Book Review: The Remembrance of God                                               

Author: Imam Jalal Al-Din Al-Suyuti, Amal Press

Release Date: October 2008

An immense contribution. This timeless fatwa brings traditional scholarly authority of the highest degree and removes dangerous misconceptions about the centrality and universal benefit of the collective remembrance of God as a standing Sunna of worship in the Muslim community. Al-Suyuti's pronouncement on this matter is essential for our community to grow and to develop spiritually by removing the dros of ignorance in the name of Islam that blocks access to the divine. Any Muslim who may have doubts on this matter should hold firmly to the categorical authority of Suyuti's fatwa and be clear about the primacy of these and related acts of elemental worship, proximity to God, and ultimate spiritual perfection.                                                                              

Umar Faruq Abdallah, author of A Muslim in Victorian America: The Life of Alexander Russell Webb

This is a meticulous translation of an important juridical opinion on a key element of Muslim spritual practice, the remembrance of God (dhikr). At the same time, it is a useful introduction to the life and teachings of one of the most prominent representatives of traditional Islamic scholarship, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti. Readers interested in the debates surrounding Sufism and Islamic ethics will find this a valuable contribution based on sound documentation.

Carl W. Ernst, William R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Building on Imam al-Suyuti's authoritative account, the accompanying appendices and running commentary by Shaykh Gibril Haddad make this the ultimate reference on the subject of loud dhikr for the Muslim public.
Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti, Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, University of Oxford

“Imam al-Suyuti is one of the towering landmarks of Islamic scholarship. This fatwa from a famous Qur’anic exegete, a leading authority in all the Qur’anic sciences, tradiotionist, juridprudent, grammarian, and historian, given with his characteristic lucidity and authority obviates the need to look for more on the same subject.”

Mostafa al-Badawi, author of Sufi Sage of Arabia: Imam ‘Abdallah ibn ‘Alawi al-Haddad

Building on Imam al-Suyuti's authoritative account, the accompanying appendices and running commentary by Shaykh Gibril Haddad make this the ultimate reference on the subject of loud dhikr for the Muslim public.

Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti, Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, University of Oxford

“There is a growing need for the translation of texts that reflect the vastness of traditional Islam. This work allows English speakers the opportunity to experience the classical scholarship of the erudite imam, al-Suyuti. With additional appendices and a detailed biography of the author, this book contains much benefit and is sure to validate a practice that Muslims have taken part in for centuries”