Turning The Tide - Introduction

“And among His signs is this: you see the earth barren and desolate - then when We send down water upon it, it stirs and swells with life. He Who brings it to life can surely give life to the dead [of heart as well]. For indeed He has power over all things.” [Surah Fussilat, 41:39]

We all experience that low, helpless feeling at some point in our lives. Some feel it more than others. But, one thing is for certain, it is how we each approach this emotion that counts. You may meet it with denial and positive thinking. Or, you may meet it with hopelessness and defeat. Very rarely do people meet it with faith and determination.

Turning the Tide gives you that faith and determination. I loved each single word of this masterpiece. The format, the support, and even the images – everything helps you build up that positivity and happiness that you were suppressing. It is beautiful.

For this reason, I felt this book deserved more than just one review. It deserves a series. Each one will go through the chapters of this elegant, poetic book and will prove to you why you should purchase it for yourself and every woman you know and love.

The structure of Turning the Tide goes through each aspect of a woman’s life and links it to a nature counter-part:

1.       The Soul – Wide Oceans

2.       Childhood – Flake Crystals

3.       Youth – Streams

4.       Knowledge – Springs

5.       The Heart – Seas of Change

6.       Health and Appearance – Lakes and Reflections

7.        Marriage – Clouds and Seas

8.       Motherhood – Raindrops

9.       The Age of Wisdom – Treasures in the Sea

10.   The Soul’s Journey On… - The Shoreline

Then if that wasn’t poetic enough, each chapter is organised into beautiful little sections:

Introduction
A brief explanation to the aspect of life covered in the chapter and the Islamic and contemporary perspectives.

 Myriad Voices
Reflections that poetically express our emotions and thoughts when faced with the aspect in question. It is even suggested to add your own, which the creative of us enjoy immensely!

The Eternal Sources
This section contains translations of verses from the Qur’an and Hadiths relating to that topic. It is a beautiful and essential section as no soul or heart can be enriched without the wisdom of He Who created them and the man He sent to help us.

Dua
A selection of duas we can use to help us through those hard times. Dua is the strongest weapon a believer holds; we shouldn’t ever forget that and this section aids us perfectly.

Noble Women
This has to be my favourite section of each chapter. Real women and real strength is the ultimate way to inspire and aid your reawakening.

I’m hoping we can all read along together, comment and motivate each other.  Through this Read-Along, not only will we reawaken our souls but also reawaken the sisterhood that seems to have faded in this day and age!

As we go through each section and chapter, please feel free to comment with any questions you may have and InshaAllah, Sister Suma Din herself will do her best to answer them. For obvious reasons we’ll be limiting the number of questions for each week so make yours a good one!

So, pick up your copy and check back here every Friday for a new review and discussion points! And if you just can’t wait for next Friday all the action is happening on the new Official Turning the Tide Facebook Page!

Click here to purchase your copy!