Riding the Roller Coaster
Javed Mohammed
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2005 Amana Publications
ISBN: 1590080378

A Muslim Perspective on Overcoming the Challenges of Life.

What do riding roller coasters, Sufis, life challenges, a Muslim marketing executive & a group of Muslim women poets have in common? Open up Javed Mohammed's latest little book & find out.

“Out of every hardship come lessons for human beings, so I am grateful for the ones that have come my way.... [t]his book is about putting belief and action together... [and] is addressed to people of all faiths. The term God... used throughout... in reference to Allah, the Arabic word for The One and Only God of all humanity... [it] also includes examples from various Prophets that are recognized in the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.”

I've enjoyed each of Javed Mohammed's books: they invite me into a whole other way of looking at the world -- through a Muslim's frames of reference & heritage, & they have gone a long way to alleviating my knee-jerk assumption(given what I see on TV news) that all things Muslim as infused with a strident hatred, thus engendering a nervousness that all Muslims are “out to get me.”

So, here is a gentle Muslim soul who lives & works in Silicon Valley whose life, after 9/11, spun out of control. Riding the Roller Coaster is your ticket to travel his hills & valleys, learn what inspires him, as well as taking the wisdom he offers back into our own rocky roads. Along the way you will encounter the poems of Muslim women such as Aaminah Hernandez, Veiled Warrior, Renee Warner, Amatullah Al-Marwani, Heather K. Browne, Rym Aoudia, Eloquence An-Nur, & Javed Mohammed himself.

& as you read, discover the benefit of a life of practicing the virtues of Patience, Prayer, Purpose, Proactive Planning & Passionate Persistence.

As with all Javed Mohammed's books, there are no pictures, simply a plain & elegant format, thereby enhancing the jewels within the covers, & do check out my Interview with him.

More from Javed Mohammed:
Editorial: Being a Muslim in a Post 9/11 America
Gems of Wisdom Heart of Gold
Islam 101
(05/07/06)

Rebecca