An enriching treasury for anyone interested in an educated mind’s views on a variety of subjects

By Victor Mathew on January 23, 2017
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This readable book is a great advocate for thinking both critically and profoundly in quest for knowledge and growth.  This is an enriching treasury for anyone interested in an educated mind’s views on a variety of subjects that are important to our life’s thought process. Self-aware but never self-indulgent, the book provides an enriching view of one person’s intellectual voyage. Exploring the fine lines between mysticism and science, science and religion, and religion and rationality; the book is a master class in how to think freely and why. Asif is not afraid to explore, question, and examine any subject that captures his attention. It has provided me useful insight on some of life’s eternal question: What is God? What is religion? What is death? Where do I fit in? I will heartily recommend it.​

The author’s writing is honest and self-disclosing.

By Herry Becker on February 27, 2017
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I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book as the author has created an original and informative work, based on his personal experience and research and does a good job of sharing some important life experiences and thoughts on man’s search for meaning. He explores some of the doubts, fears, and perplexities humans experience in various life situations and illustrates how to find comfort and guidance in universal wisdom. His writing is honest and self-disclosing. He provides some good examples throughout the text, though the level of detail sometimes exceeds what is necessary to illustrate his point. The book strays from the basic premise in places; some sections contain too much personal information to effectively support the book’s thesis. The book could have benefited from better organization, including creative use of chapter titles and subheads and a bibliography or list of references. However, overall, I find the book highly educating and the author is to be commended for his simple, accessible writing style and commitment to educating and inspiring his readership.

The author’s writing is reasonably easy to follow.

By Bella Mathews on December 13, 2016
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The Stuff of Life is well-written and inclusive. The author’s writing is reasonably easy to follow. There are times when the narrative is highly engaging. The author manages to hold his points of view well without being preachy or pedantic and his explorations are sincere and thought provoking. The author is examining humanity’s great questions and does a respectable job.

As I read through the first couple of dozen pages I wondered where the author was coming from, was it a Western literary and philosophical perspective, I wondered, or from the perspective of Islam, which is infused into the author’s writing right from the start through references to Ali ibn Abu Talib. Then the Buddha’s teachings, biblical references, popular self-help material, Sufism, and other references are made. However, I realized that the author has completely cosmopolitan outlook with a diverse influence and an expression borrowing freely from Western literature and philosophy and oriental liturgy.

Presenting life as less of a dull slog and more of a challenge for constant exploring …

By Christopher Austin on December 14, 2016
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I find this book handy and pleasing. It can feel as rambling and verbose, but I counsel some measure of patience as the book is immensely worth it. Asif inherited a metaphysical perspective of the world from his mother and grew in a tightly religious environment, but he never stopped questioning what did not make sense to him or what he did not understand, informed by his life’s experiences and education. His book provides a deep picture of the world we live in, presenting life as less of a dull slog and more of a challenge for constant exploring and learning. It invites us to think who we really are beneath the roles we assign ourselves to play on the world stage. A worthy reminder because, absorbed in day to day livening, we tend to forget that it is merely a role we have to fulfill and not the real stuff. The book underlines the utility and relevance of philosophy to everyday living. For instance, how I liked his discussion about death and its fear that shows how dealing with death by either isolating the individual from the cosmos or rendering it a taboo subject is unproductive of no real help. The truth is no matter how steadfast one is in one’s religious beliefs, nobody can be certain that there is an afterlife and these beliefs most likely represent a wishful response, carving a refuge from the refuge from the reality of death and its fear.