The following list of religious and geopolitical books deals with
various aspects and issues related to Islam and Muslims, the other monotheistic faiths (specifically Judaism and Christianity), and the world at large. The
books listed are owned and / or reviewed by the webmaster and contributing associates. These readings were selected based on intellectual scholarship and
integrity. We encourage visitors to review comments on the suggested reading material (e.g., at Amazon.com and other
reputable sites based on areas of interest) before investing in or acquiring any of the following books.
We recognize that reading requires a significant amount of time, which may not be in abundance. Besides Muhammad Asad's "The Message of the Qur'an," the
following select books should be required reading for those interested in pushing the intellectual envelope.
| Books | Authors |
|---|---|
| The Message of the Qur'an | Muhammad Asad |
| Reasoning with God: Reclaiming Shari'ah in the Modern Age | Khaled Abou El Fadl |
| The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists | Khaled Abou El Fadl |
| And God Knows the Soldiers: The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses | Khaled Abou El Fadl |
| Major Themes of the Qur'an | Fazlur Rahman |
| Revival and Reform in Islam: A Study of Islamic Fundamentalism | Fazlur Rahman, Ebrahim Moosa |
| Islam | Fazlur Rahman |
| Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition | Fazlur Rahman |
| Islamic Methodology in History | Fazlur Rahman |
| Voice of an Exile: Reflections on Islam | Nasr Abu Zaid |
| Modern Muslim Intellectuals and the Qur'an | Suha Taji-Farouki |
| Interpreting the Qur'an: Towards a Contemporary Approach | Abdullah Saeed |
| Islam and Violence (Elements in Religion and Violence) | Khaleel Mohammed |
| David in the Muslim Tradition: The Bathsheba Affair | Khaleel Mohammed |
| Coming to Terms with the Qur'an: A Volume in Honor of Professor Issa Boullata | Khaleel Mohammed and Andrew Rippin |
| Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy | Jonathan Brown |
| Sharia Compliant: A User's Guide to Hacking Islamic Law (Encountering Traditions) | Rumee Ahmed |
| The Qur'an, Morality and Critical Reason (Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East) | Muhammad Shahrur |
| Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari'a | Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im |
| Toward an Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights, and International Law | Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im |
| The Origins and Evolution of Islamic Law (Themes in Islamic Law) | Wael B. Hallaq |
| A History of Islamic Legal Theories: An Introduction to Sunni Usul al-Fiqh | Wael B. Hallaq |
| "Believing Women" in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an | Asma Barlas |
| Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective | Amina Wadud |
| Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate | Leila Ahmed |
| The Veil And The Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation Of Women's Rights In Islam | Fatima Mernissi |
| Sexual Ethics And Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur'an, Hadith, and Jurisprudence | Kecia Ali |
| A Faith for All Seasons: Islam and the Challenge of the Modern World | Shabbir Akhtar |
| The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism | Abdulaziz Sachedina |
| Against Islamic Extremism: The Writings of Muhammad Sa'id al-'Ashmawy | Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban |
| Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought | Daniel W. Brown |
| The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam | Muhammad Iqbal |
| No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam | Reza Aslan |
| Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth | Reza Aslan |
| Rethinking Islam: Common Questions, Uncommon Answers | Mohammed Arkoun and Robert D. Lee |
| The Ethics of Disagreement in Islam | Taha Jabir Al-Alwani |
| The Religion of Islam | Maulana Muhammad Ali |
| Orientalism | Edward W. Said |
| Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World | Edward W. Said |
| Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources | Martin Lings |
| Studies on the Origins and Uses of Islamic Hadith | G. H. A. Juynboll |
| The Sources of Islamic Law: Islamic Theories of Abrogation | John Burton |
| The Philosophy of the Kalam | Harry Austryn Wolfson |
| Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence | Karen Armstrong |
| A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam | Karen Armstrong |
| Islam and Democracy | John L. Esposito and John O. Voll |
| After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam | Lesley Hazleton |
| Why They Don't Hate Us: Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil | Mark LeVine |
| Muslim-Jewish Encounters: Intellectual Traditions and Modern Politics | Ronald L. Nettler and Suha Taji-Farouki |
| The Invention Of The Jewish People | Shlomo Sand |
| Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why | Bart D. Ehrman |
| How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee | Bart D. Ehrman |
| Jesus and the World of Judaism | Geza Vermes |
| Laying Down the Sword: Why We Can't Ignore the Bible's Violent Verses | Philip Jenkins |
| The Dark Side of Christian History | Helen Ellerbe |
| The Curse of Cain: The Violent Legacy of Monotheism | Regina M. Schwartz |
| Reckless Rites: Purim and the Legacy of Jewish Violence | Elliott Horowitz |
| The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East | Robert Fisk |
| The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy | John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt |
| Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel | Max Blumenthal |
| Passion for Islam: Shaping the Modern Middle East - The Egyptian Experience | Caryle Murphy |
| Satanic Purses: Money, Myth, and Misinformation in the War on Terror | R. T. Naylor |
| The Autobiography of Malcolm X | Alex Haley |