Emirates Literature Foundation decree issued
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, in his capacity as the Ruler of Dubai, has issued decree No.8 for 2013 establishing the Emirates Literature Foundation as a public entity and an independent corporate body.
The new literature entity will have 3 main objectives, namely Emirates airlines, Dubai Culture and the Book Festival Foundation.
The emirates literary foundation will be managed by a board of trustees under the chairmanship of Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group.
The board members include Shaikha Latifa Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Isobel Abulhoul, DrLo’ayMohammad Belhaoul, Maurice Flanagan, Dr Rafee’a Obaid Gobash, and Dr Hessa Abdullah Lootah.
The newly formed foundation will be responsible for organising, managing and supervising the Emirates Airline Literature Festival on an annual basis, as well as for attracting top world writers and lettermen to enrich the event with their creative literary works. The festival will be open and accessible to all.
The foundation will work to enhance and provide a proper environment for local, authors, poets and lettermen to enable them to give their best intellectual outputs.
It will also encourage literary production in both Arabic and English in particular, as well as other languages, with a focus on children’s literature. The foundation will also encourage reading and foster a love of reading among schoolchildren, out of their classes.
It will coordinate with the Dubai Culture and other relevant bodies to establish the “Book Centre” to be home to literary activities throughout the year, and also encourage authors.
The foundation will invite an elite group of Emirati and expatriate writers to attend international literature-related events and festivals.
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Dubai Dreams: Inside the Kingdom of Bling
Dubai Dreams: Inside the Kingdom of Bling
- ISBN13: 9781857885279
- Condition: New
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Dubai has become the watchword for all things new, glittering and very bling– a billionaire’s dreamworld and a haven for international expatriates promising a fantasy land of tax-free fun, sun and sin. But behind the glitz are the stories of the myriad of people who inhabit this near-fabled kingdom.
From ski slopes to souks, seven-star hotels to immigrant labor camps, Dubai i s a city state of extremes. Raymond Barrett has been there, seen it and written about it in this eye-opening portrait of the real Dubai. He encounters a dizzy melange of expatriates– Iranians, Ethiopians, Indians, Afghans, Chinese, and British– and tells the emirate’s real, uncensored stories.
Will the Dubai dream turn to dust and reveal the oasis to be a shimmering mirage? Is i s a plastic Arabia or an authentic 21st-century success story?
List Price: $ 19.95
Price: $ 6.20
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Amazon Kindle Now available for Dubai and other places
Amazon Kindle the revolutionary reading device which might change the way people read book is now available in Dubai and 100 other countries of the world.
Reading is being Revolutionized by Kindle
Kindle is just like a book it has no light coming out of it nor it gets hot it feels and looks like paper and it is specially designed for reading device.
To buy Kindle click the link below it is shipped directly to Dubai and other cities of UAE from Amazon
Book takes you away from your surrounding so does the kindle
The most elegant feature of a physical book is that when you read you start to forget the books texture environment and the shape of book rather you are Immersed in the author’s world and ideas. Amazon Kindle design objective is to make The Kindle disappear — just like a physical book — so you can get lost in your reading, not the technology or the tool your are reading on.
Paper-Like Screen with 50% Improved Contrast
Kindle uses Amazon’s all new, high-contrast E Ink screen with 50% better contrast, for the clearest text and sharpest images. With our new display, text “pops” from the page, creating a reading experience most similar to reading on printed paper. The words on Kindle are Sharp and natural with no glare or backlight, reading on Kindle is nothing like reading on a computer screen. Those who see it for the first time always do a double-take.
Read in Sunlight with No Glare
Kindle’s screen reflects light like ordinary paper and uses no backlighting, eliminating the glare associated with other electronic displays. As a result, Kindle can be read any where on the beach in the sun, in drawing room or in the train or jungle while you are travelling.
Adjustable Text Size
This is some thing a book can not offer unless you have a magnifying glass, Kindle has eight adjustable text sizes to enlarge or reduce text size while you are reading. You can increase the text size of your favorite ebook or periodical with the push of a button. If your eyes tire, simply increase the font size and continue reading comfortably. Now every ebook in your library can be large print.
Choices of font shapes and design of text
Kindle now has three font styles to choose from – our standard Caecilia font, a condensed version of Caecilia, and a sans serif option – so you can change your font style along with the font size.
Screen Rotation
Manually rotate the Kindle’s display from portrait to landscape to view maps, graphs, tables and Web pages.
Newspaper Reading
Using Kindle’s 5-way controller, you can quickly flip between articles, making it faster and easier to browse and read the morning paper. Want to remember the newspaper or magazine article you just read? Clip and save entire articles for later reading with a single click. Newspapers are auto-delivered wirelessly to Kindle before they hit newsstands.
Sharp Display of Images and Photos
Kindle’s high-resolution screen boasts 16 shades of gray and 50% improved contrast, for the sharpest text and images.
Full Image Zoom
Images and photos display crisply on Kindle and can be zoomed to the full size of the screen.
Precise 5-Way Controller
Kindle has an easy-to-use 5-way controller, enabling precise on-screen navigation for selecting text to highlight or looking up words. No on-screen fingerprints.
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Dubai guide: My Kind of Town – Daily Telegraph
Why Dubai?
Vienna used to be the world’s illicit meeting point, a city full of discreet banks, arms dealers and diplomats. A place where any kind of business could get done. Now it is Dubai.
What do you miss most when you’re away?
The intrigue and all the stories. Dubai is an edgy, tense meeting point; a neutral spot in the world’s most contested region. Chancers, losers, dreamers and schemers flock to the place. How could a thriller writer not get a buzz out of that?
What’s the first thing you do when you return?
Head to Bar 44 at the Grosvenor House Hotel for a glass of champagne. It’s a kitsch, Seventies-themed bar on the 44th floor that has great views.
Where’s the best place to stay?
The Burj Al Arab (www.jumeirah.com/Hotels-and-Resorts; suites from £862 per night), a fabulously over-the-top luxury hotel that encapsulates the madness of Dubai. On an artificial island, it is both symbolically and literally cut off from the rest of the world. A place where anything might happen.
Where would you meet friends for a drink?
The Double Decker Pub (Al Murooj Rotana, Sheikh Zayed Road), favoured by expat Britons, or the Belgian Beer Café (Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City, Festival City), a recreation of a Belgian café with a great selection of beers and some delicious snacks.
Where are your favourite place for lunch?
Urban Tadka Restaurant (Trade Centre Road, Karama): Dubai is as much an Indian city as it is anything else: it’s the Indians who get all the work done. So it’s a great place for cheap, authentic Indian food. This vegetarian restaurant does tasty street-food snacks and is always packed with locals. Dubai is hot and it’s unlikely you’ll feel like anything heavy. Sushi is the perfect light snack. Sumo Shushi & Bento (Jumeirah Beach Road) is Tokyo-style Japanese food – fast, inexpensive, no-fuss and delicious.
And for dinner?
Eating grilled meat and cold mezze is one of the city’s pleasures. There is nowhere better to do it than Al Khaima at Le Royal Méridien Beach Resort & Spa (04 399 5555), a Lebanese restaurant with a huge garden overlooking the spectacular marina. Or try Armani Ristorante at the Armani Hotel Dubai (800 276264), with a sumptuous interior, the immaculate presentation and beautiful customers. The food isn’t bad either. Wear a decent suit, though. Casual it isn’t.
Where would you send a first-time vistior?
Deira’s Gold Souk, a wonderful maze of dealers and shops.
What would you tell them to avoid?
The Dubai Museum: this city doesn’t have any history to speak of.
Public transport or taxi?
Taxis are reliable and cheap – two or three miles cost about £2.50. Be sure to try an abra, a traditional, open-topped wooden ferry across the Dubai Creek.
Handbag or moneybelt?
On the whole Dubai is safe, but be cautious, particularly in the souk.
What should I take home?
If you don’t mind haggling, the gold souk is one of the cheapest places in the world to buy jewellery. And the perfume souk has a huge selection of traditional Arab scents, quite different from anything you’ll find in Europe.
And if I’ve only time for one shop?
Go to the Karama area, which is fake central. Everyone in Dubai dresses in designer gear because they buy perfect copies here at a tenth of the normal price.
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Islam and the Army in Colonial India: Sepoy Religion in the Service of Empire
Product Description
A ground-breaking study of the cultural world of the Muslim soldiers of colonial India. Set in Hyderabad in the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the book focuses on the soldiers’ relationships with the faqir holy men who protected them and the British officers they served. Drawing on Urdu as well as European sources, the book uses the biographies of Muslim holy men and their military followers to recreate the extraordinary encounter between a barracks culture of miracle stories, carnivals, drug-use and madness with a colonial culture of mutiny memoirs, Evangelicalism, magistrates and the asylum. It explores the ways in which the colonial army helped promote this sepoy religion while at the same time attempting to control and suppress certain aspects of it. The book brings to light the existence of a distinct ‘barracks Islam’ and shows its importance to the cultural no less than the military history of colonial India.
Islam and the Army in Colonial India: Sepoy Religion in the Service of Empire
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Islam, Judaism, and the Political Role of Religions in the Middle East
Product Description
From the foreword:
“The ‘clash of civilizations’ thesis is a gimmick, like ‘The War of the Worlds,’ better for reinforcing defensive self-pride than for critical understanding of the bewildering interdependence of our time. This book, in focusing on the ‘self’ and the ‘other’ in Jewish and Muslim thought, is an attempt in this direction.”
Although the “politicization” of religion or “sacrilization” of politics is not restricted to the Middle East, this phenomenon found its most spectacular expressions in the region. These essays examine, in an original and innovative manner, the complex relation between political and national identity and the three major religions of the contemporary Middle East–Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Although the focus is on Palestinian-Israeli relations, the study is relevant to the entire history of the modern Middle East. Discussions of the Palestinian-Israeli arena include the conflictive relations between the two national communities and the political role played by religion in shaping the conflict, the escalation of the conflict, and possible avenues for reaching a peace agreement.
The contributors, an international group of scholars from Israel, Palestine, Europe, and the United States, explore common theological and political ground shared by Jews and Muslims, a novel comparative approach that could lead to future dialogue along theological as well as political lines.
Islam, Judaism, and the Political Role of Religions in the Middle East
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The Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam, and Francis of Assisi’s Mission of Peace
Product Description
An intriguing examination of the extraordinary–and little known meeting between St. Francis of Assisi and Islamic leader Sultan Malik Al-Kamil that has strong resonance in today’s divided world.
For many of us, St. Francis of Assisi is known as a poor monk and a lover of animals. However, these images are sadly incomplete, because they ignore an equally important and more challenging aspect of his life — his unwavering commitment to seeking peace. In The Saint and the Sultan, Paul Moses recovers Francis’ s message of peace through the largely forgotten story of his daring mission to end the crusades.
In 1219, as the Fifth Crusade was being fought, Francis crossed enemy lines to gain an audience with Malik al-Kamil, the Sultan of Egypt. The two talked of war and peace and faith and when Francis returned home, he proposed that his Order of the Friars Minor live peaceably among the followers of Islam–a revolutionary call at a moment when Christendom pinned its hopes for converting Muslims on the battlefield.
The Saint and the Sultan captures the lives of St. Francis and Sultan al-Kamil and illuminates the political intrigue and religious fervor of their time. In the process, it reveals a startlingly timely story of interfaith conflict, war, and the search for peace. More than simply a dramatic adventure, though it does not lack for colorful saints and sinners, loyalty and betrayal, and thrilling Crusade narrative, The Saint and the Sultan brings to life an episode of deep relevance for all who seek to find peace between the West and the Islamic world.
The Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam, and Francis of Assisi’s Mission of Peace
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Recognizing Islam: Religion and Society in the Modern Middle East
Product Description
Recent crises in the Middle East have flooded the media with sensationalist and inaccurate portraits of Islam. This revised edition of Gilsenan’s classic work shows that Islam covers a multitude of forms and practices which are woven into daily existence in complex and sometimes almost invisible ways. Gilsenan explores a variety of social worlds all claiming Islamic affiliation: the feudal aristocracy of northern Lebanon, the working class Sufi brotherhoods of Egypt, and the new bourgeoisies of Algeria and Morocco. In each he shows how Islam evolves in relation to shifting social, political, economic and class structures.
Recognizing Islam: Religion and Society in the Modern Middle East
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The Iranians: Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation
- ISBN13: 9780452275638
- Condition: New
- Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Book Review
The Iranians explores Iran in the context of its old and complex culture, for throughout its history Iran has struggled with two warring identities-one evolving from the values, social organization, and arts of ancient Persia, the other from Islam. By examining the relationship between these two identities, The Iranians explains how the revolution of 1979 came about, why the Islamic Republic has failed, and how Iran today is on the brink of chaos.
In this defining portrait of a troubled nation and the forces that shape it, Iranian history and religion become accessible to the nonspecialist. Combining impeccable scholarship with the human insight of firsthand observations, The Iranians provides vital understanding of this unique and pivotal nation.
• Plume edition will contain a new epilogue by Sandra Mackey, reflecting on the results of the spring 1997 Iranian elections.
• Hardcover edition received enormous press coverage and increased Mackey’s already prominent visibility.
• Highly readable and aimed at the nonspecialist. Amazon.com Review
The Iranians chronicles the history of the Iranian people, from the “glory days” of Persia to the overthrow of Mohammed Riza Shah and the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Through many centuries, Islamic Iran fell repeatedly to invaders–Turks, Mongols, Afghans, Russians, and the British–only to spring back and reassert its cultural and spiritual autonomy while absorbing elements of other civilizations. But after the 1950s, rapid modernization disturbed every facet of Iranian life. Mackey shows how Iran’s pendulum swung from nationalism to monarchism to rigid Shia fundamentalism, while also offering harsh judgment of Western attitudes and policies toward Iran.
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Rapid Transit in the United Arab Emirates: Dubai Metro, Al Sufouh Tramway, Red Line, Green Line, Purple Line, Blue Line
Product Description
Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher’s book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Dubai Metro (in Arabic: ) is a driverless, fully automated metro network in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai. The Red Line is partly operational, the Green Line is still under construction, and further lines are planned. These first two lines run underground in the city centre and on elevated viaducts elsewhere. All trains and stations are air conditioned with platform edge doors to make this possible. The first section of the Red Line, covering 10 stations, was ceremonially inaugurated at 9:09:09 PM on September 9, 2009, by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, with the line opening to the public at 6 AM on September 10. The Dubai Metro is the first urban train network in the Arabian Peninsula. More than 110,000 people, which is nearly 10 per cent of Dubais population, used the Metro in its first two days of operation. The Dubai Metro carried 10 million passengers from launch on 9 September 2009 to 9 February 2010 with 11 stations operational on the Red Line. Once the 20 km Green line opens, the Dubai Metro will overtake the title of longest automated metro network from the Vancouver Skytrain, surpassing it by 3 km. Jebel Ali Free Zone station under construction in May 2008 A station on the Dubai MetroPlanning of the Dubai Metro began under the directive of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum who expected other projects to attract 15 million visitors to Dubai by 2010. The combination of a rapidly-growing population (expected to reach 3 million by 2017) and severe traffic congestion necessitated the building of an urban rail system to provide additional public transportation capacity, relieve motor traffic, and provide infrastructure for additional development. In May 2005 a AED 12.45 billion/US$ 3.4 billi… More: http://booksllc.net/?id=2061417
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Living in the Shade of Islam: A Comprehensive Reference of Theory and Practice
Product Description
Refuting the numerous misconceptions about Islam, this guide reveals the underlying essence of the beliefs and rituals of the Islam faith.
Living in the Shade of Islam: A Comprehensive Reference of Theory and Practice
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Islam and Muslims: A Guide to Diverse Experience in a Modern World
Product Description
Appreciate a rich and diverse culture. Understand real people in their everyday lives.
The need to understand Islam and Muslims has never been greater, both because of conflicts that dominate the news and because of the increasing presence of Muslims in Western societies. There are hundreds of books that introduce the Western reader to Islam, and dozens of books that explore various Muslim societies (usually Arab ones). Islam & Muslims is the first to bring together both, explaining Islam in theory and in practice across the diverse Muslim world. Readers learn not just what Islam says about everything from the nature of God to marriage to prayer to politics, but also how individual Muslims (traditional or modern, devout or barely observant) apply teachings in everyday life.
Islam and Muslims: A Guide to Diverse Experience in a Modern World
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What Do Muslims Believe?: The Roots and Realities of Modern Islam
A fascinating and concise primer on one of the world’s most widespread religions.
Islam is one of the great monotheistic religions of the world. Its teachings emphasize unity, humility, forgiveness, and love of God. The Qur’an sings the virtues of knowledge and rationality. The life of Muhammad demonstrates the importance of tolerance, social justice and brotherhood.
So why is Islam so often associated with hatred, violence, obstinacy, and bigotry?
What Do Muslims Believe? presents readers with an accessible and incisive explanation of the roots and beliefs of Islam, published at a time when more than ever we need an objective view of this often misinterpreted religion.
Parsing fact from misstatement in elegant prose, Ziauddin Sardar gives a clear-eyed view of what makes a Muslim; where Muslims come from and who they are today; what, exactly, they believe and how they reflect those beliefs; where Islam is headed; and how you can apply Islam in your life. With a useful chronology of Islamic history from A.D. 632 to the present, a glossary of terms, selections from both the Qur’an and the Hadith, as well as a list of further reading, What Do Muslims Believe? is an ideal primer for anyone who wants to understand what it really means to follow Islam.
Ziauddin Sardar is a writer, broadcaster, and critical commentator on Islam, culture, and science. He is the author of more than forty books, including, most recently, Desperately Seeking Paradise: Journeys of a Skeptical Muslim, and Why Do People Hate America. He contributes regularly to the New Statesman, and lives in England.
Islam is one of the world’s most widespread religions. Its monotheistic teachings emphasize unity, humility, forgiveness, and love of God. The Qur’an identifies knowledge and rationality as virtuous qualities. The life of Muhammad demonstrates the importance of tolerance, social justice and brotherhood. But Islam is often associated with hatred, violence, obstinacy, and bigotry.
What Do Muslims Believe? presents an accessible and incisive explanation of the roots and beliefs of Islam. Parsing fact from misstatement in elegant prose, Ziauddin Sardar gives a clear-eyed view of what makes a Muslim; where Muslims come from and who they are today; what, exactly, they believe and how they reflect those beliefs; where Islam is headed; and how one could apply Islam to his or her life. With a useful chronology of Islamic history from A.D. 632 to the present, a glossary of terms, selections from both the Qur’an and the Hadith, as well as a list of further reading, What Do Muslims Believe? is a primer for anyone who wants to understand what it means to follow Islam.
“Just over 100 pages of tightly formatted highlights of the history, significance and practice of the [faith] and concludes with suggestions for further study . . . well-indexed . . . offer[s] more than facts . . . In describing how Muslims are expected to follow the daily life practices of the Prophet by how they eat, dress, even clean their teeth, Sardar adds that among his followers, ‘the Prophet’s generosity and forgiveness, compassion and civility, his strong sense of justice and equality, his passion for thought and learning are often conspicuous by their absence.'”Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA Today
“Just over 100 pages of tightly formatted highlights of the history, significance and practice of the faiths and concludes with suggestions for further study . . . well-indexed, in case a reader wants to cut through the detailed chapter on the life of Mohammed to learn about the prophet’s crucial night journey when he received the revelations of the Quran . . . offer[s] more than facts . . . In describing how Muslims are expected to follow the daily life practices of the Prophet by how they eat, dress, even clean their teeth, Sardar adds that among his followers, ‘the Prophet’s generosity and forgiveness, compassion and civility, his strong sense of justice and equality, his passion for thought and learning are often conspicuous by their absence.'”Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA Today
“Pakistani-born and British-educated Sardar, author of 40 other books on Islam, pens this elucidating and very original introduction to the religion. He describes the basics of Islam, including the Qur’an and hadith, the life of Muhammad and the history of Islam and Muslims, in an easy-to-read and cogent manner. Sprinkled throughout are surprising facts, including that Muslims do not believe in original sin and that there are as many Muslims in China as in Egypt. Sardar clarifies some troubling aspects of the Prophet Muhammad’s life, explaining polygamy as mainly alliance building and Muhammad’s participation in battle as more limited than generally described. He criticizes Muslims for their rigidity and for losing touch with reasonwhich, in his opinion, is a cornerstone of Islam. He decries the literalism behind the creation of sharia law, the rejection of free interpretation of the Qur’an (called ijtihad) and unfair treatment of women, but sees these behaviors as anomalies. In contrast, Sardar acknowledges Muslims’ tolerance, such as their acceptance of other prophets, their flourishing book trade and societal advancements. With its manageable length and optimistic outlook, this introduction to Islam is a cut above the rest.”Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Among the many sanguine introductions to Islam, Sardar’s moves immediately to the front rank for its readability . . . and salutary perspective. Very much a Muslim progressive, Sardar allows, without going into specifics, that Muslims have often violated and contradicted the faith’s essence, which he assures us is peaceful. He exalts the classical age of Islam, from the eighth through the fourteenth centuries, with its many great thinkers and writers, stressing that its accomplishments attest to Islam’s great respect for and exploitation of reason. Reason, he suggests, will bring Islam to greatness again as, having finally shed colonialism and, he foresees, Islamic Fundamentalism and puritanism, Islamic societies assimilate and Islamically adapt modern science and technology. Recent developments, such as Morocco’s reformation of Shariah law, show that such modernizing is under way, he says. Sardar’s progressive argument undergirds a précis of Muslim history, beliefs, sectarian divisions, religious practices, and historic effects that one would expect of any similar primer.”Ray Olson, Booklist
What Do Muslims Believe?: The Roots and Realities of Modern Islam
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Inside Jihad: Understanding and Confronting Radical Islam
Product Description
This is an insider analysis of the phenomenon of Jihad and Radical Islam by an ex-Islamic Extremist and an associate of the second in command (after Bin Laden) of Al-Qaeda.
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Spirit of Islam
Product Description
1922. A history of the evolution and ideals of Islam, with a life of the prophecy. Contents: Life and Ministry of the Prophet: Mohammed the prophet; Hegira; prophet at Medina; hostility of the Koreish and the Jews; invasion of Medina; prophets clemency; diffusion of the faith; year of deputations; fulfillment of the prophet’s work; apostolical succession; Spirit of Islam: ideal of Islam; religious spirit of Islam; idea of future life in Islam; church militant of Islam; status of women in Islam; bondage in Islam; political spirit of Islam; political divisions and schisms of Islam; literary and scientific sprit of Islam; rationalistic and philosophical spirit of Islam; idealistic and mystical spirit in Islam.
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