The scholarly opinion we at Glowing Olive Press abide by is from the Hanafi Fiqh and detailed below. Every manuscript that gets published by our press will need to conform to these guidelines. If you aren’t sure of this regarding your manuscript or book idea, just contact us and we’ll be happy to look it over with you, B’ithnillah.

Ruling with regards to reading and writing fiction in Islam:

It is permissible to write fiction books if the following conditions are met:

1. The content of the stories should be within the boundaries of the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet of Allah (saw) — the storylines should not be about immodesty, immorality and violence.

2. It is written for a purpose of deriving a moral or a lesson.

There is a difference between (a) reading stories in which there is an incidental presence of unlawful matters and (b) writing such stories.

1. There is nothing in of itself wrong by coming up with imaginary worlds.

2. Description of bloodshed is permitted if it is restrained and within the limits of decency and the dignity every human (and, in fact, living) soul deserves.

3. Characters can be described, but within the limits of restraint befitting the description of others (e.g. can’t describe the specifics of the `awra or beauty of others, though general mention of them being beautiful, etc, in restrained and dignified ways would be permitted).

4. It is not permitted to write about unlawful situations in specifics.

May Allah (swt) forgive us our unintentional oversights and give us correct understanding, Ameen.

There are differing Islamic scholarly opinions when it comes to the permissibility of images and pictures in books. The opinion we at Glowing Olive Press follow is from Hanafi Fiqh, provided directly to us by Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed (Miftaah Institute).

The opinion is as follows:

The permissibility of pictures in books is based on the definition of a “picture” as defined in Ahadith. If the picture references a human form, like a statue or sculpture, which has a physical form, that is impermissible. Thus cartoon-like images (caricatures, etc), that do not resemble the human form in their physicality are permissible.

The other area of concern within images is the drawing of “eyes”. Regarding this we also follow the above-named Mufti’s opinion that even if it is a cartoon-like image, but it has drawn out eyes, that is impermissible. Creative alternatives here would be slits or dots for eyes, or perhaps glasses (I will leave that part to an actual illustrator!)

The vision of Glowing Olive Press is to publish Islamically-appropriate, high-quality books for all ages (Middle Grade/Young Adult/Adult)

We are very flexible with the form and want you to write what excites you, and what you feel your skills are best suited for. Allah (swt) has given each of us a propensity for something. Our job is to hone that natural ability and strive to achieve excellence in that area using all the resources available to us. So, if you love writing short stories and are ready to share them with the world, please send us those! On the contrary, if you have the steady stamina of a tortoise and working on a novel over several months and years is more your thing (if that’s you, more power to you!), we would love to see that.

For formality’s sake, below is a fluid list of the forms you may think of writing in. If you don’t see what you are looking for or thinking about, just contact us and we can work with you on pinning it down. Easy Peasy:)

Fiction

Short Stories

Flash Fiction (a really short story, usually under 150 words)

Novella

Novel

Non-Fiction

Creative/Narrative Non-Fiction Excellent examples of this are Fatima Barakatullah’s “Khadijah: Mother of History’s Greatest Nation” (Published by Learning Roots) and Jessica Goudeau’s “After the Last Border” (Published by Penguin Books).

Essays

Memoir

That’s great! There’s nothing more exciting than that kernel of an idea that starts out like a comfort toy you love to carry around everywhere you go, but then starts tugging at you with a force that you just can’t ignore. If that sounds like you, no matter where you may be in the process, we would love to hear from you. Please contact us and tell us a bit about yourself and your book idea.

We will get in touch with you shortly afterwards for further discussion and possible collaboration.

We look forward to hearing from you soon, inshaAllah!

In line with our mission to produce high-quality publications centered around Islam and the Muslim way of life, we are dedicated to working with you from start to finish. At Glowing Olive Press the mindset is one of collaboration, with the shared goal of the best version of your book in the hands of readers.

When your book is published with Glowing Olive Press, readers naturally understand the overarching context and purpose of the book. This gives your book a higher chance of being found and read by readers on the lookout for similar publications.

Upon acceptance, you will receive a copy of the book contract with a deadline for the completed manuscript.

Once you send us your completed manuscript, our team will begin work on it. Copyeditors and line editors will go through it to ensure the integrity of the manuscript. We use a software to professionally format your book. Illustrations as required will also be done by our team at this stage. You will be kept up to date throughout this process and can choose to be as involved as you like.

Zoom meetings will be scheduled to discuss pertinent updates, review timelines, and for any general discussions regarding the development of your book.

Once all the above processes are completed, a book cover designer will work with you to come up with the front matter that is consistent with the concept of your book, and let’s say it, excites you!

We are now getting close to transforming the manuscript you so painstakingly worked on for months into a book that will reach the hands (and hearts) of many, by the Will of Allah (swt).

But before that, we will send you and our editors sample copies of the book for a thorough read through. Any remaining errors/modifications may be made at this stage, so the final book is as polished as it can be.

Once your book is ready to be printed, we assign it an ISBN number so your readers can locate and purchase it, and the book goes into print. At this point, you will receive author copies to distribute as you wish.

We market and distribute your book directly on our website and on our social media. Book events will be set up as we reach those stages, so you have a chance to do a book reading, meet and greet, and book signing.