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A review by syafa
Secrets of Divine Love: A Spiritual Journey Into the Heart of Islam by A. Helwa
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Was gonna read it for Ramadhan but was not feeling it at the time and now I feel like the moment's passed for now
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Okay that was from when I previously DNFed this. This Ramadhan I actually did finished the whole thing which I think is impressive because she's a long one!
I like how this book pulls into the conversation with the "typical" Islamic sources, other sources and figures too. My biggest critique is that I feel like some things can be said more concisely - sometimes it's a little too flowery and can come off as too much. That being said, it was a comforting and almost cozy read, esp during Ramadhan. I highlighted a bunch of things. I wouldn't say I learnt a lot of new things, felt more like a high-level Pendidikan Islam refresher but in English. I also noticed that I was more interested in the reflections regarding things we do, eg the meaning of each posture in solat, and on sirah, like stories of prophet Muhammad. And I do really like some of the Rumi pieces in there. I guess that makes sense since I was always more interested in the Sirah or Adab topics vs Akidah during Agama lessons. The reflections were a nice touch in theory, though most of them felt pretty similar with each other so it got a little repetitive towards the end.
---
Okay that was from when I previously DNFed this. This Ramadhan I actually did finished the whole thing which I think is impressive because she's a long one!
I like how this book pulls into the conversation with the "typical" Islamic sources, other sources and figures too. My biggest critique is that I feel like some things can be said more concisely - sometimes it's a little too flowery and can come off as too much. That being said, it was a comforting and almost cozy read, esp during Ramadhan. I highlighted a bunch of things. I wouldn't say I learnt a lot of new things, felt more like a high-level Pendidikan Islam refresher but in English. I also noticed that I was more interested in the reflections regarding things we do, eg the meaning of each posture in solat, and on sirah, like stories of prophet Muhammad. And I do really like some of the Rumi pieces in there. I guess that makes sense since I was always more interested in the Sirah or Adab topics vs Akidah during Agama lessons. The reflections were a nice touch in theory, though most of them felt pretty similar with each other so it got a little repetitive towards the end.