Self Development: Essays on Islamic Spirituality

by Mohammad Ali Shomali

This book contains eight essays on different aspects of Islamic
- The Significance of Self-control and Self-purification
- Different Methodological Approaches to Spirituality
- Different Treatments of Spirituality
- A Glance at the Process of Self-development
- Key Concepts in Islamic Spirituality
- Practical Instructions for Spiritual Journey
- Outcomes of the Spiritual Journey
- The Supreme Light and Created A Qur’anic Perspective

Genres: Islam

147 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 7, 2015

About the author

Hujjat al-Islam Dr Mohammad Ali Shomali is a graduate of the Islamic Seminaries of Qum and has also both a BA and an MA in Western Philosophy from the University of Tehran. He has earned his Doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Manchester. His doctoral thesis was on ethical relativism. He did his postdoctoral research on ethical issues related to life and death.

He is currently the Founding Director of the International Institute for Islamic Studies in Qum, IRAN and the Director of Islamic Centre of England, London. Dr Shomali is editor-in-chief of two journals: the Message of Thaqalayn: A Quarterly Journal of Islamic Studies and the Spiritual Quest: A Biannual Journal of Ethics and Spirituality.

Dr Shomali is very interested and involved in interreligious dialogue and has organised or attended and presented papers in UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Austria, Greece, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Philippines, Sweden, etc.

Reviews

[Fatima · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book consists of 8 papers on different aspects of Islamic spirituality. While not much of this was new to me, it was a really nice reminder. I did learn of hadiths that I haven’t read before which I found really interesting. Shomali makes this an easy read by providing Quran verses, Hadiths from the Prophet (s) and his family members, scholars, and stories by Rumi. Therefore, everything he has written is backed up. What I really enjoyed is that Shomali did not write this book for a certain group of Muslims but in hopes to reach all Muslims. All Muslims can have disagreements but I felt that the topics Shomali raised can be agreed upon whatever your beliefs are.

I highly recommend this to all individuals even if you are not Muslim. While most of it does relate to Islam, a lot of it also just consists of being a loving, humble, and knowledgeable individual.

[Muhamed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps my favourite book in Dad's writings. A series of 8 papers that talks about any question you may have in your spiritual journey.

[Maryam Hussain · Rating 4 out of 5]

very digestible language, many books on self building are difficult to follow.

i really like the metaphors and examples used in order to allow the reader to recognize their own weakness and how many of the excuses we make for ourselves need to be looked at from another point of view.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reminders in this book were just so eloquently spoken and came at a time in my life I needed to revisit them. ❤️

[Zei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helps understand the power of going through the journey of self- development on the growth of a person and how to actualize our humanity.

Gives practical ways to go through this lifetime process.

[Gigi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice book. I like how short and simple it is. Also, it's wonderful because there are a lot of sources from Ahadith and the Quran which relate to the different topics mentioned. A quick read for a reminder to attain spirituality.