Port in a Storm: A Fiqh Solution to the Qibla of North America [Paperback]

Nuh Ha Mim Keller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2001

The qibla is the noblest of directions. This book settles the question of the physical direction of Mecca from North America in the first thirty pages, after which it presents to readers for the first time the 1998 Fatwa of al-Azhar on the North American qibla. From this point of departure, the author surveys such major contemporary issues as the relationship between religion and science, the Sacred and profane, scholars and engineers, ijtihad and taqlid. Combining traditional Islamic law, a clear exposition of the complex geographical issues, and the author's own meetings and correspondence with twenty-three contemporary scholars from seven Muslim lands, the book is a journey of discovery not only for Western Muslims, but everyone interested in Sacred Law in a modern world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A timely, concise and convincing response... a valuable resource for anyone interested in well reasoned, in-depth contemporary Islamic scholarship." -- Imam Zaid Shakir

"likely to prove the authoritative study in a long-debated and divisive controversy. It spells the end of a myth" -- Dr. Muhammad Isa Waley, The British Library

Sheikh Nuh Keller establishes a new standard for Islamic scholarship in the English language" -- Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo

About the Author

Nuh Ha Mim Keller has read Islamic jurisprudence, hadith, and other traditional sciences with sheikhs in Damascus, Syria and in Amman, Jordan, where he has lived since 1979 and currently writes and teaches.

Product Details

• Paperback: 274 pages
• Publisher: Non Basic Stock Line (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9957230042
• ISBN-13: 978-9957230043
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,996,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shadab Ahmed Siddiqi, October 26, 2001

By 

Shadab Siddiqi (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Port in a Storm: A Fiqh Solution to the Qibla of North America (Paperback)

This book is an asset to any masjid in north america still confused about the direction of Qiblah. The well able sheikh Nuh Ha Mim Keller has put together a book that compiles fatwas from Morroco to Damascus pointing out that the shortest distance from point a to point b is a direct line. Although topographic maps may show otherwise, if you put a peice of string on a globe and look, between Chicago and Mecca you may not point any other direction than North East. (...)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Most convincing arguments for the average person, April 29, 2002

By 

A. Omer (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Port in a Storm: A Fiqh Solution to the Qibla of North America (Paperback)

Whether you're writing a paper on the subject or reading just out of curiosity on the subject, Keller will do an amazing job of convincing you why more than 99.5% of the mosques in N.America point northeast. Besides offering easy-to-understand, well-documented proofs, the book goes into many details about the importance of finding the correct samt and answers most objections raised to the northeast direction proponents.
A must-read!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Proof, July 4, 2002

By 

"ummtas" (Allah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Port in a Storm: A Fiqh Solution to the Qibla of North America (Paperback)

This book is not only a text of information, but loaded with
the most intence refrences, proofs and examples. I am still speachless on a topic that I fell into and this book fell into my lap out of curiosity. For anyone interested in why Muslims pray a certain direction, or why Islamic law has "different" opinions, or even if there are different opinions, this is IT!