Selected Texts

IslamFYI

“American Muslims and Religious Freedom FAQ” by Interfaith Alliance

“Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Muslims” by ING

Current Affairs

  1. “After Jihad” by Noah Feldman
  2. “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror” by Mahmood Mamdani
  3. “The Forever War” by Dexter Filkins
  4. “Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam is Reshaping the World” by Shadi Hamid
  5. Who is ISIS & Where Did it Come From?
  6. “The Crisis of ISIS: A Prophetic Prediction” lecture by Hamza Yusuf
  7. “ISIS: A History” by Fawaz Gerges

Islamic Studies

  1. “Islam: A Short Guide to the Faith” edited by Roger Allen and Shawkat Toorawa
  2. “The Thinking Person’s Guide to Islam: The Essence of Islam in 12 Verses from the Qur’an” by H.R.H. Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad
  3. “Islam: The Straight Path” by John Esposito
  4. “What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam” by John Esposito
  5. “101 Questions and Answers about Islam” by John Renard
  6. “Modern Muslim Theology: Engaging God and the World with Faith and Imagination” by Martin Nguyen
  7. “Vision of Islam” by Sachiko Murata and William Chittick
  8. “The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization” by Richard Bulliet
  9. “Longing for the Lost Caliphate: A Transregional History” by Mona Hassan

Middle East Studies

  1. “The Modern Middle East: A History” by James Gelvin
  2. “The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know” by James Gelvin

Islam & Violence

  1. “Muslims Condemn” website
  2. An Open Letter to Baghdadi – Important and detailed critique of the actions of the Islamic State signed by more than 100 major Muslim scholars from around the world.
  3. “Jihad is Not Perpetual Warfare” by Zaid Shakir
  4. “Cutting the Fuse: The Explosion of Global Suicide Terrorism and How to Stop It” by Robert Pape and James Feldman.  A Shorter version of Pape’s argument appears in his article, “It’s the Occupation Stupid,” Foreign Policy, October 18, 2010.
  5. “Jihad in the Modern World” by Sherman Jackson in Journal of Islamic Law and Culture 7:1, 1-26.
  6. “Domestic Terrorism in the Islamic Legal Tradition” by Sherman Jackson in The Muslim World, Fall 2001, Vol 91, p. 293-310
  7. “Initiative to Stop the Violence: Sadat’s Assassins and the Renunciation of Political Violence” by Sherman Jackson
  8. “The Lure of Radicalism and Extremism” by Yasir Qadhi
  9. “Killing in the Name of Islam: Al-Qaeda’s Justification for September 11th” by Quintan Wiktorowicz and John Kaltner in Middle East Policy Vol. X, No. 2, Summer 2003)
  10. “Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of Islamic State” by Olivier Roy
  11. “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror” by Mahmood Mamdani

Muslim World Today & Public Opinion

  1. “Who Speaks For Islam?: What a Billion Muslims Really Think” by John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed
  2. Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think – free documentary online

Islam & Media

  1. “Covering Islam” by Edward Said
  2. “Fear, Inc.” report by Center for American Progress
  3. “Covering Islam and Muslims in America” lecture by Sherman Jackson
  4. What is Islamophobia? FAQs
  5. “Islamophobia Network”
  6. “Risks of Rising Islamophobia” by Dalia Mogahed ISPU
  7. “Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy” by Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg
  8. “American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear” by Khaled Beydoun
  9. “The Islamophobia Industry: How the Right Manufactures Fear of Muslims” by Nathan Lean
  10. “Scapegoats: How Islamophobia Helps Our Enemies and Threatens Our Freedoms” by Arsalan Iftikhar
  11. Islamophobia Research and Development Project at UC Berkeley
  12. “Islamophobia: A Threat to All” project by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU)
  13. “Islamophobia killed my brother. Let’s end the hate” TED by Dr. Suzzane Barakat

Quran

  1. “The Qur’an” (trans. M.A. Abdel Haleem) PDF
  2. “The Koran for Dummies” by Sohaib Sultan
  3. “How to Read the Qur’an” article by Ingrid Mattson
  4. “The Story of the Qur’an” by Ingrid Mattson
  5. “Approaching the Qur’an: The Early Revelations” by Michael Sells
  6. “Koran by Heart” by HBO Films
  7. “On Reading the Koran” TED by Lesley Hazleton

Muhammad

  1. “Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction” by Jonathan A.C. Brown
  2. “Muhammad: A Prophet for our Time” by Karen Armstrong
  3. “Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources” by Martin Lings
  4. “In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad” by Tariq Ramadan
  5. “Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World” by Carl Ernst
  6. “Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amidst the Clash of Empires” by Juan Cole
  7. “Muhammad: A Prophet of War?” video by Juan Cole

Muslim-Christian-Jewish Relations

  1. “A History of Jewish-Muslim Relations: From the Origins to the Present Day” by Benjamin Stora and Abdelwahab Meddeb
  2. “Ornament of the World” by Maria Rosa Menocal
  3. “Under Crescent and Cross” by Mark Cohen
  4. “The Spirit of Tolerance in Islam” by Reza Shah Kazemi
  5. “The Myth of an Antisemitic Genocide in Muslim Scripture” by Yaqeen Research
  6. “Qur’anic Truth and the Meaning of Dhimma” by Abdal Hakim Murad
  7. “Scriptural Links: Judaism, Christianity and Islam” lecture by Abdal Hakim Murad

Islamic Law & Interpretation

  1. “Understanding Sharia in an American Context” by Asifa Quraishi-Landes
  2. What is Sharia? FAQs
  3. “Setting the Record Straight on Sharia” – Intisar Rabb interview with Center for American Progress
  4. “Understanding Hudud and Shariah in Islam” by Jonathan A.C. Brown
  5. “Shari’ah Law: An Introduction” by Mohammad Hashim Kamali
  6. “Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet’s Legacy” by Jonathan A.C. Brown
  7. “Politically Speaking, Who Am I, And What Do I Want As An American Muslim?” by Sherman Jackson

Sufism / Spirituality

  1. “Sufism: An Introduction to the Mystical Tradition of Islam” by Carl Ernst
  2. “Sufism for Non-Sufis?” by Sherman Jackson
  3. “The Spiritual Teachings of the Prophet” by Tayeb Chourief
  4. “Al-Ghazali’s Path to Sufism and Five Key Texts” by Al-Ghazali
  5. “Mystical Dimensions of Islam” by Annemarie Schimmel
  6. “The Path of Muhammad (al-Tariqâh al-Muhammadiyyah), A Book on Islamic Morals and Ethics” by Mehmed Birgivi
  7. “The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi” by William Chittick
  8. “The Masnavi” (books 1, 2, 3) by Jalal al-Din Rumi (translated by Jawid Mojaddedi)

Islamic History

  1. “The Oxford History of Islam” by John Esposito
  2. “Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes” by Tamim Ansary
  3. “The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization” (3 Volumes) by Marshall G. S. Hodgson
  4. “Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists” by Michael Morgan
  5. “Historical Atlas of Islam” by Malise Ruthven and Azim Nanji
  6. “A History of Islamic Societies” by Ira Lapidus

Islam in America

  1. “Islam in America” by Jane Smith
  2. “A History of Black Islam in America” lecture by Sherman Jackson
  3. “What it’s like to be a Muslim in America” TED by Dalia Mogahed
  4. “What Does My Headscarf Mean to You?” TED by Yassmin Abdel-Magied
  5. “Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas” by Sylviane A. Diouf
  6. “African Muslims in Antebellum America: Transatlantic Stories and Spiritual Struggles (Rutledge)” by Allan D. Austin
  7. “Zeitoun” by Dave Eggers
  8. “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Malcolm X
  9. “How To Be A Muslim: An American Story” by Haroon Moghul

Videos & Documentaries

  1. “Empire of Faith” PBS documentary
  2. “The Sultan and the Saint” trailer
  3. “Inside Mecca” by National Geographic
  4. “Journey to Mecca: In the Footsteps of Ibn Battuta”
  5. “Al-Ghazali: the Alchemist of Happiness” by Ovidio Salazar
  6. “Qasida al-Burda: Poem of the Cloak” by T.J. Winter pt. 1
  7. “Qasida al-Burda: Poem of the Cloak” by T.J. Winter pt. 2

Non-Fiction / Memoirs

  1. “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” by Malcolm X
  2. “Growing Up X: A Memoir by the Daughter of Malcolm X” by Ilyasah Shabazz
  3. “Zeitoun” by Dave Eggers
  4. “The Butterfly Mosque” by Willow Wilson
  5. “How To Be A Muslim: An American Story” by Haroon Moghul
  6. “The Monk of Mokha” by Dave Eggers
  7. “Muslims of the World” by Sajjad Shah, Imam Mahoui, Ala Hamden and Yasmin Mogahed

Fiction

  1. “Alif the Unseen” by Willow Wilson
  2. “The Bird King” by Willow Wilson
  3. “We Hunt the Flame” by Hafsah Faizal
  4. “Trickster Travels: A Sixteenth-Century Muslim Between Worlds” by Natalie Zemon Davis
  5. “The Moor’s Account” by Laila Lalami
  6. “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” by Mohsin Hamid
  7. “Salt Houses” by Hala Alyan