Scan barcode
aish_dols's reviews
92 reviews
The Quest for Love & Mercy: Regulations for Wedding & Marriage in Islam by Muhammad Mustafa al-Jibaly
5.0
In today's world where zina(fornication) is widespread and marriage is pushed far away or written off (to avoid responsibility), this book is a light for Muslims who want to learn about the permissible things Allah has prescribed for us and stay away from the impermissible acts. It not only is a guide for Marriage but it highlights several things that make a Marriage blessed. It lists the steps from the proposal stage to the consummation stage.
The author has done well to use Quranic verses and hadiths (the prophetic teachings & ways of the prophet PBUH) to back up his statements and solidify his points. The book sheds light on the importance of selecting a good spouse, because this marks the beginning of a new Muslim family. Every rule and regulation in this book will guide an amateur and help an expert who both want to get married or make a proposal.
Every Chapter explicitly speaks on its title. There are about 8 Chapters in the book with titles:
1.) A Blessed Bond
2.) Spouse Selection
3.) Courting
4.)The Marriage Contract
5.)Celebrating the Marriage
6.)The Walimah
7.)Consummating The Marriage
8.)Forbidden Marriages.
It also has references and appendix.
There's an example of what a Marriage Certificate should look like.
For every Muslim Man or Woman who is considering marriage, or wants to learn about it based on curiousity as to what is halal according to Islamic Courting, Marriages and would like to forbid Haram and what people follow of their desires, I highly recommend this book.
The author has done well to use Quranic verses and hadiths (the prophetic teachings & ways of the prophet PBUH) to back up his statements and solidify his points. The book sheds light on the importance of selecting a good spouse, because this marks the beginning of a new Muslim family. Every rule and regulation in this book will guide an amateur and help an expert who both want to get married or make a proposal.
Every Chapter explicitly speaks on its title. There are about 8 Chapters in the book with titles:
1.) A Blessed Bond
2.) Spouse Selection
3.) Courting
4.)The Marriage Contract
5.)Celebrating the Marriage
6.)The Walimah
7.)Consummating The Marriage
8.)Forbidden Marriages.
It also has references and appendix.
There's an example of what a Marriage Certificate should look like.
For every Muslim Man or Woman who is considering marriage, or wants to learn about it based on curiousity as to what is halal according to Islamic Courting, Marriages and would like to forbid Haram and what people follow of their desires, I highly recommend this book.
Verity by Colleen Hoover
4.0
'Verity Crawford' – An extremely successful author, was involved in an accident and unable to complete her series, 'The Noble Virtues'. Six parts have been published and the remaining three parts are left hanging until Pantem Press want another author, who later happens to be Lowen, a young woman who is on the brink of financial ruin, to complete the other books since she writes in the same genre as Verity. This contract is worth half a million dollars.
Lowen takes the job and is invited to Verity's home, courtesy of Jeremy, to come check out his wife's luxury but messy office for ideas that may help her finish the series since Verity left a lot of notes lying about.
In Jeremy's words..."The world was her manuscript. No surface was safe."
While working, Lowen finds an autobiography of Verity that was never meant to be found nor read. In it she discovers dark and disturbing secrets Things the well loved author did to her own children, her questionable obsession with Jeremy and the real truth behind her other daughter, Harper's death, months after one of them, Chastin died.
In this autobiography, I found Verity to be vicious, callous, psychotic. It all made sense, how she was able to write six books from the villain's point of view. Lowen, however revels in it somehow, content that the brilliant Verity is a monster, because why not? She is falling in love with Jeremy and it helps to know the woman he cares for so greatly is actually a demon. Some hope for her, yes?
Colleen Hoover did a good job of twisting my mind so I will twist this review for fun. The hideous things Verity wrote in her autobiography included, trying to abort her own children with a wire hanger in the bathroom because Jeremy seemed to love the twins growing in her belly more than her, Putting off the baby monitor and leaving the twins to cry after they were born so she could attend to her writing, Choking Harper and nearly suffocating her to death for disconnected reasons. These things were dark but not as dark as what really happened when Harper drowned.
The author did a fine job of giving the characters their own lives. It wasn't rushed, I saw their personalities vividly but the book got me at the end with a letter and all I'd do is leave a fragment of it that Verity herself wrote while pretending to be sick to save herself from the rage and madness of her husband, to save her life because Jeremy had tried to murder her twice before Lowen even walked into their lives.
The ending left me unsettled. I doff my hat for Colleen Hoover's weaving powers. She's a master in her art.
I'll end this review with a fragment from the letter that ends the book, that throws we the readers into turmoil.
"I can’t explain the mind of a writer to you, Jeremy. Especially the mind of a writer who has been through more devastation than most writers combined. We’re able to separate our reality from fiction in such a way that it feels as if we live in both worlds, but never both worlds at once." – Verity.
Maybe Verity is crazy. Maybe Jeremy is insane. Maybe, just maybe, Lowen herself is the psychotic one who wants this story the way she wants it. Anything for love. Several truth were manipulated here. What truth is yours?
Lowen takes the job and is invited to Verity's home, courtesy of Jeremy, to come check out his wife's luxury but messy office for ideas that may help her finish the series since Verity left a lot of notes lying about.
In Jeremy's words..."The world was her manuscript. No surface was safe."
While working, Lowen finds an autobiography of Verity that was never meant to be found nor read. In it she discovers dark and disturbing secrets Things the well loved author did to her own children, her questionable obsession with Jeremy and the real truth behind her other daughter, Harper's death, months after one of them, Chastin died.
In this autobiography, I found Verity to be vicious, callous, psychotic. It all made sense, how she was able to write six books from the villain's point of view. Lowen, however revels in it somehow, content that the brilliant Verity is a monster, because why not? She is falling in love with Jeremy and it helps to know the woman he cares for so greatly is actually a demon. Some hope for her, yes?
Colleen Hoover did a good job of twisting my mind so I will twist this review for fun. The hideous things Verity wrote in her autobiography included, trying to abort her own children with a wire hanger in the bathroom because Jeremy seemed to love the twins growing in her belly more than her, Putting off the baby monitor and leaving the twins to cry after they were born so she could attend to her writing, Choking Harper and nearly suffocating her to death for disconnected reasons. These things were dark but not as dark as what really happened when Harper drowned.
The author did a fine job of giving the characters their own lives. It wasn't rushed, I saw their personalities vividly but the book got me at the end with a letter and all I'd do is leave a fragment of it that Verity herself wrote while pretending to be sick to save herself from the rage and madness of her husband, to save her life because Jeremy had tried to murder her twice before Lowen even walked into their lives.
The ending left me unsettled. I doff my hat for Colleen Hoover's weaving powers. She's a master in her art.
I'll end this review with a fragment from the letter that ends the book, that throws we the readers into turmoil.
"I can’t explain the mind of a writer to you, Jeremy. Especially the mind of a writer who has been through more devastation than most writers combined. We’re able to separate our reality from fiction in such a way that it feels as if we live in both worlds, but never both worlds at once." – Verity.
Maybe Verity is crazy. Maybe Jeremy is insane. Maybe, just maybe, Lowen herself is the psychotic one who wants this story the way she wants it. Anything for love. Several truth were manipulated here. What truth is yours?
Regretting You by Colleen Hoover
4.0
"I'm confident that I’ll never spend a single second of my life regretting you."
That moment when you hit the part where the book title all makes sense! It was ironic though, she spent shattering moments regretting and then being perceptive about the future, envisaged the thoughts that birthed the line above.
When I read this line, I smiled because I was way into the book and Morgan already did a lot of burying of who she really was, what she really felt just to be selfless and live her life for others more than for herself. It was a breakthrough.
So what is the book about?
17 year old Morgan and her 16 year old sister, Jenny are in relationships with Chris and Jonah, best friends. Swimming past lots of conflicting emotions, unpredictable thoughts, naked confessions, unsaid words, Morgan gets pregnant for Chris and knows she has to commit to this man, this child, why not? She has to be responsible and bury herself in the process, kill her dreams, protect everyone else.
17 years after, Clara – Morgan's daughter – is 17 & Morgan is 34, and trust me I'm not even giving you any spoilers because this is just the second chapter. This is just the beginning of the spinning session.
Colleen Hoover has a way of laying down reality even in fiction. 'Regretting You' is a book that deals with not just the beautiful but ugly scenarios in relationships. Between Mother and daughter, father and daughter, sisters, father and son, best friends, romantic relationships. I like that it had alternating POVs where Morgan & Clara gave us their perspectives on things.
A lot of twists, as usual, with Hoover but worth the ride. The book felt like a movie and I enjoyed it because the secrets of each and every character unveiled themselves slowly but surely.
Regretting You, is a book worthy of attention.
That moment when you hit the part where the book title all makes sense! It was ironic though, she spent shattering moments regretting and then being perceptive about the future, envisaged the thoughts that birthed the line above.
When I read this line, I smiled because I was way into the book and Morgan already did a lot of burying of who she really was, what she really felt just to be selfless and live her life for others more than for herself. It was a breakthrough.
So what is the book about?
17 year old Morgan and her 16 year old sister, Jenny are in relationships with Chris and Jonah, best friends. Swimming past lots of conflicting emotions, unpredictable thoughts, naked confessions, unsaid words, Morgan gets pregnant for Chris and knows she has to commit to this man, this child, why not? She has to be responsible and bury herself in the process, kill her dreams, protect everyone else.
17 years after, Clara – Morgan's daughter – is 17 & Morgan is 34, and trust me I'm not even giving you any spoilers because this is just the second chapter. This is just the beginning of the spinning session.
Colleen Hoover has a way of laying down reality even in fiction. 'Regretting You' is a book that deals with not just the beautiful but ugly scenarios in relationships. Between Mother and daughter, father and daughter, sisters, father and son, best friends, romantic relationships. I like that it had alternating POVs where Morgan & Clara gave us their perspectives on things.
A lot of twists, as usual, with Hoover but worth the ride. The book felt like a movie and I enjoyed it because the secrets of each and every character unveiled themselves slowly but surely.
Regretting You, is a book worthy of attention.
The Wives by Tarryn Fisher
4.0
"We busy ourselves trying not to be lonely, trying to find purpose in careers, and lovers, and children, but at any moment, those things we work so hard to possess could be taken from us."
In Tarryn Fisher's psychological thriller, The Wives, Thursday is the middle wife, loving her husband, Seth normally, as if he having two other women whose names she doesn't know or faces she can't put together, is perfectly fine to her mental health.
She is able to meet Seth on Thursdays, and he spends two days with her, all things being equal. Thursday's loneliness spreads through her until curiousity wins the game and destiny helps when she finds a piece of paper in Seth's pocket that gives her the information she needs to know about his third wife, Hannah. The newly pregnant one. The warmth. The one who is fertile enough to give Seth the children he solely desires. The children he wants. Since his first and second wives have unknowingly/knowingly made that difficult not by their hands but twisting ways.
"I cannot pinpoint when or how, but if the shift is noticeable to me, it’s definitely noticeable to my husband, who’s staring at me like I have Egyptian hieroglyphics tattooed on my face. That is male folly; they expect you to always be the same, reliable cow, but women spend their lives changing. Our change can swing for you or against you depending on how fairly we’ve been treated."
Thursday narrated the story in a way that felt real. A woman sharing the man she loves and nearly going crazy, maybe even crazy because not being the only woman in a man's life has effects on her brain and her reactions will get to you, definitely.
The Wives, not only speaks on plural marriage, divorce, affairs, miscarriages, mental health but on parental love and care, the formative years of a child, cheating, love, lust, greed and deceit.
Tarryn Fisher took me into a portal with this one. I did question if Thursday was crazy at a point until I got my answer.
An intriguing read. This is my fifth book of the year.
⭐⭐⭐⭐- 4/5 stars
In Tarryn Fisher's psychological thriller, The Wives, Thursday is the middle wife, loving her husband, Seth normally, as if he having two other women whose names she doesn't know or faces she can't put together, is perfectly fine to her mental health.
She is able to meet Seth on Thursdays, and he spends two days with her, all things being equal. Thursday's loneliness spreads through her until curiousity wins the game and destiny helps when she finds a piece of paper in Seth's pocket that gives her the information she needs to know about his third wife, Hannah. The newly pregnant one. The warmth. The one who is fertile enough to give Seth the children he solely desires. The children he wants. Since his first and second wives have unknowingly/knowingly made that difficult not by their hands but twisting ways.
"I cannot pinpoint when or how, but if the shift is noticeable to me, it’s definitely noticeable to my husband, who’s staring at me like I have Egyptian hieroglyphics tattooed on my face. That is male folly; they expect you to always be the same, reliable cow, but women spend their lives changing. Our change can swing for you or against you depending on how fairly we’ve been treated."
Thursday narrated the story in a way that felt real. A woman sharing the man she loves and nearly going crazy, maybe even crazy because not being the only woman in a man's life has effects on her brain and her reactions will get to you, definitely.
The Wives, not only speaks on plural marriage, divorce, affairs, miscarriages, mental health but on parental love and care, the formative years of a child, cheating, love, lust, greed and deceit.
Tarryn Fisher took me into a portal with this one. I did question if Thursday was crazy at a point until I got my answer.
An intriguing read. This is my fifth book of the year.
⭐⭐⭐⭐- 4/5 stars
Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed
3.0
In this emotional book, forced marriage is the background. Naila, a Pakistani American was filled with dark clouds after she was caught in Prom with Saif, the boy she fell in love with, by her very traditional parents who decide to take a trip to Pakistan to 'save their lost daughter'.
Pakistan brings peace to Naila at first, the village and its people, cultural food and dresses, her cousins and nieces and nephews but one thing she will never forgive her parents for as she continues to fight her fate is the deceit they orchestrated to get her into the arms of another while her soul yearns for Saif.
The narrative style at first felt familiar until the descriptions sunk me in and made me read patiently to savour every image in mind. I liked that. It was also realistic and not a rushed plot. It will stir up emotions in every young lady or woman who knows that her consent must be given before she becomes the wife of any man.
Pakistan brings peace to Naila at first, the village and its people, cultural food and dresses, her cousins and nieces and nephews but one thing she will never forgive her parents for as she continues to fight her fate is the deceit they orchestrated to get her into the arms of another while her soul yearns for Saif.
The narrative style at first felt familiar until the descriptions sunk me in and made me read patiently to savour every image in mind. I liked that. It was also realistic and not a rushed plot. It will stir up emotions in every young lady or woman who knows that her consent must be given before she becomes the wife of any man.
Rid Me Of This by Aisha Oredola
5.0
Here is an excerpt – "I believe so much that, life is a Universal Set in a Set theory and we are like elements in a Venn diagram. Sometimes, we meet at intersections or are together in Unions. Other times, we stray, to find a way and stay outside the circles that are involved. We still are subsets of the Universal Set, but, we just stray...to find a way. I am about to find my own way after a long time of being astray."
To Bee A Honey by Oyindamola Shoola, Kanyinsola Olorunnisola
5.0
The author in the opening page wrote "As you turn these pages, I hope that you will find your name in yourself and yourself in your name." I did.
To Bee A Honey didn't bore for a second. I can and will read this book over and over again. It made me appreciate poetry more. If poetry can be this good then everyone would love it. ✨
The book is divided into 10 parts – The taking/Precautions/These are not love poems/Of loving/Bits/Aching/Curing/The womYn/To believe & beliefs & A writer's relief. (Yes, womYn). There's also an artistic way Oyindamola writes her poetry, it summons your senses.
Every chapter effervesces strong emotions that will not only move the reader but open their mind of understanding. Topics like Love, Hate, Abuse, Domestic Violence, Gender Wars, Depression, The Imposter Syndrome, Misogyny, Religion, Hypocrisy, Truth, Salvation, Anger, Bitterness, Discovery emboldened themselves in pages of this book. The short stories were poetic too & left me hanging because I wanted more.
If you want to find meaning in the chaos you've overcome/become, or want to reassure yourself of how strong you are, how weak you've been, how imperfect but able to mend every broken piece of who you are/have been/will be. Read this book.
To Bee A Honey didn't bore for a second. I can and will read this book over and over again. It made me appreciate poetry more. If poetry can be this good then everyone would love it. ✨
The book is divided into 10 parts – The taking/Precautions/These are not love poems/Of loving/Bits/Aching/Curing/The womYn/To believe & beliefs & A writer's relief. (Yes, womYn). There's also an artistic way Oyindamola writes her poetry, it summons your senses.
Every chapter effervesces strong emotions that will not only move the reader but open their mind of understanding. Topics like Love, Hate, Abuse, Domestic Violence, Gender Wars, Depression, The Imposter Syndrome, Misogyny, Religion, Hypocrisy, Truth, Salvation, Anger, Bitterness, Discovery emboldened themselves in pages of this book. The short stories were poetic too & left me hanging because I wanted more.
If you want to find meaning in the chaos you've overcome/become, or want to reassure yourself of how strong you are, how weak you've been, how imperfect but able to mend every broken piece of who you are/have been/will be. Read this book.
The Fall of the Imam by Nawal El Saadawi
3.0
'The Fall Of The Imam' is told back and forth, like memory in poetic waves. I had this feeling of opening the doors of so many characters' memories
not knowing which door I'd open, the past, the present or even the future. The details of occurrences were in transitions and imperative parts were skipped only to feed the reader with it later.
°
°
It was written in Arabic in 1987 but translated to English, & the translator did a swell job. The flow was confusing at several points maybe because of the interwoven multiple narrators/narrative style. First person into third, straight up in your face, unfiltered.
°
°
°
Apart from the desperation in the quest for power and pleasure of both this world and the next which led to deep religious hypocrisy and proclaimed self righteousness, from the objectification, and debasement of women which led them to suffer heavily in the hands of tyranny, there was this blind followership as most turned the Imam into God himself and actually worshipped him and his ways.
°
°
°
TFOTI screams for justice, women & children's rights and equity, debunks abuse and domestic violence as well as extremism in religion & I'm all for that but
I disagree to some characters' perception about what true freedom meant and I believe it was due to their dire situations that they had to reason that way. °
°
°
In several parts of the book, the interpretation of the Quran and sunnah was also manipulated to fit the hypocritical ways of the religious leaders. But even in the hearts of the 'innocent' it wasn't really understood because their leaders had bent interpretation to them so they were misguided at several points.
°
°
°
Knowledge seeking can never be overemphasized. We should learn about our religion from the right sources, the Qur'an & sunnah and not let anyone deceive us. Righteousness isn't in actions done for the world to see but it is what's truly in our hearts. Also being righteous & religious can be different. We should learn from the examples of the companions of the prophet Muhammad SAW.
°
°
°
Impressive book because it was written in 1987 but we still face issues like this.
°
°
°
Thank you Saqi Books for sending me an e-copy.
not knowing which door I'd open, the past, the present or even the future. The details of occurrences were in transitions and imperative parts were skipped only to feed the reader with it later.
°
°
It was written in Arabic in 1987 but translated to English, & the translator did a swell job. The flow was confusing at several points maybe because of the interwoven multiple narrators/narrative style. First person into third, straight up in your face, unfiltered.
°
°
°
Apart from the desperation in the quest for power and pleasure of both this world and the next which led to deep religious hypocrisy and proclaimed self righteousness, from the objectification, and debasement of women which led them to suffer heavily in the hands of tyranny, there was this blind followership as most turned the Imam into God himself and actually worshipped him and his ways.
°
°
°
TFOTI screams for justice, women & children's rights and equity, debunks abuse and domestic violence as well as extremism in religion & I'm all for that but
I disagree to some characters' perception about what true freedom meant and I believe it was due to their dire situations that they had to reason that way. °
°
°
In several parts of the book, the interpretation of the Quran and sunnah was also manipulated to fit the hypocritical ways of the religious leaders. But even in the hearts of the 'innocent' it wasn't really understood because their leaders had bent interpretation to them so they were misguided at several points.
°
°
°
Knowledge seeking can never be overemphasized. We should learn about our religion from the right sources, the Qur'an & sunnah and not let anyone deceive us. Righteousness isn't in actions done for the world to see but it is what's truly in our hearts. Also being righteous & religious can be different. We should learn from the examples of the companions of the prophet Muhammad SAW.
°
°
°
Impressive book because it was written in 1987 but we still face issues like this.
°
°
°
Thank you Saqi Books for sending me an e-copy.
Better Never Than Late by Chika Unigwe
5.0
Nigerians living in Belgium are the focus in 'Better Never Than Late'. Their Interconnected lives result in a mosaic of experiences and realities that tell and show the reader all the angles of what it means to be an immigrant, legally or illegally. The collage that this book is, wove stories from different narrators, in first person and then, in the third person narrative. What I really like about it is that the narrators, most of them know each other, felt like branches of a tree meeting at the trunk.
⬇⬇⬇
"In Belgium, rape is not considered a violent crime but a moral one." – I shivered at this line.
A couple move to Belgium after a riot in Jos that caused the husband to lose his fortune, and his wife, to abandon her good job and life of convenience. They host their African friends every weekend to starve the loneliness and unpredictabilities that being an immigrant brings. BNTL hides nothing. The secrets of the lives of these people resurrected unexpectedly as I flipped more pages. You think you know a character and then, viola, something happens that clutches your heart.
Chika wrote of Nigerian men who for papers and to secure their stay, marry Belgian women, of white women who try to blend into the Nigerian – or African – ways but are stereotyped. I totally enjoyed Tine & Godwin's story. It ended in a way I didn't see coming which was how all the characters' stories ended or continued in my head because the author left them to live regardless of the fact that she told their story, she made them tell it.
The family of gbolahan is proof that immigration can make or destroy a family as he lost Ego due to circumstances and was bewildered when his daughter indirectly told him she will have to be white to be successful. Several myths were straightened. Now I know it's not absolutely true that black men find it so easy to marry white women, I know that the loneliness immigrants feel is heavier than the life of glitz and glam they live (or not) & that they long for home, companionship and laughter than comfort.
⬇⬇⬇
"In Belgium, rape is not considered a violent crime but a moral one." – I shivered at this line.
A couple move to Belgium after a riot in Jos that caused the husband to lose his fortune, and his wife, to abandon her good job and life of convenience. They host their African friends every weekend to starve the loneliness and unpredictabilities that being an immigrant brings. BNTL hides nothing. The secrets of the lives of these people resurrected unexpectedly as I flipped more pages. You think you know a character and then, viola, something happens that clutches your heart.
Chika wrote of Nigerian men who for papers and to secure their stay, marry Belgian women, of white women who try to blend into the Nigerian – or African – ways but are stereotyped. I totally enjoyed Tine & Godwin's story. It ended in a way I didn't see coming which was how all the characters' stories ended or continued in my head because the author left them to live regardless of the fact that she told their story, she made them tell it.
The family of gbolahan is proof that immigration can make or destroy a family as he lost Ego due to circumstances and was bewildered when his daughter indirectly told him she will have to be white to be successful. Several myths were straightened. Now I know it's not absolutely true that black men find it so easy to marry white women, I know that the loneliness immigrants feel is heavier than the life of glitz and glam they live (or not) & that they long for home, companionship and laughter than comfort.