Class Preparation

[Waleed Basyouni]

Prepare yourself for Torch Bearers by reading about:



- the history of Northern India during the Mongol Empire and British Colonization.



- Al-Hajjaj ibn Yousuf and his role in fighting those who rebelled against the Umayyads



- the establishment and fall of the Islamic States in Al-Andalus



- the story of the fall of Baghdad



- the Battle of 'Ain Jaloot


- how to be a master student


- how to be a critical thinker


I would appreciate it if someone can share some good references for those who are
interested to read about these subjects.

[Waleed Basyouni]

I'll start with a few good references.

- For those of you who took Islam Invulnerable: The Making of the Modern Muslim World, taught by Dr. Ashraf Ismail, now is a great time to go over your notes.

- Becoming a Master Student (7th edition) by Ellis, published by Houghton Mifflin

- Becoming a Critical Thinker by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero, published by Houghton Mifflin

[TawhidFirst]

One of the primary scholars of our time (Shaykh Bakr Aboo Zayd) who passed away only a few weeks ago (Rahimahullah) wrote a tremendous book titled:

The Etiquettes of Seeking Knowledge

Below is what Shaykh Yasir Qadhi (on muslimmatters.org) said about Shaykh Bakr Aboo Zayd:

"Truly, one of the top scholars of our times, and an intellectual genius the likes of which is rare for our era. ... His works stand miles above other works. There is no book that he has written except that he made an impact in that field."

- the history of Northern India during the Mongol Empire and British Colonization.

Islam Invulnerable Notes are good for reviewing this.

- Al-Hajjaj ibn Yousuf and his role in fighting those who rebelled against the Umayyads

Try the History of Islam Series by Akbar Shah Najeebabadi, Volume 2. (Around pg. 151.) I haven't read it yet, but that series goes into pretty good details.

I also remember him being mentioned briefly in one of the classes, but I can't remember which one - oh yeah - Shaykh Yaser mentioned him in the Code Evolved:

As Ibn al-Areef said, “The tongue of Ibn Hazm and the sword of Al-Hajjaj were indeed but twin brothers.”

[font=Century Gothic','sans-serif][font=Century Gothic','sans-serif][/font][/font]
[font=Century Gothic','sans-serif][font=Century Gothic','sans-serif]Al-Hajjaj was sent to Iraq to deal with the fitna. In appearance, he was short and chubby, but he was very bloody. He covered his face and gave a khutbah there. He said, “I can see the heads that are ripe and need to be harvested and I will be the one to harvest these heads.” His sword was one that dripped with blood. His era was a bloody one. He besieged Makkah when Abdullah ibn AzZubayr led the rebellion there. He killed ibn AzZubayr. (From notes, don't quote me!) [/font][/font]

- the Battle of 'Ain Jaloot

I had no idea about this battle, so I looked it up on wikipedia :) ("battle of ain jalut")

[RandomDudette]

For the Battle of 'Ain Jalut, there is the entertaining but probably factually unreliable movie of the same name, distributed by Astrolabe...

If you want one book that covers all these topics, then A history of Islamic Societies by Ira M Lapidus is my favourite - just remember that it is written by a non muslim!

[islamaholic]

jazak Allahu khayran for this resource! barak Allahu fik!

[islamaholic]

Mongols Invasion of India:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_invasions_of_India

AlHajjaj Ibn Yusuf:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Hajjaj_bin_Yousef

Al-Andalus:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Andalus

Fall of Baghdad:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baghdad_(1258)

Battle of `Ain Jalut:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ain_Jalut

[Imtiaz]

Are there any other books that we should look into ... this class has been taught a few times now - anything new ?

[Imtiaz]

can someone please make this a sticky so users can find it easily - Jazzak Allah Khair