Sunday 8 July 2012

Book Review: The Writing on the Water, by Muhiyiddin Shakoor

I needed a book to read on my return flight back from Sarajevo a couple of months back and so picked this up before departing from one of the book stores besides the Gazi Husrev-Beg Mosque. The writing style looked decent and I was curious to read the chronicles of someone treading the "Sufist" path!

The writing style did turn out to be okay. The content of the book, however, I found somewhat lacking. The author's personal stories and the lessons he extrapolates from them just did not work for me. (For reasons of blandness rather than disagreement.) More so, the author's "Shaykh" (spiritual guide) I felt comes across as a somewhat cruel and ambiguous figure! The tasks he assigns to his "disciples" being an example of this. A leadership style contrary to the example set by the Prophet (صلّى الله عليه وسلّم) and his Companions (رضي الله عنهم) in my opinion! Maybe, of course, it's just the way he comes across in this book and he's not such a bad person in person!!

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