Twenty Years On: Why Turning the Tide is still relevant today
I was recently contacted by an enthusiastic undergraduate requesting a signed copy of Turning the Tide for an upcoming Charity Week auction at her university; she had read the book and it resonated deeply with her. Naturally, I was pleased to support their efforts.
This led me to thinking about Turning the Tide’s beginnings, twenty years ago when the first edition was published by The Islamic Foundation. How is it still speaking to a whole new generation?
Since Kube published the revised 4th edition in 2021, with new images, I’ve encountered a new generation of readers. They create adventurous reels, like having waves wash over the book at the sea shore ( not advisable!) to filming it on their flight thousands of feet up in the clouds, all whilst connecting with its message!
Here's what the new generation of readers are really connecting with, according to the feedback I've gotten
The Sacred sources:
The vast majority of Turning the Tide’s content is made up of translated ayat and translated ahadith. These quotations clarify our direction for each stage of life, uplift the heart and give succour to the soul. Take for example these two quotes:
Even though these are translations, they are the entry point to that many need.
Of course quoting from our sacred sources is timeless. The challenge is keeping close to their meaning and making sense of their power while we live in a whirlwind of changing values. There amount of surrounding us, is sadly worse now than when I selected the passages to go into Turning the Tide. At the same time, the access to Islamic material online and offline is way more.
Women’s literature:
When I set out to write the introduction and role model sections, I was addressing a generation of Muslim (or born Muslim women who didn’t want to follow Islam) at a time where the literature for women was a narrow genre. Books for women were didactic: what to do, not to do, and that was about it if you were looking at Islamic literature. Sadly several titles were clearly off-putting with negative connotations. How were these supposed to inspire a love and attachment to the deen, if some young women were already feeling sceptical and negative?
I wanted to add something to the shelves of Muslim bookshops that would encourage finding out more about our faith, an invitation to ponder and reflect, and a reassuring hand hold to come and dip into the heart strengthening sacred sources.
Historic role models
The world of ‘role models’ can be a dizzying place with online influencers and a carousel of personalities that come in and out of fashion with very little consistency between who’s vogue and who’s not.
In comparison, the historic personalities of notable women at the end of each chapter in Turning the Tide are a steadying force.
Values are enduring. They stand strong, no matter the whirlwind around them, and so too do the glimpse into the noble women’s lives that readers encounter.
Nature & water
Turning the Tide loosely follows the stages of a woman’s life from the inception of her soul and childhood, youth, growing older, to the end of her life on earth. And each stage is reflected in the water metaphor which flows through the chapters.
Compared to when this first came out, there is much more discussion now about the benefits of the natural environment on our well-being. From a Qur’anic perspective, humankind is encouraged to contemplate on the signs ‘ayaat’ in nature to deepen our understanding of Al Khaliq, The Creator and Sustainer.
Having the water theme throughout, seems to have gained more relevance and understanding now, to readers more in tune with seeing the natural phenomena as part of faith literature, and not a separate genre.
Dua, dua and more dua!
At the end of every chapter are duas relevant to the stage of life that’s been explored. Seeking the help and turning to Allah SWT, connecting to Him subhana wata’ la, is a timeless need for our soul. No matter which generation we belong to, Dua is never going to go out of fashion – it is simply the centre of our ibaadah – or worship.
Aesthetics
The first three editions of Turning the Tide had seascape water photography. Each chapter started with a photo of the type of water used as a metaphor for that stage of life.
The book had a gift box like jacket - which had some hiccups initially! As time’s gone on, the book has evolved into a hard back with abstract water colour art throughout.
The aesthetic appeal is something I often get comments or messages about. Each chapter now starts with a painting which brings about it a whole new feel, something that embodies being uplifted and elevated.
For select reviews on this book and others, take a look here
