Reclaim Your Heart: Personal Insights on Braking Free from Life's Shackles

Ms. Mogahed writes with such a beautifully eloquent voice and conveys such a timeless and necessary message in this book. She writes as though speaking with a friend and lays out her thoughts in a similar way. I could hardly put this book down at all. If anyone were to say that she got a bit repetitive at some points, I would not refute the accusation, but I think this is her way of making sure her central message is not lost and it didn't bother me at all. This a book I would recommend to anyone who feels like there is something "missing" in them; like they are not really whole. While I am not much for the self-help genre as a whole, I believe this book truly hits the nail on the head. If you feel like you have strayed from where you should be, or you know that you have, then this book really has the potential help you bring yourself back to the place where you need to be. Very insightful, yet so simple.

Can’t say enough good things about this book. It changed my whole perspective on life, and how I view my religion. Ms. Mogahed knows exactly how to appeal to the heart & brain at the same time. Her words make it seem as though she knows exactly what you’re going through, and she is truly gifted with knowledge and knowing the perfect way to explain everything MashaAllah. What I learned from this book is: we are all creations of Allah, who should living for a simple purpose-praising him. But along the way, we get sidetracked by dunya, lose sight of our purpose, and when this happens, everything falls apart and we lose our minds. It made me realize that we are all suffering, thriving, understanding, and learning together. And that all of this is just a part of the human condition that we all share. It’s up to us to fulfill the purpose that Allah created us for.

Good

This book is just simply amazing. I am going through the biggest shock of my life which is a divorce after 14 years which took me and my kids by shock, disappointment and sadness. But after reading this book I realized and remembered again that "God does things in his great wisdom that some times we don't understand at this point in our lives". I've learned to forgive my ex wife for breaking our happy family. I am certainly handling better now after reading this book. May Al Mighty God reward Yasmin for writing this book and bless her with great health, happiness and reward her with Paradise for helping people like me and my kids. I must say this book is not only for people from the faith of Islam. This book is for all Muslims. Muslim mean one who believes in One true God same God who is God of Adam, Ibrahim, Moses, Jesus and Mohammad PBUT.

I am over halfway done with this book and each chapter I read I really learn from and I feel closer to Allah and understand His wisdom more. Yasmin uses everyday examples to explain complex principles. Just one example is that she said her 22 month old son climbed out of his carseat and out of the car. He wanted to shut the door by himself too. But Yasmin realized that he would shut it on his head, injuring himself. So she gently moved him and shut it herself. Her son was so upset. He wanted to do that himself but she stopped him. He just didn't know it was for his own good. She then compares this to Allah not giving us the things we want so bad but maybe we don't realize that He is trying to protect us or teach us a lesson. That is just one very brief example, not written as well as she wrote it but it think it shows how artfully she connects our lives in this world to our loving creator. I really needed this to help my iman (faith). May Allah reward her. Ameen.

I really enjoyed reading this book. This book was written to appeal to souls looking for that closer relationship with our creator. Her words caused me to reflect on some of my own life choices, and for that alone I ask God to reward the author and those involved in creating the book with the best in this world and the next life. I however do not like how the essays were edited. To be frank it was somewhat repetitive (there were paragraphs that were word for word the same and did not add additional information or context that resulted in new perspectives). I also did not think the section on "a woman's status" was particularly insightful or brought forth new perspectives that would facilitate a closer relationship to God or the reclamation of the soul. I think this section was trying to a comment on social realities but it failed to reconnect that to what that means for relationship between a person and God. The lack of reconnecting it to God caused it to come off as a social commentary that failed to recognize the historical social realities that lead women to seek work outside the home and/or imamship in the masjids.

I consider myself an avid reader and I stay away from self-help books as I find them too preachy. This book was suggested to me buy a friend who was really impacted by it so I decided to give it a try. It's a pretty thin book so I went through it fast. I do have to say Yasmin Mogahed exceeded my expectations. I didn't feel sense any self-righteousness shadowing her wisdom nor did it feel preachy. She takes you on a journey using her personal journey and the journey of Islam. I think it's a must read for anyone at any point in life. She allows one to detach from worldly problems and desires by looking through the lens of spiritual gratitude.

I love this book! It’s filled with thoughtful and religious reminders, and it makes you see things in a different light. One of the best things I’ve read in it was about the common quote “With hardship comes ease.” The author brought it to our attention that although most of us understand it as ease coming after a hardship, God actually promises that ease comes WITH it. There’s truly blessings in everything, especially this book!

This book is so beautiful. It affected me so much. It changed me, and my perspective of life. This book is about the emotional and psychological side of eeman/iman. It doesn't just talk about facts and what you should or shouldn't do, no... it talks about the heart. And Yasmin Mogahed tells complicated things in such a simple way. It cleares up your mind. I felt a little lost sometimes, my head was so full, my heart filled with unrest.. there were times I didn't know WHAT to think. But now.. every time I feel scared or sad or lonely, I take this book and read. Yasmin writes in such a smart way. And the topics she talks about are so relevant to modern life. She talks about men and women status nowadays, the ummah, facebook, personal things she went through and the lessons she learnt from them. But it all comes to one thing, this is all Dunya. Everyting in it is a TEST. And it all will eventually pass. Another thing I love about this book: it speaks about different topics, so simply. It tells the most essential things... no uninteresting details. Nothing you want to skip so you can read further. It reads so easily, and yet the subjects are so deep. And I love the fact that it's chapters are short. You don't have to read it all at once... I only read a couple of pages and I need time to think and reflect over them :) It's definitely a book you can read over and over again. I recommand this book to everyone who wants to renew their faith, who wants to look at their life in a different way. My love for Allah has grown so much. May Allah bless her and help her to inspire even more people insaAllah. Selamun aleykum

Una compañera me pidió que se lo comprase y está encantada.

Ich habe über die letzten Monate viel an islamische Literatur gelesen, doch keiner dieser Bücher hat meine Gedanken, mein Herz und meine Seele so sehr gepackt wie dieses Buch. Wer gerne nachdenkt und reflektiert, für den ist dieses Buch ein MUSS! Für all diejenigen, die Angst vor dem Buch haben, da es englischsprachig ist, die kann ich beruhigen, die Worte von Yasmin Mogahed sind sehr leicht zu verstehen. Appell: Bitte kauft euch dieses Buch und lasst euer Herz zurückgewinnen !

This is an amazing book and I am very happy and blessed to come across this book at the right time in my life. It is very well organized and written in a simple way that the reader can relate to it. Each and every chapter is unique and conveys a very important lesson in a simply yet powerful way. I will definitely recommend this book to my family and friends. Anybody and everybody can for sure benefit from this book without any doubt. May Allah bless the author. Ameen

je suis très satisfait de la lecture de ce livre. Apaise le coeur et reflète la vrai vision de notre religion dans ce monde aliènent.