A Temporary Gift by Asmaa Hussein
On August 16, 2013, my beloved husband Amr Kassem was shot and killed by the Egyptian military for attending a peaceful anti-coup protest in Alexandria, Egypt. The weeks and months that followed were the most difficult and challenging of my life.
A Temporary Gift is a book of my personal reflections that have given me comfort and have reminded me that beyond the pain and darkness of loss there is still the potential of light in patience and constancy…
Please take a moment to support this important project by contributing what you can!
- “Asmaa’s heartfelt prose skillfully takes us on a journey of wisdom and insight that could only be forged by experiencing great pain with courage. Her words remind us of just how fragile and short-lived the realities we cling to are, while calling us to look through them to the only permanent truth as our true sanctuary.” –Dalia Mogahed, Director of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding
Here’s why your contribution is important…
With your generous contribution, you will help this book’s message of hope and renewal reach the hands and hearts of other women and men who are saddled with grief or silently suffering through loss.
Your contribution will also help me spread awareness of the mass injustices that have taken place (and continue to take place) in Egypt, and keep the memory of my husband alive.
- “The reader feels a commanding sense of sorrow listening to Asmaa wrestle living with the death of her beloved. Yet, it is much more a breathing story of redemption and the burning renewal of one’s faith through tribulation. It is through this tribulation that Asmaa teaches herself, and by virtue the reader, of the immediacy of repairing your relationship with Allah now, before we are ultimately called to the grave.” –Dr. Waleed Basyouni, Vice President of AlMaghrib Institute and Director of Clear Lake Islamic Center
Pre-order your book now…
By choosing one of the packages in the right column on this page, you’ll be pre-ordering your copy of A Temporary Gift and helping me fund my first print run. Please contribute whatever amount you can!
- “In my life I haven’t read a text so delicate and touching….I read the whole book on my way back from Nigeria where I was visiting my childhood city of Lagos. For the whole journey of seven hours I wept while reading this journal of enlightenment and humanity….I didn’t meet Brother Amr but for sure he is and will always be in my du‘as for shedding light and inspiring me and everyone he knew through his deeds and life. He lived in a way I hope I can live, and died raising his voice against the oppressors. This is a book of wise thoughts and words. I recommend it for everyone.” –Abdullah Elshamy, Al-Jazeera journalist and former political detainee at Al-Aqrab prison in Cairo, Egypt
A Temporary Gift will be published by Ruqaya’s Bookshelf. (Click here if you’d like to see a sample of the book.)
Want to contribute via PayPal instead? Send your payment to info@ruqayasbookshelf.com – please ensure that you include your shipping address and any other relevant information.