Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. Amounting to almost quarter of the world's population, as of 2015 there are 1.8 billion adherents of Islam.
You can use our reading lists to find the best Islamic books ever written on a variety of subjects
Our book recommendations explore the many aspects of the Muslim faith. This includes religious doctrines, but also the way that the Islamic world contributed to vital developments in science and philosophy in the ancient world. Through a more political angle, some interviews explore the place of Islam in the West, the rise of fundamentalist Islamism, and the future of the faith.
Our interviewees include Islamic scholars such as Tariq Ramadan and Amira Bennison, philosophers such as Peter Adamson, and critics of Islam such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
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Greek Thought, Arabic Culture
by Dimitri Gutas -
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Great Medieval Thinkers: Avicenna
by Jon McGinnis -
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Avicenna's 'De Anima' in the Latin West
by Dag Nikolaus Hasse -
4
Maimonides in His World: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker
by Sarah Stroumsa -
5
The Teleological Ethics of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī
by Ayman Shihadeh
The best books on Philosophy in the Islamic World, recommended by Peter Adamson
The best books on Philosophy in the Islamic World, recommended by Peter Adamson
Arabic philosophy was hugely influential during the Islamic Golden Age; at one point, the Persian polymath Avicenna’s influence outstripped that of Aristotle. But a strong tradition has continued in the centuries since, explains Professor Peter Adamson, as he selects five of the best books on the subject.
The best books on Science and Islam, recommended by Amira Bennison
Islamic scientific discoveries underpinned much of the European Renaissance and the Islamic world inspired Europe as much as Greece and Rome did, says Cambridge professor Amira Bennison. She recommends the best books to get a better understanding of the Islamic contribution to modern science.
Books about Travelling in the Muslim World, recommended by Tim Mackintosh-Smith
Author and Arabist Tim Mackintosh-Smith tells us about the rich tradition in Islam of travelling to gain knowledge, and directs us towards some of those, both Western and Arab, who’ve inspired with their tales of life on the road.
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Islam and Democracy
by Fatima Mernissi -
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Secular and Islamic Feminist Critiques in the Work of Fatima Mernissi
by Raja Rhouni -
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Inside the Gender Jihad
by Amina Wadud -
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Counter Legal Draft of the Compilation of Islamic Law
by Siti Musdah Mulia -
5
Iranian Women’s One Million Signatures
by Noushin Khorasani
The best books on Islam and Feminism, recommended by Margot Badran
The best books on Islam and Feminism, recommended by Margot Badran
The historian and gender studies specialist Margot Badran has devoted her life's work to the Muslim world. Here she explains what feminism means in the context of Islam and chooses five books that have been critical in its evolution.
The best books on Multiculturalism, recommended by Tariq Modood
Rather than an exciting concept that opens up societies to new ideas and cultures, the idea of 'multiculturalism' is currently out of favour, at least in popular political discourse. Yet, according to sociologist Tariq Modood, founding Director of the Bristol University Research Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, many of the problems we face today are crying out for multicultural solutions. He recommends the best books on multiculturalism, beginning with its development as a political theory in 1980s Canada.