This comprehensive study of the life of the first Rightly-Guided Caliph, based on the era immediately after the Prophet’s death, details the many challenges he faced as successor. The methodology adopted by Abu Bakr to overcome obstacles and allow Islam to bask in everlasting glory holds many valuable lessons for the Muslims of today.

The Companions of the Prophet (s) were amongst the foremost of human beings. Why? They were blessed with keeping the company of the Prophet (s) during his life. They sacrificed their own comfort, familial ties and their safety to spread the Message the Prophet (s) was sent with. Learn about the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, their lives, their characteristics, their perseverance, and their roles in spreading Islam.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah for helping me in preparing this book. One of the important factors in the development and behaviors of the societies of the world today is the impact of role models. Now, more than ever, role models are affecting the lives of all races and classes of people around the world. Because of mediums such as television, radio, telephone and the internet, many role models, such as movie stars, athletes, musicians and politicians, have become quite popular around the world. However, such role models do not necessarily represent the ideal style of life, practices and beliefs that are wanted for the Muslim. When Muslims look up to sinful or disbelieving people who have been portrayed in the media to be successful and famous, they began to feel inferior to them. Satan may even deceive them into feeling that the reason for the non-Muslims' worldly success is their following of ways other than Islam. For this reason, Darussalam has brought to life in this work the stories of some of the greatest heroes and role models of Islam. In this way we serve the cause of increasing the Muslims' conviction to their faith. The efforts and sacrifices of these people for the sake of Allah's religion will show us who we are and what we really are capable of when we have strong belief in Allah. This book presents the glimpses of the lives of some of the greatest heroes and role models of Islam. It covers the four righteous caliphs, 47 male and female companions of the Prophet, 8 followers of the companions, 6 religious scholars, 7 reformers, and 7 scientists. Heroes and Heroism Every nation has its own heroes. Some are real while others are mythical. These heroes are sources of admiration, and even adoration by certain communities. In enlightened societies real heroes may be models for emulation. But who is a real hero? He is a person usually admired or respected for special qualities he is endowed with or for certain acts of bravery and chivalry. Heroes of Islam Muslims have no need to look for fictitious or mythical heroes, because their history is abundant with heroes of real flesh and blood, whose acts were heroic because of their faith, and a consequence of their attitude to life and the world. For all the heroes of Islam share two very special traits: full conviction and dedication to their pristine faith and constant attempt to seek the Pleasure of their Creator, Allah, alone, regardless of the circumstances and times they live in. For a Muslim hero, be he a military genius, a scholar teacher, or a devout common person, knows that the transient life in this world is a means to the eternal life in the Hereafter, and that ephemeral pains and pleasures are nothing compared to the everlasting pains and pleasures of Hell and Heaven. To this hero, the key to the whole thing is Divine Pleasure. Through it alone can a person enjoy peace and tranquility in this world and attain real happiness in the life hereafter. The is reported to have said: "Strange is the case of the believer. Everything turns to his advantage only. If adversity befalls him he patiently accepts it, and is rewarded for it. If prosperity happens to him he shows gratitude to his Lord (in word and action), and is rewarded for it." So a hero of Islam faces both prosperity and adversity with the right attitude and action. His goal is not worldly pleasures and gains, but rather the Pleasure of Allah. Purpose of this Book In this book we will try to present glimpses of the lives of a few heroes of Islam. But they all exhibit that special quality and trait of a Muslim hero. It is my hope that the reader will find actual examples of qualities we all need to instill in ourselves and our dear ones so that Muslims may once again take their proper place and play their vital role in human civilization and history.

A detailed biography of al-Hasan ibn 'Ali (ra), a role model for youth and adults alike. Al-Hasan was brought up under the guidance of his grandfather, the Messenger of Allah (saaws), along with his noble parents Fâtimah az-Zahrâ' and 'Ali ibn Abi Tâlib (ra). The life of Hasan (ra) sets an example for all Muslims, especially our Muslim leaders. It shows us how we should be willing to sacrifice the adornments of this transient world for the sake of Allah the Exalted. This book details the biography of Hasan ibn 'Ali, who is indeed a role model for us to emulate in our personal and social lives.

Dust will never gather on Jonathan Lyons' lively new book of medieval history… Lyons tells his multilayered story deftly, forsaking the tyranny of chronology to flesh out ideas and personalities. - Stephen O'Shea, LA Times Book Review.
For centuries following the fall of Rome, Western Europe was a benighted backwater, a world of subsistence farming, minimal literacy, and violent conflict. Meanwhile Arab culture was thriving, dazzling those Europeans fortunate enough to visit cities like Baghdad or Antioch. There, philosophers, mathematicians, and astronomers were steadily advancing the frontiers of knowledge, as well as keeping alive the works of Plato and Aristotle. When the best libraries in Europe held several dozen books, Baghdad's great library, The House of Wisdom, housed four hundred thousand. Jonathan Lyons shows just how much Western ideas owe to the Golden Age of Arab civilization.
Even while their countrymen waged bloody Crusades against Muslims, a handful of intrepid Christian scholars, hungry for knowledge, traveled East and returned with priceless jewels of science, medicine, and philosophy that laid the foundation for the Renaissance. In this brilliant, evocative book Jonathan Lyons reveals the story of how Europe drank from the well of Muslim learning.

In this book Mawdudi (1903-1979) attempts to bring out the vital relationship between the concept of civilization and Islam's underlying worldview and vision of life.

Mawdudi argues that the true understanding of Islamic cilization is possible only by having access to the soul of that civilization and its underlying fundamental principles - belief in God, the angels, the Prophets, the Revealed Books and the Last Day - rather than to its manifestations in knwoledge, literature, fine arts or rhetoric, its social life, its notions of refined living or its system of governance.

With a foreword by Zafar Ishaq Ansari, this is an authoritative first complete English translation by Syed Akif, of Islami Tahdhib awr uskey Usul-o-Mabadi written n the 1930s at a time when the momentum for independence was growing in British India.