Translator’s Note

Translations of Qur’ânic quotations have been adapted from the translation by Yusuf Ali. However, the archaic style of the translator has been modernized, so that “thou” has been changed to “you”, “doeth” to “does”, etc.

  Abbreviations of the blessings customarily pronounced by Muslims following the names of the Prophet and Sahâbah are used in the text, as follows: SAAS = salla’llâhu ‘alayhi wa sallam (may Allâh bless him and grant him peace), following mention of the Prophet Muhammad (SAAS); RA = radiy’allâhu ‘anhu/‘anha/‘anhum (may Allah be pleased with him/her/them), after the name of a Companion or wife of the Prophet (SAAS).

Finally, a note on gender usage: although the text of this book tends to use masculine (he, him) in describing human situations, this is in no way intended to exclude the female readers. This use of masculine reflects the Arabic usage, where - grammatically speaking - the masculine may always include the feminine, as in al-Muslimûn (masculine plural), which can include the female as well as male Muslims. Repeated use of “he or she” or “him or her” would have made the language of the book very stilted and tedious to read. The advice and suggestions given by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah may be understood to apply equally to males and females.

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