Alhambra Productions produces spiritual teachings from some of the world's most prominent and respected Islamic scholars, including Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and Imam Zaid Shakir.

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Last news: April 23, 2007 01:12:55

Alhambra Productions is pleased to announce the much-awaited release of The Alchemy of Happiness 6 CD-set, by Imam Al-Ghazali with translation and commentary by Hamza Yusuf. This recording took place in Jeddah during the summer of 2006 and was a part of the summer Rihla program.

 SPRING SALE

50% Discount for all Hamza Yusuf Titles

Offer Good Until Midnight, April 30th, 2007

Discount applied when processed.

This popular book is now available!

Synopsis: These essays are required reading for anyone interested in what happened to a country that once contained some of the most brilliant minds in history and, now, cannot even produce a literate, independently thinking individual. Who dumbed down America, and how did they do it? John Taylor Gatto gives some insights into this coup, Hamza Yusuf Hanson delves into the meaning of education from a holistic perspective, and Dorothy Sayers, in very concise and at times humorous language, describes what a real education entails. These readings are a must for anyone concerned about protecting their children from an educational system designed to provide anything but an education.

To read more about the book and the companion CD set, click here for an earlier posting: Educating Your Child In Modern Times.

Alhamdulillah, the Alhambra Productions staff and volunteers had a successful event at the Zaytuna Minara Program in Irvine, CA. To all the visitors and  customers to our booth, we would like to extend our appreciation for your support. To the staff at Zaytuna and our wonderful teachers, Imam Zaid Shakir and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, we would like to extend our sincere appreciation.

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Click here to download or listen to a new podcast.

Imam Zaid Shakir delivers an inspirational reminder about our heritage as American Muslims. Invited by the Ihsan Foundation,
Imam Zaid showcases important historical personalities that helped to
build our contemporary identity. To commemorate Black History Month,
Imam Zaid reminds us…read more here.

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Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms, and Cures of the Spiritual Disease of the Heart

By (Reviewed by) Dania Amaira   

Published by Starlatch Press in 2004, 202 pages
Written by Muhammad al-Muratani and translated by Hamza Yusuf

Purification of the Heart is based on a poem named “Matharat Al-Qulub,” which literally means purification of the hearts. This book offers a means by which purification can be achieved and is filled with excellent commentary and advice by Shaikh Hamza Yusuf that captivates the mind, body, and soul.

The main point that Yusuf wants to portray to his readers is that the trials and tribulations of the world are actually rooted in the human heart. Greed, envy, murder, excessive obsession with wealth, lack of love, and other problems are manifestations of the diseases found nowhere but in the heart. In order to solve these problems, Yusuf stresses that we must not begin with rectifying the outward, but mend the inward. This book offers a way to cure the inward, which will seep out and naturally mend the outward.
The best part of the book is that it is so easily outlined for the reader, which makes it easy to follow, understand, and thus apply. The author provides verses from the Holy Quran pertaining to each disease, providing more explanation for the reader. The initial paragraphs of each chapter first define the disease of the heart being discussed, and Mawlud takes the time to derive the root of the word. Behind each disease Mawlud tells a story that corresponds to the disease. For example, he ties arrogance and envy with Satan refusing to bow to Adam. Then he goes on to discuss the treatment of the disease. He does not only offer one solution, but gives many options for his readers. He offers solutions that are simple and attainable for all, even as small as, for example, making a dua’a (supplication) to rid your heart of hatred. And of course how would one know how to cure this disease without knowing the causes of it? That’s why Mawlud discusses the etiology, or causes, of the disease, or else it would be difficult to abandon it.

The spiritual diseases of the heart addressed in this volume include: miserliness, wantonness, hatred, iniquity, envy, ostentation, vanity, fraud, to name a few. Imam Mawlud directs his attention to each of these diseases, discusses their causes, and offers cures. His teachings imply that purification is a life-long process, not something that is applied once and then forgotten. Purity of heart never survives a passive relationship. Rather, it requires constant consideration. This book hopes to introduce to readers how that is done.

This book offers an insightful introduction to one of the most ancient of religious concerns: spiritual purification of the heart. It takes the reader through a well-known text from the Muslim traditions and gives thorough commentary that is relevant to today and to people from a variety of religious faiths.

Read the original InFocus review here.

This 96-page issue features Imam Zaid Shakir presenting the value of the Mawlid; Mohamed Zakariya recounting a fascinating story of calligraphers in Istanbul; Abdel Hadi Honerkamp detailing the teachings of the great Sufi, Ibn Abbad; Shaykh Hamza Yusuf clarifying scholarly positions on women serving as imams; Mostafa al-Badawi shedding light on the benefits of sending blessings on the Prophet, peace be upon him, and more!

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‘Purification of the Heart‘ is a course on the vessel of human spirituality, character, and morality — the heart. The suffering and problems that we confront in our lives on a personal and even global level actually come down to the condition of the heart. This 17 CD assists in our struggle to become better human beings, luminaries of faith and morality.

For a limited time*, Alhambra Productions is offering a FREE DVD, ‘Islam and Democracy‘, with every purchase of the ‘Purification of the Heart‘ CD set.

“Time is of the essence. The diseases of the heart, so prevalent among men now, threaten the very biosphere we have been commissioned to protect. Before you is a text that gives practical means and methods of transformation. Learn them, and use them, and then pass them on.”

-Hamza Yusuf, from ‘Purification of the Heart’

 

* Offer ends March 18, 2007.

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PBS recently published an interview with Shaykh Hamza Yusuf for their Frontline program. This interview was conducted in September 2006 and he talks about “tyranny” and “incompetence” on both sides and offers his prescription for creating more common ground.

Q: Linden MacIntyre: What are the roots of Muslim rage?

A: Hamza Yusuf: If you had one word to describe the root of all this rage, it’s humiliation. Arabs in particular are extremely proud people. If you look at what happened in Lebanon recently, the Arabs kind of raised their head– they think it’s a big victory, the fact that their whole country was destroyed and over a thousand people were killed, many of them children. Why is it a victory? Because they fought back. That’s all. “OK, you can crush us into the Earth, but you’re not going to get us to submit.” And I think that’s deeply rooted in Muslim consciousness, the idea of not submitting to anything other than God. “You can abuse me, but you’re not going to win me over. But if you treat me with respect and dignity, I’m going to fall in love with you. I’m going to sing your praises all over the world because you’re powerful and you treated me with human dignity.”

Q: Where do they see the proof of the humiliation?

A: It’s everywhere. You don’t think it’s humiliating to have a foreign force come into your land? You see, Muslims don’t have this nation state idea. There’s a tribe called Bani Tamin. It’s one of the biggest tribes in Saudi Arabia and in Iraq, and they’re intermarried. The West doesn’t seem to understand that. The Moroccans feel the Iraqi pain as their own. It’s one pain. So when you see some American soldier banging down a door and coming into a house with all these women in utter fear who’ve done nothing, that’s humiliation, and it’s going to enrage people. And what are we doing there? There are no weapons of mass destruction. They were never a threat to us. You know, Shakespeare wrote a play called Julius Caesar, and it was all about the danger of pre-emptive strikes. Brutus is convinced by Cassius to kill Caesar. Why? Because Caesar’s ambitious, because he might declare himself king. And the end of that play, everybody dies; it’s just disaster. That’s the tragedy of pre-emptive strikes.

To read the complete interview, click here .

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Alhambra Productions will have a booth at the Reviving The Islamic Spirit Convention 2006 in Toronto, Canada, insha’Allah. We will be at booth #3 and we will have our brand new release: Success In This World and The Next.

All purchases will receive a FREE Hamza Yusuf CD!

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