An excellent guidebook and manual helping parents raise their children, offering sound Islamic principles coupled with child psychology. This refreshing and positive book offers parents practical advice about the upbringing of young children. Included are case studies and, what sets this book apart from others, the testimonials of the authors' children. The authors relate how the first wave of Muslim immigrants struggled to build Masjids and centers for their communities to establish a Muslim presence in North America. Now, however a much more complicated effort is required for parents to concentrate on the developing the Muslim personality in their children to assure the continuation of the practice of Islam. An easy and hands-on guidebook. Very uplifting and positive. “Meeting the Challenge of Parenting in the West: An Islamic Perspective is valuable on many levels, whether you’re currently a parent or not (which I am not). It allowed me insight into human relationships and how to prepare to be a good parent. I am not a Muslim, but found the practical illustration of relationship issues in this book to be universal in their directness and simplicity. Being able to look through the eyes of another culture at how to raise children in North America (my culture) has also offered me such a unique and valuable perspective on my own upbringing”. Jill Dowless Ottawa, Ontario, October 14th 1999 “This really is an awesome book for parents who have children or are thinking to have children. I myself am not married, and I still found it helpful, since raising good children starts even before marriage, with raising yourself first. I read this book cover to cover and memorized it. If every Muslim parent reads this book, then the next generation is going to be really awesome!” A reader from Chicago, IL September 11, 1999

The Beshirs, a wife/husband team, who co-authored two best-selling books on parenting Meeting the Challenge of Parenting in the West, an Islamic Perspective and Muslim Teens and Blissful Marriage: A Practical Islamic Guide have conducted very successful workshops on parenting skills for Muslim families in North America and overseas. In this book they present the workable skills that parents participating in these workshops have found most rewarding. "Very professional, well researched, and pretty lively. Where were you 16 years ago? I wish I could start all over with the knowledge I gained from your workshop." An attendee from South Africa. "It was a very joyful experience. I learned so much more than I ever expected. An amazing and thought provoking workshop." An attendee from Toronto, Canada. Dr. Ekram is a medical doctor by profession, with a background in child psychology. She is the founder and principal of Abraar full time Islamic school and Rahma School, a weekend Arabic and Islamic school, in Ottawa, Canada. She is the recipient of the Director's Citation Award of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board for the year 2000 for her contributions in the area of education from among 7000 employees in the board. She has been very active with the Muslim community in Ottawa in the areas of study circles, children and youth camps, sisters programs, and marriage counseling. She has traveled extensively to various parts of the world to present parenting workshops. She has also authored other books for teaching Arabic to Muslim children living in Non- Arabic speaking countries. Dr. Mohamed Rida Beshir is an engineer by profession, with over 25 years of experience in Da'wa work in North America. He has held various positions with MSA and ISNA on both local and national levels. He is a member of the training and development department of the Muslim American Society (MAS). He is a regular speaker in ISNA, ICNA, MSA and MAS conventions. He is actively developing and delivering training programs to various Muslim communities all over the world. He is the recipient of The Ottawa Muslim Association and the Ottawa Muslim Community Circle recognition awards for years 1993 and 1999 for his volunteer Islamic work.

Everyday Struggles is a collection of short stories written by Muslim teenage girls for their peers. Life is a series of trials and tribulations. Teenage life sometimes feels like a crash course. Muslim teens face unique struggles due to their identity. In this book, real Muslim teens have shared their innermost thoughts and feelings about their teenage years. They've invited us in to take a peek at the wild roller coaster ride that is high school, to join them on this journey of incredible highs and discouraging lows, to feel their happiness, sadness, determination, confusion, pride, anxiety and excitement. To join them in their struggles, their everyday struggles.

Critically examining the western, secular approach to formal education the author contests the value of an education system focusing solely on the intellectual and physical aspects of human development. The methodological aim and structure of this approach are compared to those of Islam which Dr. Al Zeera notes gives credence to the importance of spiritual and religious factors, as well as scholarly ones, with the overall objective of forming a whole and holy human being who, instead of resisting the paradoxes of life, uses their interrelatedness as a means of personal and societal development. One interesting factor examined within the broader framework of the study is the area of female spirituality, an element, which the author argues, is vastly under-represented in prevalent Islamic literature. This study is a holistic view of knowledge and a sociological discussion adopting an unconventional approach of using the author's own personal experiences as the basis for debate and analysis. We are invited to enter the world of understanding and observation to experience for ourselves an unusual approach to dialectical thinking.

About the Author
Dr. Zahra Al Zeera is Director of the Oriental Printing and Publishing Groups in Manama, Bahrain. She was former Visiting Professor.

In their second book about raising children, Dr. Ekram Beshir and Mohamed Rida Beshir tackle the important issue of raising Muslim teens in a non-Muslim society. Muslim Teens does not dwell on dry theory and textbook-like problems. Instead, it discusses real concerns and fears. With their characteristic clarity and pragmatic approach, the Beshirs help parents understand the teenagers' world - a world of conflicting values and tremendous peer pressure - while showing them how to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles to raise confident young adults who are willingly and joyfully convinced about their way of life. The book is packed with valuable information presented in a simple and easy-to-read manner. Following the concept of the importance of knowledge in Islam, the authors complement all advice and guidance offered with references from the Qur'an and Sunnah. They also include a wide range of input from professionals in various fields on the psychological, physical, and spiritual aspects of teen life. The book emphasizes the need to understand teenagers and the bewildering changes they undergo during this stage of their life. Readers are given a detailed picture of the teen subculture in North America in order to raise their awareness of the problems faced by today's teens. They are then shown a 'road map' of the solution using important parenting techniques, such as being an approachable friend to their children, actively participating in their children's life, and using proper methods to ensure a teen's strong and confident personality. The rest of the book delves into the details surrounding these and other important techniques, as well as providing practical case studies, where parents can test their new knowledge on realistic situations. The authors' analysis of the problems, as well as possible solutions, are provided as a reference. Muslim Teens is a comprehensive, solution-oriented book that allows parents to fulfill the trust of raising their teens in a systematic and tested way, based on guidance from the Qur'an and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. It truly gives parents an opportunity to turn today's worry into tomorrow's hope.

Loving our Parents is a wonderful collection of stories from the lives of ordinary people on the rewards of treating our parents with honor and respect. It also has detailed and authentic accounts from both the Noble Quran and the Prophet’s Sunnah on our duties and obligations to those who have sacrificed so much to raise and educate us.

In addition, it provides clear warnings of the penalties from Allah Almighty in this world and the Hereafter for abusing and disrespecting our parents. This is an essential publication for those who want to know the divine injunctions on not only how to treat their mothers and fathers, but also their grandparents, close relatives, and elders.

The Islamic tradition is rich with values that parents strive to imbue in their children: respect, responsibility, integrity, love, and more. Parenting is all too often filled with sleepless nights, tears, and anxiety followed by endless doubts: "Did I do my best?" "What could I have done differently?" "Am I responsible?"

This book is the first in a series that contains detailed answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the hot topic of parenting in North America. Because some of these questions have been raised more than once in recent years, we feel that they represent crucial issues of concern occupying the minds of many parents. Making these answers available in a written format will hopefully provide Muslim parents with the proper advice supported by the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh).
The methodology used in answering these questions draws heavily on verses of the Quran, teachings of the Prophet (pbuh), and events in his seerah, as well as the authors' wealth of practical experience, gained from their countless parenting counseling sessions over the years, and their knowledge of child psychology.

Our children are the greatest assets that Allah has entrusted us with. We owe it to Allah and to our children, therefore, to invest our time and efforts into being the best parents we can be. Cherishing Childhood is a parent-to-parent handbook that outlines how to tackle the challenges (and reap the rewards) of parenting children from birth to pre-adolescence within an Islamic ethos in a pluralist society.

It covers the following topics:

• The concept of Positive Parenting
• How to welcome a child into the world
• The unique nature of a toddler and how to manage the most common issues in the preschool years
• Matters to consider when choosing a primary school
• How to support your child through primary school
• Creating the most nurturing home environment for children to flourish in
• Guidelines for discipline and dealing with difficult behavior
• Tips on how to build Muslim character