Islamic

During Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, Muslims fast during daylight hours and refrain from sinful behaviours. We asked Tharik Hussain, author of acclaimed travelogue Minarets in the Mountains and the new companion guide Ramadan Mubarak, to choose five texts that offer readers insight into the true meaning of Ramadan.

In a bid to get away from simplistic explanations of why sectarian identity in the Middle East can lead to conflict, Swiss political scientist Toby Matthiesen wrote The Caliph and the Imam: The Making of Sunnism and Shiism. Here he recommends other books that shed light on Sunni and Shia differences, including a racy novel set in Saudi Arabia.

It's widely assumed that in the ideal Muslim society there is no separation between religion and the state, but even in some of the earliest caliphates, the secular and the religious were rarely as closely aligned as religious conservatives would have us believe. Here Ahmet T. Kuru, Professor of Political Science at San Diego State University, recommends books that help trace the historical relationship between Islam and the state—and points to strands of secularism that may hold the key to a happier relationship between Islam and liberal democracy.

British lawyer Ahmad Thomson converted to Islam in 1973 and founded Wynne Chambers—one of the first chambers to specialise in Islamic law in the UK. Here he recommends five books on 'the essence of Islam.'

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.

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.

The Islamic scholar and commentator tells us what it means to be Muslim and Western, and explains how mainstream views get trapped between noisy extremism and a sensation-seeking media

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.

The writer, broadcaster and cultural critic Ziauddin Sardar says Muslim societies are not always good at looking towards the future, dwelling instead on the glories of the past and feeling fatalistic about the present

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.