Recommended Readings on Islam

Introduction to Islam

  1. Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary . Amana Corporation, Brentwood, MD, 1989.

  2. Pickthall, Muhammad M. The Glorious Qur'an . Tahrike Tarsile Qur'an, Inc., Elmhurst, NY, 1999.

  3. Dardess, George. Do We Worship the Same God? Comparing the Bible and the Qur’an. St. Anthony Messenger Press, Cincinnati, 2006.

  4. Dardess, George. Meeting Islam: A Guide for Christians. Paulist Press, Massachusetts, 2005.

  5. Murata, Sachiko and Chittick, William. The Vision of Islam. I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 1996 and 2006.

  6. Peters, F. E. Muhammad and the Origins of Islam. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994.

  7. Earnst, Carl. Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World. The University of North Carolina Press, 2004.

  8. Schimmel, Annemarie. Islam: An Introduction. State University of New York Press, July, 1992.

  9. Armstrong, Karen. Islam: A Short History. New York: Random House, 2000.

  10. Rahman, Fazlur. Islam. University of Chicago Press, 2nd Edition, August 15, 1979.

  11. Armstrong, Karen. Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet. Harper San Francisco, Reprint Edition, 1993.

  12. Armstrong, Karen. Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time, Eminent Lives Series, HarperCollins Publishers, 2006.

  13. Lings, Martin. Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, Inner Traditions, Fifth Edition, 2006.

  14. Esposito, John, ed. The Oxford History of Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

  15. Abou El Fadl, Khaled. The Place of Tolerance in Islam. Beacon Press, 2002.

  16. Esack, Farid. On Being a Muslim. Oneworld Publications Ltd., 1999.

  17. Safi, Omid. Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism. Oneworld Publications Ltd., 2003.

  18. Rahman, Fazlur. Major Themes of the Qur’an. Bibliotheca Islamica, Second Edition, 1989

  19. Jafri, Syed. The Origins and Early Development of Shi‘ite Islam. London: Longman, 1978.

  20. Momen, Mojan. An Introduction to Shi‘i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi‘ism. Yale: 1985.

  21. Sobhani, Ayatollah Ja‘far. Doctrines of Shi‘i Islam: A Compendium of Imami Beliefs and Practices. Translated into English and edited by Reza Shah-Kazemi. London: I. B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2001.

  22. Madelung, Wilferd. The Succession to Muhammad. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

  23. Daftary, Farhad. A Short History of the Ismailis: Traditions of a Muslim Community. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998.

  24. Sells, Michael. Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations. White Cloud Press; Book & CD edition, 1999.

  25. Wadud, Amina. Inside the Gender Jihad: Women's Reform in Islam. Oneworld Publications Ltd., 2006.

  26. Ahmed, Akbar S. Living Islam: From Samarkand to Stornoway. London: BBC Books, 1993.

  27. Schimmel, Annemarie. Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill, 1975.

  28. Nasr, Seyyed H. ed. Islamic Spirituality: Foundations. 2 vols. New York: Crossroads, 1991.

  29. Ali, Abdullah Yusuf (ed). The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation, and Commentary. Tahrike Tarsile Qur'an, 1998.

  30. Arberry, A.J. The Koran Interpreted: A Translation. Touchstone Books, 1996.

  31. Wheeler, Brannon. Prophets in the Quar'an: An Introduction to the Qur'an and Muslim Exegesis. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2002.

Videos/Films/DVDs

  1. When the World Spoke Arabic: The Golden Age of Arab Civilization (12-part series, 26-27 minutes each) ISBN Number: 0-7365-3244-7
  2. A History of God (History Channel) (A&E DVD Archives) (2001) by Karen Armstrong
  3. Decoding the Past - Secrets of the Qur’an, 1 & 2, by The History Channel
  4. Inside Islam by The History Channel
  5. Muhammad by A & E Television Network
  6. Living Islam - 6 part series by Akbar Ahmed
  7. Islam: Empire of Faith (2000) – DVD – Director: Robert Gardner

Additional Readings on Islam

  1. Nasr, Seyyed H. Ideals and Realities of Islam, Kazi Publications, Revised Edition, 2000.
  2. Abou El Fadl, Khaled. And God Knows the Soldiers: The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses. Lanham: University Presses of America, 2001.
  3. Tamimi, Azzam and Esposito, John. eds. Islam and Secularism in the Middle East. London: Hurst & Company, 2000.
  4. Gregorian, Vartan. Islam: A Mosaic, not a Monolith. Brookings Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 2003.
  5. Abou El Fadl, Khaled. Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
  6. Ahmed, Akbar S. Discovering Islam: Making Sense of Muslim History and Society. London: Routledge, 1988.
  7. Lalani, Arzina, Early Shi‘i Thought: The Teachings of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir. London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd., 2000.
  8. Holt, P. M., Ann Lambton, and Bernard Lewis, eds. The Cambridge History of Islam, 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970.
  9. Westerlund, David and Ingvar Svanberg, eds. Islam Outside the Arab World. Richmond: Curzon Press, 1999.
  10. Fuller, Graham and Rend Francke. The Arab Shi‘a: The Forgotten Muslims. New York: St Martin’s Press, 1999.
  11. Jahanbaksh, Forough. Islam, Democracy and Religious Modernism in Iran (1953-2000): From Bazargan to Soroush. Leiden: Brill, 2001.
  12. Cornell, Vincent J. Realm of the Saint: Power and Authority in Moroccan Sufism. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998.
  13. Nanji, Azim. The Nizari Isma‘ili Tradition in the Indo-Pakistan Subcontinent. New York: Caravan, 1978.
  14. Schimmel, Annemarie. Deciphering the Signs of God: A Phenomenological Approach to Islam. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1994.
  15. Tibi, Bassam. Islam Between Culture and Politics. Houndmills: Palgrave, 2001.
  16. Arkoun, Mohammed. Rethinking Islam: Common Questions, Uncommon Answers, tr. and ed. by Robert Lee. Boulder: Westview, 1994.
  17. Busse, Heribert. Islam, Judaism and Christianity: Theological and Historical Affiliations . Princeton: Markus Wiener, 1998.
  18. Ahmed, Akbar S. and Hastings Donnan, eds. Islam, Globalization and Postmodernity. London: Routledge, 1994.
  19. Hafez, Kai, ed. The Islamic World and the West, tr. Mary Ann Kenny, Leiden: Brill, 2000.
  20. Moussali, Ahmad. The Islamic Quest for Democracy, Pluralism, and Human Rights. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2001.
  21. Weismann, Itzchak. Taste of Modernity: Sufism, Salafiyya, and Arabism in Late Ottoman Damascus. Leiden: Brill, 2001.
  22. Rahman, Fazlur. Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982.

Recommended Reading on Judaism

  1. Feiler, Bruce. Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths. HarperCollins, 2005.
  2. Feiler, Bruce. Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land through the Five Books of Moses. Harper Perennial, 2002.
  3. Fox, Everett (trans.). The Five Books of Moses. Schocken Books, 2000.
  4. Kierkegaard, Søren (translated by Alastair Hannay). Fear and Trembling. Penguin Classics, 1986. (Re: Abraham)
  5. Shalom Spiegel. The Last Trial: On the Legends and Lore of the Command to Abraham to Offer Isaac as a Sacrifice, The Akedah. Jewish Lights Publishing, 1993.
  6. JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh: The Traditional Hebrew Text and the New JPS Translation. (2nd ed.) Jewish Publication Society, 1999