About the Project Al-Tasnim
Brazil has a growing Muslim population with an increasing interest in the wider society about Islam but few know that Islam has a rich spiritual tradition and that it has influenced and still positively influencing many cultures. There is a huge lack of knowledge about the traditional sources of religion and how they have been understood and practiced by the vast majority of Muslims for centuries.
There are few Islamic books available in Portuguese and those few focus almost exclusively on rulings and external aspects of worship, conveying the wrong message to Portuguese speaking Muslims and non-Muslims as well, that Islam is a religion of rules, devoid of spirituality and with a revengeful God.
In view of this situation, the proposal of the Project Al-Tasnim is the dissemination of knowledge in the Portuguese language based on classical Islamic thought, with focus on Islamic spirituality. The intention is to contribute to expand the knowledge of Muslims about their own religion and provide a better understanding of Muslims by the non-Muslims in the Portuguese speaking communities.
Although this project was primarily thought with Brazilians in mind, it will also benefit other Portuguese speaking communities.
Objectives:
This project aims to offer translations into Brazilian Portuguese made by the creator of the project, Maria Christina Moreira, of classical Islamic books or books based on traditional Islamic scholarship regarding Islamic spirituality, expanding the availability of a selection of relevant material through direct free distribution of e-copies as pdf files.
Project Background:
The conception of the Al-Tasnim Project emerged more than 20 years ago, when I launched my website, Islamic Chat. My dream has always been to provide quality material about traditional Islam, especially books, due to the lack of access to this type of material for those who speak no other language than Portuguese. At the time the viable alternative was to launch the site, a pioneer in the Portuguese language, with articles focused on the dissemination of traditional Islam, but the dream of making the books available has been maintained throughout all these years.
I made some attempts, with partnerships and by myself, but I couldn't take the project forward. In November 2019 I decided to present my proposal to a Muslim who has been active in the work of spreading Islam, Mr. Imran Bacchus, and he immediately got excited about the idea. He invited his sister, Dr. Rezeena Malaska, and both gave all the necessary support for the first book of this project to be launched on May 18, 2020 / 25 of Ramadan 1441, 21 years after (by the Islamic calendar) the launch of my website.
For over 20 years the Verse of Light, the main theme of the book The Niche of Lights, by Al-Gazali, chosen to be the first book of this project, has been on the main page of Islamic Chat. Its choice was not planned, but a consequence of some circumstances, and only later on I realized this beautiful "coincidence".
It was a long wait, but it was worth it. The project today has an improved conception and scope, and is now focusing more on the aspect of Islamic spirituality, or Tasawwuf, due to my deepening, since 2016, in this third dimension of Islamic religion, Ihsan - spiritual excellence - achieved by the purification of the heart, a fundamental aspect of Tasawwuf.
There are few Islamic books available in Portuguese and those few focus almost exclusively on rulings and external aspects of worship, conveying the wrong message to Portuguese speaking Muslims and non-Muslims as well, that Islam is a religion of rules, devoid of spirituality and with a revengeful God.
In view of this situation, the proposal of the Project Al-Tasnim is the dissemination of knowledge in the Portuguese language based on classical Islamic thought, with focus on Islamic spirituality. The intention is to contribute to expand the knowledge of Muslims about their own religion and provide a better understanding of Muslims by the non-Muslims in the Portuguese speaking communities.
Although this project was primarily thought with Brazilians in mind, it will also benefit other Portuguese speaking communities.
Objectives:
This project aims to offer translations into Brazilian Portuguese made by the creator of the project, Maria Christina Moreira, of classical Islamic books or books based on traditional Islamic scholarship regarding Islamic spirituality, expanding the availability of a selection of relevant material through direct free distribution of e-copies as pdf files.
Project Background:
The conception of the Al-Tasnim Project emerged more than 20 years ago, when I launched my website, Islamic Chat. My dream has always been to provide quality material about traditional Islam, especially books, due to the lack of access to this type of material for those who speak no other language than Portuguese. At the time the viable alternative was to launch the site, a pioneer in the Portuguese language, with articles focused on the dissemination of traditional Islam, but the dream of making the books available has been maintained throughout all these years.
I made some attempts, with partnerships and by myself, but I couldn't take the project forward. In November 2019 I decided to present my proposal to a Muslim who has been active in the work of spreading Islam, Mr. Imran Bacchus, and he immediately got excited about the idea. He invited his sister, Dr. Rezeena Malaska, and both gave all the necessary support for the first book of this project to be launched on May 18, 2020 / 25 of Ramadan 1441, 21 years after (by the Islamic calendar) the launch of my website.
For over 20 years the Verse of Light, the main theme of the book The Niche of Lights, by Al-Gazali, chosen to be the first book of this project, has been on the main page of Islamic Chat. Its choice was not planned, but a consequence of some circumstances, and only later on I realized this beautiful "coincidence".
It was a long wait, but it was worth it. The project today has an improved conception and scope, and is now focusing more on the aspect of Islamic spirituality, or Tasawwuf, due to my deepening, since 2016, in this third dimension of Islamic religion, Ihsan - spiritual excellence - achieved by the purification of the heart, a fundamental aspect of Tasawwuf.
