Historic Battles

History of the Battles in Islam

The Battles of Badr and Uhud

Paperback - 24 pages

by Salman Rahmatallah

This book describes the first two decisive battles fought by the Prophet Muhammad Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa 'aalihi wa Sallam and his small Muslim community, against those who attacked them. These two victories stand out as landmarks in the history of Islam from which many important lessons may be learned.

Recommended for ages 8 and over.

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The Clear Victory [al-Qur'an 48 : 1]

Paperback - 32 pages

by Abdassamad Clarke

A vivid account of Hudaybiyyah, the Pledge of Allegiance to Ridwan and the Treaty of Peace, based on authentic sources. From the sira's of Ibn Hisham and Ibn Sa'd, the Muwatta of Imam Malik, and the ash-Shifa of Qadi 'Iyad, May Allah be pleased with them.

Illustrated in colour.

Recommended for ages 10 and over.

Our Price £1.50

The Last Battle for The Truth by Abdassamad Clarke

Paperback - 51 pages

Some people tell history as if it is only battles, kings and empires. Such people look at Islam and call it something like, ''The Islamic Empire'' or even worse, ''The Arabic Empire.'' This story is not just one of armies, empires and battles.

So, as we tell the story of the great expedition of Tabuk against the eastern half of the Roman Empire, we will tell the story of one man among the Muslims at that time : Ka'b ibn Malik may Allah be pleased with him, as the central point.

Easy to understand told, in simple style and language, with many illustrations.

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A Madinan View - on the Sunnah, Courtesy, Wisdom, Battles & History

Paperback - 206 pages

A Madinan View on the Sunnah, Courtesy, Wisdom and Battles

by Imam Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani [d.386H]
Translated by Abdassamad Clarke

Taken from the Kitab al-Jami’ by Imam al-Qayrawani, this book provides valuable insights into the life and practices of the early Muslim community who followed closely the example of the Prophet Muhammad Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam and his noble companions Radi Allahu ta'ala anhum. It reveals the noble qualities of character as exemplified by the men and women of Madinah, who held on to these qualities regardless of their circumstances.

Knowledge of the tradition which stems from the “best community brought out to mankind” puts us in a position to recreate such a community.

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SALADIN - Hero of Islam

Paperback - 220 pages

Saladin - Hero of Islam, by Geoffrey Hindley

Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub May Allah be pleased with him, is best known in the west for his conquest of Jerusalem and his clash with Richard the Lionheart, but his life and career was much more complex than that. Saladin was something of an outsider - a Kurd operating within the largely Turkish leadership of Syria, but he became the most powerful figure in the Islamic world and the ruler of a sizable empire held together almost entirely by his own abilities.

Hindley's biography begins with Saladin's moment of glory, the fall or liberation of Jerusalem in 1187, before moving back to look at the world that Saladin was born into, the rise of his family and his own early career. He then moves on to examine Saladin's rise to power, first as Vizir of Egypt and then as a major ruler in his own right. This was the section of the book that I found most valuable, presenting us with an inside view of a world that is so often seen from the other side, simply as the enemy of the crusaders.

The climactic clash between Saladin and the Crusaders is dealt with in some detail. The campaign that saw Saladin win his most famous victory, at Hattin, effectively destroying the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the campaign against Richard the Lionheart, are both dealt with in some detail, but so are the campaigns that filled the years between the fall of Jerusalem and the arrival of Richard.

This is a valuable biography of one of the most attractive figures in Medieval history, a rare example of a leader who was respected on both sides of the religious divide in the Holy Land, and one whose reputation has deservedly survived intact across the intervening centuries.

Chapters

1 - Jerusalem

2 - Across the Battle Lines

3 - The Quadrilateral of Power

4 - Nur-ad-Din and the Propaganda of the Jihad

5 - The Family of Aiyub

6 - Vizir of Egypt

7 - The Critical Years

8 - Triumph in the North

9 - Dynast and Hero

10 - Oh! Sweet Victory

11 - The Threat from the North

12 - Acre, the City for which the World Contended

13 - Saracens and Crusaders

14 - The Death of a Hero

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TWO FAITHS, ONE BANNER by Ian Almond

Hardback - 256 pages When Muslims Marched with Christians Across Europe's Battlegrounds

When, in our turbulent day, we hear of a "clash of civilizations," it's easy to imagine an unbridgeable chasm between the Islamic world and Christendom stretching back through time. But such assumptions crumble before the drama that unfolds in this book. "Two Faiths, One Banner" shows how in Europe, the heart of the West, Muslims and Christians were often comrades-in-arms, repeatedly forming alliances to wage war against their own faiths and peoples.

Here we read of savage battles, deadly sieges, and acts of individual heroism; of Arab troops rallying by the thousands to the banner of a Christian emperor outside the walls of Verona; of Spanish Muslims standing shoulder to shoulder with their Christian Catalan neighbors in opposition to Castilians; of Greeks and Turks forming a steadfast bulwark against Serbs and Bulgarians, their mutual enemy; of tens of thousands of Hungarian Protestants assisting the Ottomans in their implacable and terrifying march on Christian Vienna; and finally of Englishman and Turk falling side by side in the killing fields of the Crimea.

This bold book reveals how the idea of a "Christian Europe" long opposed by a "Muslim non-Europe" grossly misrepresents the facts of a rich, complex, and--above all--shared history. The motivations for these interfaith alliances were dictated by shifting diplomacies, pragmatic self-interest, realpolitik, and even genuine mutual affection, not by jihad or religious war. This insight has profound ramifications for our understanding of global politics and current affairs, as well as of religious history and the future shape of Europe.

About the Author: Ian Almond is a scholar who has taught his field - the representation of Islam in the west - at a number of academies including Edinburgh University, Bosphorus University in Istanbul, Freie Universitat in Berlin and Universita di Bari in Italy. He is the author of two previous books: 'Sufism and Deconstruction' (2004) and 'The New Orientalists', published in 2007

Our Price £19.95 INCLUSIVE OF UK DELIVERY

Sword of Allah : KHALID BIN AL-WALEED by A.I. Akram

Hardback - 502 pgs A Biographical Study of one of the Greatest Military Generals in History

Book Description

Khalid bin Al-Waleed, May Allah be pleased with him, was a dynamic military leader and one of the first heroes of Islam. Having made a dramatic conversion to the Muslim faith, he was at the forefront of the campaign to crush the Arab rebellion against Islam, and went on to conquer both Western Iraq and Syria from the Persians and Romans. Akram gives a detailed account of Khalid bin Al-Waleed's childhood and its historical background, the conquest of Mecca, the Siege of Taif and batlles of Hunein and Uhud.

Al-Waleed's military campaigns after the demise of the Beloved Prophet Muhammed May Allah bless him and grant him peace, from the campaign of Apostasy to the fall of the Roman and Persian empires are then examined and illustrated in comprehensive detail.

About the Author : Lieutenant General A.I. Akram has had a distinguished career in military, diplomatic and literary fields. He served in Burma in WWII, fought against India in 1971, and thereafter served as Pakistan's Military Deputy to the Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO).

After retiring from military service in 1978, he became Pakistan's Ambassador to Spain where he served for two and a half years. Upon completion of this assignment he founded the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad which is a research institute dealing with South Africa.

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The Muslim Conquest of Persia by A.I. Akram

Hardback - 330 pages

Publishers Description : Following the publication of 'Khalid ibn Waleed - Sword of Allah,' there has been a huge revival in reader's interest for books dealing with early Islamic History. It was decided that we complete the task of publishing the [out of print] books by A.I.Akram on the first hundred years of Islam.

They are as follows;

1 - Khalid bin al-Waleed - Sword of Allah

2 - The Muslim Conquest of Persia

3 - The Muslim Conquest of Egypt and North Africa

4 - The Muslim Conquest of Spain

5 - The Falcan of Quraysh

6 - The Rise of Cordoba

Hence, present before you is second in the series of books written by A.I.Akram - The Muslim Conquest of Persia. This version has been edited with the addition of footnotes, Anglicization of certain terms and the corrections of minor spelling and grammatical errors. This edition also includes the original maps [digitized] drawn by the author from its original print.

The author [A.I. Akram] writes; 'So here it is, my second book; The Muslim Conquest of Persia. It is my second assault upon the ignorance which surrounds this field of Muslim history. According to an old Chinese proverb, it is better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness. This is my second candle, may it light the way for those who seek!'

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The Islamic Conquest of Syria - al-WaqidisFutuhushaam

Hardback - 590 + pages

The Islamic Conquest of Syria - A Translation of Futuhusham: The inspiring history of the Sahabah's conquest of Syria

Translated by: Mawlana Sulayman al-Kindi

"Glory be to Allah, the keys of Syria have been given to me," proclaimed Rasulullah, May Allah bless him and grant him peace, at a time when Muslims were facing complete destruction. Yet fourteen years later, Yazid bin Abi Sufyan marched into Caesarea, the last Roman stronghold of resistance in Syria.

The Islamic Conquest Of Syria, is the first complete English translation of Futuhusham, the ninth century Arabic classic detailing the Muslim advance into Syria. The English reader has, for the first time, the opportunity to read about the great epic struggle of a small ill-equipped band of Muslims that overthrew the superpower of their day.

Events only briefly mentioned in other books are graphically described here, such as the Battle of Al Yarmuk, which changed the course of world history. The great personalities of early Islam are brought to life in a unique way. The strategies of Khalid bin al Walid, the piety of Abu Ubaydah al Jarrah, the bravery of Dirar al Kindi and many more are vividly described. The text also sheds light on some lesser-known aspects of Islamic history such as the significant role of women and Roman princes who had embraced Islam

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Byzantium and the early Islamic Conquests

Paperback - 324 pages by Walter E. Kaegi

This is a study of how and why the Byzantine empire lost many of its most valuable provinces to Islamic conquerors in the seventh century, provinces that included Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia and Armenia.

It investigates conditions on the eve of those conquests, mistakes in Byzantine policy toward the Muslims, the course of the military campaigns, and the problem of local official and civilian collaboration with the Muslims. It also seeks to explain how after some terrible losses the Byzantine government achieved some intellectual rationalization of its disasters and began the complex process of transforming and adapting its fiscal and military institutions and political controls in order to prevent further disintegration.

Contents:
---Preface;
1]. The problem of Byzantium and the early Islamic conquests;
2]. The Byzantine Empire in an era of accelerating change;
3]. Difficulties in devising defences for Syria;
4]. The first Muslim penetrations of Byzantine territory;
5]. Early tests in southern Palestine;
6]. Problems of cohesion: the battle of Jabiya-Yarmuk reconsidered;
7]. The brief struggle to save northern Syria and Byzantine Mesopotamia;
8]. Byzantium, Armenia, Armenians, and early Islamic conquests;
9]. Controversy and confidence in the seventh-century crisis;
10]. Elements of failure and endurance;
---Bibliography;
---Index.

Reviews:

"It is good to see military history written competently by someone who knows the sources well and, what is more, has visited the sites of the major conflicts; Kaegi is good on the importance of landscape, strategy and confusion in deciding the outcome....[A] robust approach...." --- Hugh Kennedy, Times Literary Supplement

"It is refreshing to read about the conquests from a Byzantinist's perspective and by one who is also familiar with the Arabic sources....Kaegi has presented a thorough and balanced view of the early Islmaic conquests of Byzantine territories. His assertion, based on a judicious reading of the sources, that these conquests were not inevitable is a welcome addition to the scholarship on this period."
--- Ara Dostourian, Journal of the Society for Armenian State

"...will remain for many years to come the fundamental work on the subject & will be the foundation on which any future historian of the conquests will have to build."--Journal of the American Oriental Society

Our Price £27.95 INCLUSIVE OF UK DELIVERY

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CRUSADES

Paperback -320 pages by Geoffrey Hindley

Islam and Christianity in the Struggle for World Supremacy

Product Description : Why did the medieval Church bless William of Normandy's invasion of Christian England in 1066 and authorize cultural genocide in Provence? How could a Christian army sack Christian Constantinople in 1204? Why did thousands of ordinary men and women, led by knights and ladies, kings and queens, embark on campaigns of fanatical conquest in the world of Islam? The word 'Crusade' came later, but the concept of a 'war for the faith' is an ancient one.

Geoffrey Hindley instructively unravels the story of the Christian military expeditions that have perturbed European history, troubled Christian consciences and embittered Muslim attitudes towards the West. He offers a lively record of the Crusades, from the Middle East to the pagan Baltic, and fascinating portraits of the major personalities, from Godfrey of Bouillon, the first Latin ruler of Jerusalem, to Etienne, the visionary French peasant boy who inspired the tragic Children's Crusade. Addressing questions rarely considered, Hindley sheds new light on pressing issues surrounding religious division and shows how the Crusades have helped to shape the modern world and relations between Christian and Muslim countries to this day.

About the Author : Geoffrey Hindley lectures internationally on medieval history. His many books include The Shaping of Europe, Saladin: A Biography, The Book of Magna Carta and A Brief History of the Crusades. He also co-founder of the Society for the History of Medieval Technology and Science. He lives in France.

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