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Inside the Soul of Islam: A Unique View into the Love, Beauty and Wisdom of Islam for Spiritual Seekers of All Faiths
lslam is currently the most spoken about religion in the Western world, and yet it is also the most misunderstood and misinterpreted. Despite frequent news coverage, we remain poorly informed about the true beliefs at the heart of Islam. How many of us would be able to explain who the Prophet Muhammad was or what the Quran actually teaches? In this profound yet highly accessible book, practising Muslim Mamoon Yusaf provides a vital introduction to the essential teachings of Islam. In each short chapter he focuses on a core teaching from the Quran, such as loving kindness, resilience, gratitude or forgiveness, and shares his unique insight into how these teachings can lead to spiritual evolution in anyone, regardless of their beliefs, religion or background. Mamoon also considers the role of women in Islam, as well as the true nature and meaning of the words jihad and Shariah . Finally, touching upon current events, he demonstrates how acts of violence committed in the name of Islam are inherently un-Islamic, and boldly concludes not only that Islam is not the cause of terrorism – Islam contains the cure for it.
301 pages, Hardcover
Published November 14, 2017
48 people are currently reading
523 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
January 16, 2018
Brilliant .
Well written , encompasses a lot of important messages for Muslims and non Muslims alike. Pays particular attention to the spiritual element of Islam and it’s everyday practices that make it such a beautiful and peaceful religion
Well written , encompasses a lot of important messages for Muslims and non Muslims alike. Pays particular attention to the spiritual element of Islam and it’s everyday practices that make it such a beautiful and peaceful religion
July 25, 2021
I've hated every self-help book I read.
But this one changed my life.
I wish this book had a different title if only people would pick it up and read.
Note - this book is NOT preaching Islam. It's about a way of life, of changing the way you think inorder to be a better version of yourself. In retrospect, that's what Islam is about, hence the title.
But this one changed my life.
I wish this book had a different title if only people would pick it up and read.
Note - this book is NOT preaching Islam. It's about a way of life, of changing the way you think inorder to be a better version of yourself. In retrospect, that's what Islam is about, hence the title.
January 9, 2018
Good book, but could have been better
As an introduction to Islam book I would say this is not one of those. The author does offer many helpful insights into the heart and soul of Islam through stories of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and the Hadith traditions but overall I kind of felt like this book was more of a self help book using Islam as the healing mechanism.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book and appreciate a different take on explaining Islam to others then just the typical "what everyone needs to know," but it could have been more wide ranging in topics. Over all I give this book 4/5 stars and I would recommend it. I'm just saying that if your looking for a book solely about Islamic beliefs this is not it.
As an introduction to Islam book I would say this is not one of those. The author does offer many helpful insights into the heart and soul of Islam through stories of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and the Hadith traditions but overall I kind of felt like this book was more of a self help book using Islam as the healing mechanism.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book and appreciate a different take on explaining Islam to others then just the typical "what everyone needs to know," but it could have been more wide ranging in topics. Over all I give this book 4/5 stars and I would recommend it. I'm just saying that if your looking for a book solely about Islamic beliefs this is not it.
July 21, 2019
2,5*
TL;DR at the bottom
Inside the Soul of Islam explores an alternative view of Islam as a wisdom tradition, seen, primarily thorugh the lens of the so-called Inside-Out Paradigm which states that our entire existence is based on nothing but the present moment and that our every feeling is exclusively based on how we relate, via thought, to said present moment. The core message of the book echos the general ethos of new-age thinkers such as Gary Zukev in The Seat of the Soul or Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose as well as works on Eastern philosophies such as Alan Watt's The Way of Zen. Yusaf has a pleasant way of writing, occasionally compelling in his way of communicating old ideas with a fresh spin to them, though his manner of repeating himself - particularly the basic essence of the Inside-Out Paradigm - grows somewhat tiring toward the end of the book. I would argue that it is here that the book slips one star in its rating, as a more solid copy-editor could have easily cut the text by 20% without losing any substance whatsoever.
A more substantial critique however, centers around Yusaf's second objective of addressing some of the misunderstandings and misconceptions about Islam and Muslims. Yusaf (rightfully) lambasts the way in which Islam has come to be associated with international terrorism and how, furthermore, it is misunderstood in its practices and views as a somewhat bigotted religion. As mentioned before, Yusaf does a fantastic job in communicating the ways in which the teachings of the Quran resemble other wisdom traditions in their calls for love, compassion and loving kindness, and had the book stopped here, I would have rated it a solid 4 stars.
But Yusaf wants to address some "hot-button issues" surrounding Islam, including the role of women, in the West, which he - to my mind - simply never does. First of all, what are the hot-button issues? Of the top of my head I would assume those to include:
1. The Quran or the Hadiths stating that a man's voice/vote is equal to two female votes
2. Prevalent views on women's rights, homosexuals' rights, and punishment for different offenses.
3. How to deal with apostasy
4. How to deal with rape (victims)
5. How to deal with critique of Islam or the Prophet (Rushdie; Danish cartoon; etc.)
6. What to attribute to culture and what to religion
7. Honor killings
8. Western mosques as alleged recruitment centers for Islamic fanatics
9. The gap between Quranic teachings and the reality for many people - particularly women - in Muslim majority countries
I am not saying that any of these issues is a particularly Muslim issue, but that many of them seem to be among the topics I'm sure many people think of when Yusaf states that we wants to address misconceptions around "hot button" issues. And that just simply doesn't happen. I'm aware of the fact that it is too much to demand of a single person to exhaustively address all of these issues.
But, to give just one example, Yusaf's way of exemplifying the strong role of women in Islam, is to (1) state that there are many women who choose to wear their hijab and (2) describe his surprise of finding more than 8000 biographies of Muslim female scholars. Yes, this is a super complex topic, but I was left with a strong sense of Yusaf artfully avoiding the real issue by focusing on a couple of light, feel-good examples.
The same goes for apostasy, of which Yusaf states that the Quran says that it is permitted, while completely disregarding the often quoted hadiths pronouncing apostasy's punishment to be death. Again, I am not myself arguing for it to be one way or another, but I would have expected Yusaf to address it, to clear up the misunderstanding and to somehow harmonize it with the the core message of his book that the Quran is exclusively about loving-kindness.
Moving on, another issue I see centers around Yusaf's occasional foregone conclusions where he constructs a causal argument around a circual logic that simply doesn't stand a chance to rational thought:
What does Yusaf mean that we cannot imagine the existence of the impossible?
Certainly, it is impossible for me, regardless of anything I could ever do, to uproot a full-grown redwood tree with my bare hands, without the aid of any machinery whatsoever. That act is both impossible but also imaginable. So we are already confronted with a rather preposterous proposition. However, Yusaf uses the above-mentioned quote to continue arguing in the next sentence:
I have now given this quote its fair time, and I still don't get the wiser of it. I mean, how this a rational argument? How do you jump from the first quote to conclude the second? I have full respect for any individual person's faith - be it in God, Allah, Buddha-nature, you name it. But the argument that "Allah is definite existence and must therefore exist" is so perfectly circular that pointing out that circularity should suffice.
At another point, Yusaf emphasizes the "unprovability" of atheism, ignoring the fact any belief system, including Islam, is, by its very nature and definition, unprovable.
Here's the bottom line. Inside the Soul of Islam feels a lot like a carefully cherry-picked selection of surahs that pronounce the role of compassion in the Islamic faith, and had the book been solely aimed at illustrating this aspect of Islam to "spiritual seekers of all faiths" it would have been a pretty good, solid 4 star book.
But Yusaf is too ambitious in his stated objectives, namely addressing misconceptions surrounding Islam, and doing so dangerously stretches the fabric of his scholarly credibility. One star is lost in the book's repetitiveness, one star in the cluster of Yusaf's repeated logical fallacies and one star in simply falling short of the book's stated objective.
I am left with rating this book 2* which seems overly harsh, considering that I actually really enjoyed large parts of it, particularly the mass of beautiful quotes from both the Quran, the Prophet and Islamic thinkers.
Finally, I wish to concede that I am in the process of addressing my own ignorance on the topic and more than open to learn more. If you feel that any of my criticism is unwarranted I hope to be corrected in the comments.
TL;DR at the bottom
Inside the Soul of Islam explores an alternative view of Islam as a wisdom tradition, seen, primarily thorugh the lens of the so-called Inside-Out Paradigm which states that our entire existence is based on nothing but the present moment and that our every feeling is exclusively based on how we relate, via thought, to said present moment. The core message of the book echos the general ethos of new-age thinkers such as Gary Zukev in The Seat of the Soul or Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose as well as works on Eastern philosophies such as Alan Watt's The Way of Zen. Yusaf has a pleasant way of writing, occasionally compelling in his way of communicating old ideas with a fresh spin to them, though his manner of repeating himself - particularly the basic essence of the Inside-Out Paradigm - grows somewhat tiring toward the end of the book. I would argue that it is here that the book slips one star in its rating, as a more solid copy-editor could have easily cut the text by 20% without losing any substance whatsoever.
A more substantial critique however, centers around Yusaf's second objective of addressing some of the misunderstandings and misconceptions about Islam and Muslims. Yusaf (rightfully) lambasts the way in which Islam has come to be associated with international terrorism and how, furthermore, it is misunderstood in its practices and views as a somewhat bigotted religion. As mentioned before, Yusaf does a fantastic job in communicating the ways in which the teachings of the Quran resemble other wisdom traditions in their calls for love, compassion and loving kindness, and had the book stopped here, I would have rated it a solid 4 stars.
But Yusaf wants to address some "hot-button issues" surrounding Islam, including the role of women, in the West, which he - to my mind - simply never does. First of all, what are the hot-button issues? Of the top of my head I would assume those to include:
1. The Quran or the Hadiths stating that a man's voice/vote is equal to two female votes
2. Prevalent views on women's rights, homosexuals' rights, and punishment for different offenses.
3. How to deal with apostasy
4. How to deal with rape (victims)
5. How to deal with critique of Islam or the Prophet (Rushdie; Danish cartoon; etc.)
6. What to attribute to culture and what to religion
7. Honor killings
8. Western mosques as alleged recruitment centers for Islamic fanatics
9. The gap between Quranic teachings and the reality for many people - particularly women - in Muslim majority countries
I am not saying that any of these issues is a particularly Muslim issue, but that many of them seem to be among the topics I'm sure many people think of when Yusaf states that we wants to address misconceptions around "hot button" issues. And that just simply doesn't happen. I'm aware of the fact that it is too much to demand of a single person to exhaustively address all of these issues.
But, to give just one example, Yusaf's way of exemplifying the strong role of women in Islam, is to (1) state that there are many women who choose to wear their hijab and (2) describe his surprise of finding more than 8000 biographies of Muslim female scholars. Yes, this is a super complex topic, but I was left with a strong sense of Yusaf artfully avoiding the real issue by focusing on a couple of light, feel-good examples.
The same goes for apostasy, of which Yusaf states that the Quran says that it is permitted, while completely disregarding the often quoted hadiths pronouncing apostasy's punishment to be death. Again, I am not myself arguing for it to be one way or another, but I would have expected Yusaf to address it, to clear up the misunderstanding and to somehow harmonize it with the the core message of his book that the Quran is exclusively about loving-kindness.
Moving on, another issue I see centers around Yusaf's occasional foregone conclusions where he constructs a causal argument around a circual logic that simply doesn't stand a chance to rational thought:
The true opposite of 'impossible existence' is what we might call 'definite existence.' It's something whose non-existence can't be imagined or rationally conceived of. Just as one can't imagine or conceive of the existence of the 'impossible,' in the same way, one can't imagine or conceive of the non-existence of the 'definite.'
What does Yusaf mean that we cannot imagine the existence of the impossible?
Certainly, it is impossible for me, regardless of anything I could ever do, to uproot a full-grown redwood tree with my bare hands, without the aid of any machinery whatsoever. That act is both impossible but also imaginable. So we are already confronted with a rather preposterous proposition. However, Yusaf uses the above-mentioned quote to continue arguing in the next sentence:
Allah is definite existence. No rational person could, therefore, deny the existence of Allah. If you find this confusing, give it some time and come back to it later.
I have now given this quote its fair time, and I still don't get the wiser of it. I mean, how this a rational argument? How do you jump from the first quote to conclude the second? I have full respect for any individual person's faith - be it in God, Allah, Buddha-nature, you name it. But the argument that "Allah is definite existence and must therefore exist" is so perfectly circular that pointing out that circularity should suffice.
At another point, Yusaf emphasizes the "unprovability" of atheism, ignoring the fact any belief system, including Islam, is, by its very nature and definition, unprovable.
Here's the bottom line. Inside the Soul of Islam feels a lot like a carefully cherry-picked selection of surahs that pronounce the role of compassion in the Islamic faith, and had the book been solely aimed at illustrating this aspect of Islam to "spiritual seekers of all faiths" it would have been a pretty good, solid 4 star book.
But Yusaf is too ambitious in his stated objectives, namely addressing misconceptions surrounding Islam, and doing so dangerously stretches the fabric of his scholarly credibility. One star is lost in the book's repetitiveness, one star in the cluster of Yusaf's repeated logical fallacies and one star in simply falling short of the book's stated objective.
I am left with rating this book 2* which seems overly harsh, considering that I actually really enjoyed large parts of it, particularly the mass of beautiful quotes from both the Quran, the Prophet and Islamic thinkers.
Finally, I wish to concede that I am in the process of addressing my own ignorance on the topic and more than open to learn more. If you feel that any of my criticism is unwarranted I hope to be corrected in the comments.
February 26, 2018
There is much to admire in this book: It offers an elegant and careful analysis of Islam as a religion for an outsider’s understanding.
Mamoon Yusaf’s writing is crystal clear and he aims to debunk the myths about Islam that are prevalent in the western world.
His sincere and unfailingly intelligent effort to explain the Soul of Islam is a much-needed antidote to the blinkered bluster we find in media today.
I believe everyone, with an open mind, should read this book at-least once, and I highly recommend it to my Non-Muslim community.
Mamoon Yusaf’s writing is crystal clear and he aims to debunk the myths about Islam that are prevalent in the western world.
His sincere and unfailingly intelligent effort to explain the Soul of Islam is a much-needed antidote to the blinkered bluster we find in media today.
I believe everyone, with an open mind, should read this book at-least once, and I highly recommend it to my Non-Muslim community.
July 16, 2024
Very sweet book. Good introduction to Islam, as I had never read anything on the subject before. Kinda crazy but I honestly think that 95% of what the author advocates aligns with Christian spirituality. Very very close. Hoping to do some more reading on the history of Islam as this book did not cover that.
David Martinez are you gonna say I’m your favorite Muslim now?
David Martinez are you gonna say I’m your favorite Muslim now?
August 11, 2019
First review, I’m a little nervous but here we go.
Definitely a life changing book.. Lots to take away. However, I have a couple of things that kinda knocked it down in terms of just HOW good the book was.
1) I think to read it people should definitely have a little bit of a background concerning islam. But whatever my main point is 2) The book completely ignores mental health Completely discounts it. Which is weird considering this is coming from someone supposedly onboard with modern psychology. Some people have proven chemical imbalances... Some people really can’t control their thoughts completely... And this mentality of just thinking things away ruined the book in part for me.
Definitely a life changing book.. Lots to take away. However, I have a couple of things that kinda knocked it down in terms of just HOW good the book was.
1) I think to read it people should definitely have a little bit of a background concerning islam. But whatever my main point is 2) The book completely ignores mental health Completely discounts it. Which is weird considering this is coming from someone supposedly onboard with modern psychology. Some people have proven chemical imbalances... Some people really can’t control their thoughts completely... And this mentality of just thinking things away ruined the book in part for me.
April 4, 2025
My heart. My favorite. My baby.
February 22, 2021
A deeply fulfilling listen. It really helps that the author himself is narrating it (and doing so very engagingly indeed!) His encouragement for inside-out transformation - recognising that our feelings are nothing but a reflection of our thoughts at that time - is heart-felt, inspiring and implementable.
January 7, 2018
When the author mentioned his admiration for Tony Robbins, I worried that this book might be heading in directions that I wouldn't be terribly interested in, but Yusaf soon moved into slightly different territory. On the one hand, the author intends this to be a sort of self-help book, but I'm not sure I entirely understood his "inside-out" paradigm (cf. Sydney Banks--in which our thoughts determine our feelings), or am convinced by it. I have a hard time believing that an actual diagnosable "mental illness" is caused strictly by our thoughts.
February 5, 2019
Mamoon Yusaf artfully combines theology, psychology, and biography into such a surprisingly neat volume. The more that I read the deeper I felt my knowledge becoming! It's a lovely and refreshingly easy read that uses reputable prophetic sources where appropriate.
April 23, 2018
this was a good introduction to some tenets of islam. the author is a devout muslim but self-admittedly not a scholar, so there is some lack of intellectual rigor. however, he provides a bibliography for those wishing to study further. he also glosses over many of the internal rules of islam, for example dietary restrictions, as onky of interest to practitioners of the faith. i understand why as he is trying to show how islam has commonalities with most of the other great religions and also give it some good propaganda but it would be interesting to know more about the differences.
February 18, 2021
More towards a motivational book. The author himself is a motivational coach and he promotes his Inside Out paradigm throughout the entire discussion of the book. I think the discussion only touches the surface of the soul of Islam, and I find it lack of in depth discussions.
June 28, 2021
Wow, absolutely incredible! This is a book i would recommend to absolutely anyone who wants to find out more about Islam. This book reminded me why i fall in love with Islam in the first place.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 9, 2024
I wanted to love this book, but the inside-out paradigm stuff was weird and just didn't belong in this book.
December 21, 2024
4/5 for Islamic reference, not a 5/5 because he doesn’t reference where he gets the translation from. It’s the only good thing about this book but
1/5 for the authors attitude and 1/5 for application.
I have never read a book where the author was as insufferable or arrogant as Mamoon. He refers to this book as being a gateway into “higher knowledge” but then makes various fallacious assumptions, demonstrates not even a lack of but nonexistent understanding of real world issues and instead chooses to virtue signal, and demeans other ideological beliefs even though his arguments lack any principle. Mamoon should stop talking about terrorism because it’s clear he’s put no effort into researching it; Mamoon shouldn’t present this as a philosophy book when he doesn’t understand basic philosophy (he himself says his philosophy knowledge is from high school…). Mamoon’s suggestion for stopping terrorism is quite literally “don’t be a terrorist”, he says that verbatim. This book is for people who want to hear what they want to hear, not for “higher knowledge” which Mamoon suggests. I’ve never read a book that made me as agitated as this book did; people can have their opinions on these issues, but Mamoon presents himself as a messiah of some sort.
Furthermore his Inside-Out paradigm is seriously flawed because Yusaf does not consider the outward impact on religion itself, rather he just says if you internalize the virtues of Islam within a psychological paradigm, you can mentally heal. Yusaf does not consider the implications of family, community, society, and politics in shaping religion. Yusaf struggles to understand the equivocation of terrorism and Islam and advocates for peace, but unbeknownst to him, since he didn’t research anything at all clearly, the 9/11 hijackers met at a Quran class in a Masjid. The attackers were not extremists then, but were struggling between Western and Islamic identity and wanted to stop following a Western lifestyle and embrace an Islamic one. It just so happens that the masjid they went to was extremist and they became misled. So quite literally the paradigm Yusaf calls for is what the hijackers themselves tried to do. Thus his Inside Out theory is flawed and fails to consider extra-social factors in the shaping of one’s religious beliefs and in how religion is perceived within a specific context. That is, Yusaf assumes the universality of religion and takes it for granted
1/5 for the authors attitude and 1/5 for application.
I have never read a book where the author was as insufferable or arrogant as Mamoon. He refers to this book as being a gateway into “higher knowledge” but then makes various fallacious assumptions, demonstrates not even a lack of but nonexistent understanding of real world issues and instead chooses to virtue signal, and demeans other ideological beliefs even though his arguments lack any principle. Mamoon should stop talking about terrorism because it’s clear he’s put no effort into researching it; Mamoon shouldn’t present this as a philosophy book when he doesn’t understand basic philosophy (he himself says his philosophy knowledge is from high school…). Mamoon’s suggestion for stopping terrorism is quite literally “don’t be a terrorist”, he says that verbatim. This book is for people who want to hear what they want to hear, not for “higher knowledge” which Mamoon suggests. I’ve never read a book that made me as agitated as this book did; people can have their opinions on these issues, but Mamoon presents himself as a messiah of some sort.
Furthermore his Inside-Out paradigm is seriously flawed because Yusaf does not consider the outward impact on religion itself, rather he just says if you internalize the virtues of Islam within a psychological paradigm, you can mentally heal. Yusaf does not consider the implications of family, community, society, and politics in shaping religion. Yusaf struggles to understand the equivocation of terrorism and Islam and advocates for peace, but unbeknownst to him, since he didn’t research anything at all clearly, the 9/11 hijackers met at a Quran class in a Masjid. The attackers were not extremists then, but were struggling between Western and Islamic identity and wanted to stop following a Western lifestyle and embrace an Islamic one. It just so happens that the masjid they went to was extremist and they became misled. So quite literally the paradigm Yusaf calls for is what the hijackers themselves tried to do. Thus his Inside Out theory is flawed and fails to consider extra-social factors in the shaping of one’s religious beliefs and in how religion is perceived within a specific context. That is, Yusaf assumes the universality of religion and takes it for granted
November 12, 2024
Great introduction to the teachings of Islam for people from a western background - getting my mum to read it! Also just beautiful generally for atheists or people who aren’t very spiritually engaged to start looking inward to morality, philosophy and spirituality through any path.
*Taking a point off because the author is kind of annoying and keeps randomly mentioning his like life-coach kinda job and own life. Otherwise good, easy, quite short book.
Some quotes:
“This is one of the travesties of the postmodern education system: the underlying assumption that if you’re really intelligent and don’t buy into the myths that the masses believe in, the logical conclusion you’ll come to is that God does not exist. Atheism, an unprovable belief system, is taken as the gospel truth.”
“The role that binds together the lie that Islam permits murder is the use of the term Islamic Terrorism. Think about what this literally means, Islam, the name of a religion is being used as an adjective to describe the grave sin of mass murder. If we say there’s an Islamic book, or an Islamic course, or an Islamic teacher, we mean that the religion of Islam permits, condones, and endorses the book, course, or teacher. If something is described as Islamic, Allah and the messenger, peace and blessings upon him, would approve of it making it intrinsically praiseworthy. So when we refer to ‘Islamic terrorism’, we’re effectively saying that terrorism is permitted, condoned, endorsed and even praised by Islam. In other words, we’re lying. By definition there cannot be an Islamic sin. There can be no such thing as Islamic theft, or Islamic murder, or Islamic rape either, because these things are all sins that are forbidden by Islam. And in exactly the same way there can be no such thing as Islamic terrorism. The phrase Islamic terrorism is an attempt to demean the religion of Islam”
*Taking a point off because the author is kind of annoying and keeps randomly mentioning his like life-coach kinda job and own life. Otherwise good, easy, quite short book.
Some quotes:
“This is one of the travesties of the postmodern education system: the underlying assumption that if you’re really intelligent and don’t buy into the myths that the masses believe in, the logical conclusion you’ll come to is that God does not exist. Atheism, an unprovable belief system, is taken as the gospel truth.”
“The role that binds together the lie that Islam permits murder is the use of the term Islamic Terrorism. Think about what this literally means, Islam, the name of a religion is being used as an adjective to describe the grave sin of mass murder. If we say there’s an Islamic book, or an Islamic course, or an Islamic teacher, we mean that the religion of Islam permits, condones, and endorses the book, course, or teacher. If something is described as Islamic, Allah and the messenger, peace and blessings upon him, would approve of it making it intrinsically praiseworthy. So when we refer to ‘Islamic terrorism’, we’re effectively saying that terrorism is permitted, condoned, endorsed and even praised by Islam. In other words, we’re lying. By definition there cannot be an Islamic sin. There can be no such thing as Islamic theft, or Islamic murder, or Islamic rape either, because these things are all sins that are forbidden by Islam. And in exactly the same way there can be no such thing as Islamic terrorism. The phrase Islamic terrorism is an attempt to demean the religion of Islam”
April 18, 2024
This is a beautiful book. A self help book whose main message is about inside out paradigm. Basically all of our feelings come from our thoughts in that moment. There are lots of examples of this from the author’s life and general examples. This is all linked to spiritual teaching of Islam traditions. It was great to listen to while driving to work. The author is beyond passionate about Islam and the Quran. His calming voice and passion has been a wonderful companion while I have been stuck in traffic on the M1 these last couple of weeks. I really liked the links between messages in the Quran and modern Psychology (eg gratitude, cumulative impact of positive habits, being non judgmental). Also the importance of kindness and forgiveness to others but mostly yourself. The end also addressed the abhorrent terror attacks in the U.K. My step daughter has just become a Muslim and gaining just a little understanding of this religion has been helpful. A good introduction to Islam for all faiths and non faiths.
April 23, 2018
"After many years of studying and teaching personal development, this is the first time I've ever come across an understanding of psychology that leads to an automatic, effortless embodiment of the virtues taught by Islam, and indeed all religions and spiritual traditions." (Mamoon Yusaf)
An absolutely excellent book and guide! Very, very well written, quite informative, both soulful and humorous. Delves into the role of psychology (specifically the Inside-Out Paradigm) in a person's spiritual development using Islam as the foundation. Special emphasis is placed on the gift of thought that is bestowed upon all of us and how using this gift creates our entire felt experience of life.
The information contained in this book undoubtedly has the potential to be life changing for some, both in terms of their mental and spiritual health.
I'm looking forward to more from Mamoon, whose personality is just as admirable as his book!
An absolutely excellent book and guide! Very, very well written, quite informative, both soulful and humorous. Delves into the role of psychology (specifically the Inside-Out Paradigm) in a person's spiritual development using Islam as the foundation. Special emphasis is placed on the gift of thought that is bestowed upon all of us and how using this gift creates our entire felt experience of life.
The information contained in this book undoubtedly has the potential to be life changing for some, both in terms of their mental and spiritual health.
I'm looking forward to more from Mamoon, whose personality is just as admirable as his book!
November 19, 2018
Tough one to rate. I wavered between 3 and 4 stars. I picked this up as I was interested in learning more about Islam and I did appreciate that aspect of the book. However, there was an element to this book that I find hard to describe that I struggled to connect with in this book. It essentially felt like the author, who ascribes to some motivational, self-improvement philosophies, was pushing that belief system as well as educating the reader about Islam. That just did not resonate with me. It felt as though he was diluting the doctrines of his faith with his own belief system.
That being said, I truly respected hearing his story and getting glimpses into experiences that are unfamiliar to me.
That being said, I truly respected hearing his story and getting glimpses into experiences that are unfamiliar to me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2023
Such a beautiful book. Left me spirituality rejuvenated. The author is very relatable as he goes on to mention the ups and downs as a somewhat practicing Muslim who had an idea about his religion but understood the soul of it through his life experiences & in-depth deliberation. The scene at the demise of his sister and him reciting Surah Yaseen was possibly the most genuine read I have had, there are a few points in the book that for a Muslim would induce introspection & therefore, I highly recommend the read. It's a good guide for readers of all faiths to navigate the soul of their belief and not only practice it superficially.
December 28, 2023
This has to be one of the best books I've read. I'd gift it 100 times over.
In the face of massive misunderstandings, this book brings the beauty, the peacefulness, the kindness and the soul of Islam to everyone and shows that, actually, none of us are so different.
"If you want to raise the collective consciousness of humanity, raise your own level of consciousness. If you want to heal all of the world, heal all of yourself. If you want to create peace in all of the world, create peace in all of yourself. If you want the world to be a more loving place, be a more loving person" - Mamoon Yusaf
In the face of massive misunderstandings, this book brings the beauty, the peacefulness, the kindness and the soul of Islam to everyone and shows that, actually, none of us are so different.
"If you want to raise the collective consciousness of humanity, raise your own level of consciousness. If you want to heal all of the world, heal all of yourself. If you want to create peace in all of the world, create peace in all of yourself. If you want the world to be a more loving place, be a more loving person" - Mamoon Yusaf
August 1, 2019
Recommended for all people who want to become a stronger, a more brilliant, a deeper, a better version of yourself from the inside out.
Based on what Muslims truly are from a western Muslim eyes is the perfect way to show and understand in a explanatory way along the book the essence of Muslims for the western communities who never have been closer than the TV of a Muslim.
Postscript:
If you started reading the book and in the middle of the way you didn't like it, please skip at the end of the book to find a surprise that you'll love to visit.
Based on what Muslims truly are from a western Muslim eyes is the perfect way to show and understand in a explanatory way along the book the essence of Muslims for the western communities who never have been closer than the TV of a Muslim.
Postscript:
If you started reading the book and in the middle of the way you didn't like it, please skip at the end of the book to find a surprise that you'll love to visit.
July 31, 2020
A breath of fresh air, indeed. Thrashes through the Islamic stereotypes so firmly planted into the very roots of Western culture. A must-read for anyone wondering why a religion followed by a third of the entire world population is so clearly misunderstood. Yusaf dissects Islam into easily understandable sections. All the way, he provides enlightening quotes from the Quran and from the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He also explains the similarities of Islam with other religions and discusses why extremists are present in every culture; every religion.
July 30, 2022
Inside the soul of Islam is an easy read and everyone should read it.
The writer has combined religious studies and psychology to explain the essential teachings of Islam in detail. This book makes it easy to understand the insight of Islam and helps the reader to shape his way of thinking towards life.
A good introduction to some tenets of islam. However she is a devout muslim but self-admittedly not a scholar, so there is some lack of intellectual rigor. However she provides a bibliography for those wishing to study further
The writer has combined religious studies and psychology to explain the essential teachings of Islam in detail. This book makes it easy to understand the insight of Islam and helps the reader to shape his way of thinking towards life.
A good introduction to some tenets of islam. However she is a devout muslim but self-admittedly not a scholar, so there is some lack of intellectual rigor. However she provides a bibliography for those wishing to study further
April 18, 2019
This book is phenomenal. It has helped me shape my way of thinking religiously, socially, and personally. It brought me back down to earth and reminded me to be humble, kind, and compassionate. Anyone who is a practicing Muslim, and anyone who is not, should read this book. Not only will it reshape the way you look at Islam, but it will reshape the way you think about this life and whatever you believe comes next. WONDERFUL.
April 12, 2021
Alhamdulillah, I am so glad that I choose to read this book right before the 2021 Ramadan started. The inside out perspective really helps to put things into perspective.
In the first few chapters, I find it a bit slow, maybe because the book also focuses on the non-Muslim reader.
How the author relates some of the points to his personal experiences make the book feel more grounded and relatable.
In the first few chapters, I find it a bit slow, maybe because the book also focuses on the non-Muslim reader.
How the author relates some of the points to his personal experiences make the book feel more grounded and relatable.
April 16, 2021
LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH. This book brings to bloom the good seeds within me and lifts my spirit up, I love being a Muslim, and this book makes me love it even more. Easy to understand for people (who don't have to be Muslim) non-muslim, people who is currently seeking faiths, or people who always curious about what is Islam about, or a spiritual in Islam.
Love this book, so grateful I found this book.
Love this book, so grateful I found this book.
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June 20, 2019Have this book on my shelf for two years now.I have listened to the webinar of the author and I know this is what he teaches best.inside the soul of Islam takes a deep look into the psychological social lens of Islam , individually, socially, and in a larger framework of the ummah. A must read for anyone who is struggling to put life and world events in perspective.
June 8, 2020
This book basically views several religious messages through Inside out paradigm for self-help and healing along with countering some vague criticisms of Islam. Many parts are well written and explained but I the books like this are just very subjective. Many people may connect to it, I just didn’t. Not that I didn’t like it, just that I didn’t really feel it that intensely.
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