How to Draw Close to Allah

Description

How To Draw Close to Allah: a Summary of al-Taqarrub ilā Allāhi Ta‘āla by Imam Abdullah Sirah al-Husayni.

As the title conveys, nearness to Allah is the highest aim — it defines the spiritual aspect of ‘ibadāt. The esteemed Shaykh, as author, is well-aware of how (even now) Muslims have come to regard them as nothing more than ritualistic acts. To that end, he goes at length to clarify the spiritual nature behind each ‘ibadah in the book: what qualities to focus on cultivating; why they’re meant to increase a Muslim’s khushu‘ of Allah; and clear-cut evidence from the Qur’an and Sunnah encouraging the practice.

The ample knowledge being shared here makes the path of intimacy with Allah to be achievable and practical. Reading it, the reader will come away feeling called to action and immediately put to work what will transform his soul. The soundness of the knowledge shared is astounding, given the author was a rare master of the sciences of Qur’an and Hadith, known to have memorized more than one hundred thousand hadith narrations. Hence the reader will acquire a greater sense of connectedness to the Islamic tradition simply by reading this book and putting the knowledge to practice.

This title is also a unique one, as it’s an original IGP mukhtasar of a renowned treatise. This abridgement by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman Sha‘ar preserves the depth of the original Arabic, whilst rendering the English accessible for English-speakers without sacrificing clarity.