Great demand for books on Islam

Bookstores have noticed jump in sales since September 11


The passion to know more about Muslims and Islam is pretty evident from the books lining the makeshift stalls at the 14th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.

The extensive Saudi Arabian government pavilion set the mood on the first day by distributing a beautiful, pocket book version of the Holy Quran for free even as the stalls specialising in books on Islam did brisk business.

The stalls have noticed a jump in sales following the September 11 attacks. Cashing in on this worldwide interest in Islamic books, is the Islamic Foundation Trust based in Chennai, India, who are participating in the fair for the first time on their own. Earlier they used to be represented by the Islamic Publishing House from Calicut, Kerala.

Interest in India

"We've seen a surge in sales in India after September 11," said Mohammed Arif of the trust, which sells more than 500 titles, with nearly 15,000 topics related to Islam, children, education, women and the like. They also claim to have the distinction of publishing the Holy Quran in 14 different languages and are selling the Holy Book at a discounted price of Dh15 instead of the market price of Dh45.

"It's true people, not just Muslims, want to know about Islam," said Ahmed Khouri, a government employee and a visitor on the first day of the exhibition. "There's a huge demand in the US particularly." he added, speaking from his experience in the US during a recent visit.

As though to prove his point he held up two books on women's rights in Islam that he bought from the Sharjah-based The Book Mall stall. The books are for his cousin studying in the US. "I advised him to do his thesis on women in Islam because there's a lot of misconceptions especially in the West about them," he said.

Khouri recommended books on introductions to Islam by Muslims such as the ones by Maula Wahiddin Khan, president of Islamic Centre, New Delhi.

The stall by the Islamic Publishing House, participating in the fair for the fifth time, claimed that they are here to "promote Islam among the Indian Malayalee community".

Out of their 452 titles in different languages, more than 300 deal with Islamic issues, said its president, Abdullah M.K.

Popular titles

Similarly, the Sharjah-based Darussalam, a multilingual International Islamic Publishing House, headquartered in Saudi Arabia, concentrates largely on publishing Islamic books in major international languages. Stall representatives admitted that they were selling more copies of the Holy Quran and related books after September 11. Their most popular book is the Tafsir Ibn Kathir and summarised versions of Sahih Muslim and Sahih Buhkari.

The most popular books are the biography and sayings of the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him), books by Westerners, who converted to Islam. These include Even Angels Ask by Jeffrey Long.

Other titles are The Ideology of Peace and Islam and Peace by Maula Wahiddin Khan and books by Turkish author Harun Yahya. The latter studied arts at a university in Istanbul and has penned books such as Darwinism Refuted and Only Love Can Defeat Terrorism.

Children's books

There's also a huge market for children's books on Islam, with many parents keen on imparting the fundamental principles of their religion in the form of stories. Catering to this interest are a variety of stalls selling colourful children's books with attractive covers.

"When it comes to buying books on Islam, somehow I don't keep a count," said Mohammed Arif, a pharmacist browsing through titles at an Islamic book publisher's stall.

"What's more important is that I want my two-year-old son to imbibe the spirit of the religion at an early age," he added.