wrenching death of people we love.Overcome the steep, dark slopes of loss of beliefs and faith.Venture past our fear of the losses of aging and our own death."

The first-ever comprehensive analysis of its kind in any western language, this unique volume provides a social art history of Yungang: a 5th-century rock-cut court cave complex, UNESCO World Heritage site, and one of the greatest Buddhist monuments of all time. Yungang asks why, when, and under what circumstances this impressive cave sanctuary was made, and who played significant roles at various stages. Recent economic changes in China including the expansion of roads have led to unprecedented numbers of objects being unearthed on site and near the cave-chapels. Archaeological discoveries in 2010 have shed significant new light on the architectural configuration of monasteries in the capital and the functions of different sections of the cave complex, as well as monastic life within it. For the first time, it is possible to reconstruct where the monks lived and translated sacred literary texts, and to fully understand that freestanding monasteries are an important component of the rock-cut cave complex. Illustrated throughout with remarkable full-colour photographs, this re-examination of the cave-chapels, which brings together previous scholarship, primary documentation, and more than a decade of first-hand field research, will not only fill in the gaps in our knowledge about Yungang, but also raise, and perhaps answer, new questions in art history.

Muslim NGOs are continuously expanding their field of activities to various areas, including education, medical services, environment, aging societies, gender issues, and inter-religious dialogue. They are visible in an urban slum in Pakistan, rural development in Indonesia, and even in Fukushima in Japan to distribute hot meals among the affected people. Muslim NGOs have become a global phenomenon. Though there have been many studies on "political Islam", only a few approaches to broaden our understanding of Muslim NGOs have appeared. NGOs in the Muslim World brings together contributors familiar with the local language who have each been engaged with fieldwork for many years. Based on empirical anthropological and sociological studies in Japan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and Jordan, they explore key issues concerning the role and work of Muslim NGOs, from the inspirations Muslims take from holy texts to the religious expectations of volunteers devoting their time to charitable causes. The book discusses the relationship of Muslim organizations with Islamic institutions, as well as their interpretations of the contemporary issues faced by NGOs within a specifically Islamic framework. As a result, NGOs in the Muslim World provides fresh insight into Muslims' faith-based initiatives concerning contemporary issues. This book will be of interest to students and scholars from diverse disciplines including anthropology, sociology, political science and history, as well as Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies.

Would you like to know what Billy Graham thinks about the most important issues of daily life? What about politics, presidents and terrorism? This book contains answers to questions many of us would ask Billy Graham if we had the good fortune to sit down with the person many call "America's Pastor." Best-selling author Bill Adler arranges topics from Graham's sermons, speeches, interviews, television appearances and writings in an easy to follow Q and A format.

Topics include Billy Graham on: Humor, Politics, Prayer, Technology and Religion, Race, Money, the Church, and Growing Older.

Hear Graham's responses to questions likeWhat will heaven be like?Why does God bring on natural disasters?What do you think about the mixing of religion and politics?What do you say to an atheist who doesn't think there is a God?What is the greatest spiritual threat facing the United States?How can we achieve world peace?

Via a participant-observer approach, Synagogue Life analyzes the three essential dimensions of synagogue life: the houses of prayer, study, and assembly. In each Heilman documents the rich detail of the synagogue experience while articulating the social and cultural drama inherent in them. He illustrates how people come to the synagogue not only for spiritual purposes but also to find out where and how they fit into life in the neighborhood in which they share.

In his new introduction, Heilman discusses what led him to write this book and the process of personal transformation through which he, as an Orthodox Jew, had to go in order to turn a disciplined eye on the world from which he came. Rather than using the stranger-as-native approach of classic anthropology, he had instead to begin as a native who discoverd how to look at a once-taken-for-granted synagogue life like a stranger. In the afterword, arguing for the efficacy of this approach, Heilman offers guidance on how natives can use their special familiarity and still be trained to distance themselves from their own group, making use of the disciplines of sociology and anthropology. Synagogue Life offers a fascinating portrait that has something to say to social scientists as well as all those curious about what happens in the main arena of Orthodox Jewish community life.

Let man's best friend guide you into deeper relationship with our greatest Friend.

We love our dogs! They teach us so much about unconditional love-they provide companionship and loyalty no matter the condition of our hearts and lives. In "Happy Tails, "Linda Winn shares inspirational dog stories of rescue and redemption that parallel the never-ending love God has for you. Each devotional story includes Scripture, quotations, and takeaway thoughts or prayers. It's the ideal companion book for dog lovers everywhere!

Cyber Zen ethnographically explores Buddhist practices in the online virtual world of Second Life. Does typing at a keyboard and moving avatars around the screen, however, count as real Buddhism? If authentic practices must mimic the actual world, then Second Life Buddhism does not. In fact, a critical investigation reveals that online Buddhist practices have at best only a family resemblance to canonical Asian traditions and owe much of their methods to the late twentieth-century field of cybernetics. If, however, they are judged existentially, by how they enable users to respond to the suffering generated by living in a highly mediated consumer society, then Second Life Buddhism consists of authentic spiritual practices. Cyber Zen explores how Second Life Buddhist enthusiasts form communities, identities, locations, and practices that are both products of and authentic responses to contemporary Network Consumer Society. Gregory Price Grieve illustrates that to some extent all religion has always been virtual and gives a glimpse of possible future alternative forms of religion.

Riding the Samoosa Express is a collection of life stories exploring issues of marriage, love, loss, family life, culture, religious beliefs, suburban life, local and international politics, freedom and education among other important issues faced by professional and well-educated Muslim women who have not been held back by global stereotypes. 'The global ideology that prevails around the subject of Muslim women has been shaped by a description of women being voiceless, silent and oppressed. Other views have positioned Muslim women as either religious or secular and have ignored the complexity of Muslim women's experiences.’ (Davids, 2003). This book is an anthology of honest reflections, advices and anecdotes compiled for Muslim women reflecting on marriage, and for all others interested in hearing Muslim women’s voices.

If you've ever wondered whether faith makes a difference in the worst times; whether God is real; or how humor can find its way even into life's battlefields . . . this inspirational book will show you.

The majority of books on religious education are written by those who are themselves adherents of particular religious beliefs and such books almost invariably reflect their authors' religious inclinations. Therefore a critical look at certain key aspects in religious education from a secular point of view was long overview when this title was f

Living under settler colonialism and patriarchal oppressions, Palestinian women in Israel are expected to operate even the most intimate aspects of their lives according to what some call "The Plan," which dictates everything from clothing, marriage, religion, and sex to how children are born and raised. In Defying "The Plan," Kim Jezabel Zinngrebe draws from a series of moving interviews to reveal that despite various forms of intertwined oppressions by both the Israeli state and Palestinian society, Palestinian women show defiance by the quotidian choices they make in their own intimate lives under occupation, which, Zinngrebe argues, cannot be perceived as a mere corollary but constitute a pivotal and contested terrain of the struggle between settler and colonized. Defying "The Plan" explores such issues as the segregation of sexual education in Palestine; the politics of dress, menstruation, and tattoos; and the roles of class, feminism, and race. Importantly, she highlights the intersectional experiences of women typically excluded from existing accounts, such as Black Palestinian women, women with disabilities, unmarried and divorced women, Bedouin women, and LGBTQI women. The stories gathered in Defying "The Plan" trace and unpack settler colonial power at the level of the intimate and native women's various practices of defiance.

Dr Darrel Ray, psychologist and lifelong student of religion, discusses religious infection from the inside out. How does guilt play into religious infection? Why is sexual control so important to so many religions? What causes the anxiety and neuroticism around death and dying? How does religion inject itself into so many areas of life, culture, and politics? The author explores this and much more in his book The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture. This second-generation book takes the reader several steps beyond previous offerings and into the realm of the personal and emotional mechanisms that affect anyone who lives in a culture steeped in religion. Examples are used that anyone can relate to and the author gives real-world guidance in how to deal with and respond to people who are religious in our families, and among our friends and co-workers.

This book draws on the stories of female educators and young Muslim women to explore issues of identity, justice and education. Situated against a backdrop of unprecedented Islamophobia and new articulations of 'White-lash', this book draws on case study research conducted over a ten-year period and provides insight into the diverse worlds of young Muslim women from education and community contexts in Australia and England. Keddie discusses the ways in which these young women find spaces of agency and empowerment within these contexts and how their passionate and committed educators support them in this endeavour. Useful for researchers and educators who are concerned about Islamophobia and its devastating impacts on Muslim women and girls, this book positions responsibility for changing the oppressions of Islamophobia and gendered Islamophobia with all of us. Such change begins with education. The stories in this book hope to contribute to the change process.

In this beautifully written, reflective, and sometimes humorous book, Jim Huber, host of CNN's " The Sporting Life," tells of his precious final months with his father. His recollections of those last days include moments that brought him to tears-both from crying and laughing-as he discovered what matters most in life. Along the way, he recalls the stories of athletes who have faced overwhelming odds or triumphed over personal tragedies-offering spiritual insight into the lives and deaths of such noted sports figures as Payne Stewart and Walter Payton.

According to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, we each possess the ability to achieve happiness and a meaningful life, but the key to realizing that goal is self-knowledge. In "How to See Yourself As You Really Are," the world's foremost Buddhist leader and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize shows readers how to recognize and dispel misguided notions of self and embrace the world from a more realistic -- and loving -- perspective. Through illuminating explanations and step-by-step exercises, His Holiness helps readers to see the world as it actually exists, and explains how, through the interconnection of meditative concentration and love, true altruistic enlightenment is attained.

Enlivened by personal anecdotes and intimate accounts of the Dalai Lama's own life experiences, "How to See Yourself As You Really Are" is an inspirational and empowering guide that can be read and enjoyed by anyone seeking spiritual fulfillment.

Everyone-beginner and prayer warrior alike-needs some encouragement when they feel like their prayers haven't been answered. That's why this new volume will be such a welcome friend. It's an inspiring collection of stories about the often-unexpected ways God has responded to His people's prayers. These beautiful accounts will help believers know that God does hear every sincere prayer, recognize that He always has their best interest at heart, and understand that there is a specific reason for the way He chooses to answer prayer.

A perfect gift for everyone who believes in the amazing power of prayer-and for everyone who needs to

Can there be God-conscious organizational behaviour in the real world of today's capitalist corporations and the alternatives? In this overview of God-consciousness as a moral-awareness model of preference formation, functions, structures, and programs of organization within the purview of institutions and society, the authors explain and compare the major ethical issues of organizational behaviour and structure in Islamic economic theory and application. By analysing the nature of inclusive organizations and institutions, and the ethical preferences in Islamic choice framework, the authors from Saudi Arabia, Australia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Canada, Indonesia and the UK, can highlight individual aspects to show whether capitalist organizational behaviour is sustainable. They describe how The Tawhidi epistemological framework governing conscious moral decision-making by institutions and organization, are used to establish the meaning and potential application of the concept of sustainability, and whether organizational moral objectives achieve their goals of life-fulfilment development, Poverty alleviation and the equitable distribution of wealth and resources.

This presents the most beautiful Marian prayers taken from the Liturgies of the Church throughout the ages.

This pictorial memory album of mothers and daughters looks at a mother's legacy, a mother's teaching, and a mother's love and devotion. Stories from many mothers and daughters, some well-known, show how family values and traditions are passed from one generation to another. Beautifully illustrated. "A Mother's Legacy" also includes a presentation page for gift giving and includes space for personal reflections. A perfect gift for Mother's Day, baby showers, birthdays or Christmas.

Ask any person to name the first man to walk on the moon, and most can tell you it was Neil Armstrong. And almost anyone could tell you Charles Lindberg made the first solo transatlantic flight. Few would know that Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first successfully scaled Mt. Everest, but our admiration is no less because we don't remember their names. As a society, we reward, revere, and respect "firsts" and the courageous men and women who achieve them. Rod Parsley calls these individuals "breakers."

"Breakers look at barriers as merely building blocks to further feats of achievement," Parsley writes. "They refuse to take life at face value, believing that greatness lies beyond the next barrier. With fierce determination and fearless courage, they break through what others believed was impenetrable."

Parsley contends that God is raising a modern generation of breakers to achieve His purposes. We have the perfect model in Jesus Christ, the "First of all firsts" who shattered the barrier between divinity and humanity, proving Himself to be "the Breaker who goes before us." Through Scripture and insight, Rod Parsley passionately urges Christians to break out in obedience and become modern-day Samsons, Deborahs, Esthers, and Stephens.

This book is a historical exploration of the social and cultural processes that led to the rise of the ideology of labor as a touchstone of Bengali Muslim politics in late colonial India. The book argues that the tremendous popularity of the Pakistan movement in Bengal is to be understood not just in terms of "communalization" of class politics, or even "separatist" demands of a religious minority living out anxieties of Hindu political majoritarianism, but in terms of a distinctively modern idea of Muslim self and culture which gave primacy to production/labor as the site where religious, moral, ethical as well as economic value would be anchored. In telling the story of the formation of a modern Muslim identity, the book presents the conceptual congruence between Islam and egalitarianism as a distinctively early twentieth century phenomenon, and the approach can be viewed as key to explaining the mass appeal of the desire for Pakistan. A novel contribution to the study of Bengal and Pakistan's origins, the book will be of interest to researchers studying South Asian history, the history of colonialism and end of empire, South Asian studies, including labour studies, Islamic Studies, and Muslim social and cultural history.