Faq

Guiding Helper – F.A.Q. General Questions What is the Guiding Helper? The Guiding Helper is a practical guide about Islam. The Guiding Helper is an English adaptation of Ibn `Ashir's 700-year-old Arabic rhythmic text, al-Murshid al-Mu`in. Is the Guiding Helper easy to understand and apply? We have especially tailored the Guiding Helper to be easy to learn and apply in the modern world. You can see for yourself. Is the Guiding Helper just a bunch of songs? The Guiding Helper consists of five materials: # An audio recording of 43 songs # A Lyrics Book containing the written words of the Guiding Helper songs # Explanatory Notes for the Lyrics Book # Notes of Sources for the Lyrics Book # Notes of Sources for the Explanatory Notes The reason that we have chosen the medium of song to write the Guiding Helper is that songs are easy to memorize and fun to recite. Is the Guiding Helper a comprehensive guide to the deen (din) of al-Islam? We have included most of the major subjects that concern the average person. However, by no means does the Guiding Helper cover every single thing about Islam. Nevertheless, most students will find that the Guiding Helper contains everything they need for forming correct beliefs, understanding the details of Sacred Law, and travelling the Path to reach the knowledge of Allah. Where can I get the Guiding Helper from? Is it free? Or do I have to pay for it? The Guiding Helper is available for free download from the home page of this website Who can benefit from the Guiding Helper? The Guiding Helper has been written in a way to allow people of various ages (young and old) and backgrounds (educated and uneducated) to benefit. How can I be sure that the Guiding Helper is an accurate depiction of Islam? A lot of the material seems unfamiliar to me.

We have verified each of the opinions narrated in the Guiding Helper and reviewed the entire text with scrutiny. Additionally, we have prepared lengthy books which show that all the material in the Guiding Helper is traceable back to sources that are considered authentic by our din. You can view the Notes of Sources yourself if you are not convinced. Where can I get hard copies of the materials offered for download on this web site? We, here at the Guiding Helper Foundation, do not sell or profit from the distribution of the Guiding Helper texts. However, we allow independent merchants to sell the texts for their own profits and interests. You can check the GHF merchant link page to see if any merchants are offering hard copies of these texts. I am an honest student and I would like to ask the authors of the Guiding Helper a question concerning the material written by them. Is there a way I can contact the authors or your organization? You can visit the Honest Students Inquiry Section of this web site to pose a question. Also for a limited time, you can ask your questions directly to the main author of the Guiding Helper in the Online Maliki Lesson Room. Lessons are provided free of charge and take place on Saturdays, 1-3 pm GMT. Technical Questions How do I download the Guiding Helper written texts? You should click on the "Download Written Books" link on the home page of this web site and then click on the particular text you wish to download. The download should start up automatically. Please note that the files are in the compressed ZIP format. You will need the pkUnzip or WinZip (R) utility to uncompress this file. After uncompressing these files, you will notice that the written texts are in PDF format. To read or print out these files, you will need the free Adobe Acrobat (R) Reader program. How do I download the Guiding Helper audio recordings? You should click on the "Download Audio Recordings" link on the home page of this web site and then click on the particular song you wish to download and the download should start up automatically. Please note that the files are in the popular MP3 format. You can use the Windows Media Player or another program to listen to these audio recordings. Additionally, you can easily make your own CDs and tapes from the provided files.

All this stuff about ZIP, PDF, and MP3 files seems awfully hard. Is there an easier way? Yes. You should request your favorite book publisher or audio distributor to produce and sell real-life paper and plastic versions of the Guiding Helper texts and audio recordings. That way, you can avoid all these technical hassles. You can tell them to refer to: http://www.guidinghelper.com/faqs.html#copyright Copyright Questions Can I make as many copies of the Guiding Helper materials and distribute them to as many people as I want? Yes. You may freely copy and distribute all of the materials available for download on this web site as long as you do not alter them (e.g., add words or delete sections). Furthermore, you may transfer the available PDF and MP3 files to whatsoever format you desire. Can I sell my copies of the Guiding Helper materials for profit? Yes. You may produce professionally packaged copies of the materials on this web site and sell them for profit. You do not owe the Guiding Helper Foundation any royalties or other fees for selling the materials found on this web site. Additionally, no limit is set on the price you can charge. Can I copyright my own releases of the Guiding Helper? Yes. You may copyright your own book/tape/CD/etc. releases of the Guiding Helper. However, your copyright will not prevent people from downloading the Guiding Helper from this web site nor from obtaining it via other sources. However, you must prefix your name or your organization's name to the book/tape/CD title that you use. For example: "ABC Books' Release of the Guiding Helper Explanatory Notes". Can I get my own ISBN number for my release of the Guiding Helper? Yes. You may get your own ISBN numbers for the written and audio Guiding Helper releases that you publish/produce. However, you must prefix your name or your organization's name to the book/tape/CD title you apply for. For example: "ABC Books' Release of the Guiding Helper - Explanatory Notes". Can I correct typographical errors that I find in the Guiding Helper texts? You may correct obvious typographical and grammer errors; additionally, you may change punctuation, capitalization, formatting, font, color, style, and other aesthetic

qualities before mass-producing the materials. However, you must attach a list of all typographical errors you corrected as an addendum to the written book you publish. Nevetheless in no case may you change a legal ruling or a statement of belief just because you feel that it is wrong. Please use the form below to report typographical errors which you find so that we may update the PDF files on this web site; please include the footnote number or Guiding Helper line number in which you found the error; and may Allah reward you: Also, you can click here to view a list of major typos found in the texts since their release. Is there a restriction on the number of songs and types of songs I wish to place on a particular CD/tape for copying and distribution? No. There is no such restriction. You may produce CDs/DVDs/MP3-CDs/tapes/etc. which have only one song on them or which have all forty-three. However, you may not add your own songs to the CD/tape/etc. for distribution without clearly marking the added material as foreign. Can I translate the Guiding Helper into another spoken language? Yes. You may translate the Guiding Helper materials into another spoken language. However, we, here at the Guiding Helper Foundation, relinquish responsibility for ensuring that the translations are correct and accurate. Can I re-sing the Guiding Helper and then produce, copyright, and sell my own audio version for personal profit? Yes. We encourage vocally-talented individuals to produce their own audio versions of the Guiding Helper recording. However, we at the Guiding Helper Foundation do not take responsibility for any inappropriate content. Can I copy the PDF and MP3 files from this location to my own web site? Yes. You can copy the PDF and MP3 files from this web site to any other location you desire. Please note that we will probably close down or transfer ownership of this web site some time in the future; so, get it while you can!