The Quran
The Clear Quran — Mustafa Khattab
The central religious text of Islam, in a clear contemporary English translation.
Read →
Religion7th century CE~1.9 billion adherents
Islam
الإسلام
- Founder
- Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
- Origin
- Arabia (Mecca & Medina)
A monotheistic Abrahamic faith built on submission to one God (Allah), revealed through the Prophet Muhammad in the Qur'an.
Research Library
The full Islam research section
Three pillars of documented scholarship — the tafsir tradition, the classical chronicles, and the lives that carried both. Every entry is sourced; nothing is invented.
Pillar I
Tafsir
The commentary tradition that explains the Quran — from al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir to the great Urdu tafasir.
121 editions · 33 languages →Pillar II
Islamic History
The classical historians — sira, conquests, and universal chronicles — cataloged with authors, eras, and copyright status.
14 works · 8 readable →Pillar III
Personalities of Islam
Companions, caliphs, scholars, and commanders — documented lives with classical sources named.
141 personalities →Overview
Islam
Islam is a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion founded in 7th-century Arabia on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (c. 570–632 CE). Its central scripture, the Qur'an, is regarded by Muslims as the literal word of God (Allah) revealed through the angel Gabriel.
The faith rests on the Five Pillars — the declaration of faith (shahada), prayer (salah), almsgiving (zakat), fasting in Ramadan (sawm), and pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj). Alongside the Qur'an, the recorded sayings and practices of the Prophet — the Hadith — form the second great source of Islamic law and devotion.
From Arabia, Islam spread across three continents within a century, shaping civilisations from Spain to Indonesia.
Sacred Scriptures
Read in full on John Shaqi, in our reader.
The Quran (Urdu)
Tafhim al-Quran — Maududi
The Quran with the renowned Urdu translation and exegesis of Abul A'la Maududi.
Read →
The Quran (Arabic)
Uthmani — Hafs
The Arabic text of the Quran in the Uthmani script (Hafs reading).
Read →
Hadith Collections
The recorded sayings and practices of the Prophet ﷺ — the Kutub al-Sittah.
Books on Islam
The Sufism of the Rubáiyát, or, the Secret of the Great Paradox
Omar Khayyam
Christianity and Islam in Spain, A.D. 756-1031
Haines, Charles Reginald
Islam and the Divine comedy
Asín Palacios, Miguel
Some religious and moral teachings of Al-Ghazzali : $b Being brief extracts from his Ihya-u-Ulum-id-din
Ghazzali
Pan-Islam
Bury, G. Wyman (George Wyman)
The Koran (Al-Qur'an)
A Comparative View of Religions
Scholten, Johannes Henricus
The story of Islam
Lunt, Theodore R. W.
The Future of Islam
Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen
Notes on Islam
Hussain, Ahmed, Sir
Annals of the early Caliphate from the death of Mahomet to the Omeyyad and Abbaside dynasties A.H. XI-LXI (A.D. 632-680) from original sources
Muir, William, Sir
The Moors in Spain
Lane-Poole, Stanley
The Alhambra: being a brief record of the Arabian conquest of the Peninsula with a particular account of the Mohammedan architecture and decoration
Calvert, Albert Frederick
The History of Philosophy in Islam
Boer, T. J. de (Tjitze J.)
A Dictionary of Islam: Being a cyclopedia of the doctrines, rites, ceremonies, and customs, together with the technical and theological terms, of the Muhammadan religion.
Hughes, Thomas Patrick
The New World of Islam
Stoddard, Lothrop
Letters from a Sûfî Teacher
Maniri, Sharaf al-Din Ahmad ibn Yahya
The Faith of Islam
Sell, Edward
Arabia: The Cradle of Islam: Studies in the Geography, People and Politics of the Peninsula, with an Account of Islam and Mission-Work.
Zwemer, Samuel Marinus
History of the Moorish Empire in Europe, Vol. 1 (of 3)
Scott, S. P. (Samuel Parsons)
Three translations of the Koran (Al-Qur'an) side by side
The Jew, The Gypsy and El Islam
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Travels in Arabia; comprehending an account of those territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans regard as sacred
Burckhardt, John Lewis
Observations on the Mussulmauns of India: Descriptive of Their Manners, Customs, Habits and Religious Opinions Made During a Twelve Years' Residence in Their Immediate Society
Meer Hasan Ali, Mrs.
Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah — Volume 2
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Arabian Society in the Middle Ages: Studies From The Thousand and One Nights
Lane, Edward William
The Improvement of Human Reason: Exhibited in the Life of Hai Ebn Yokdhan
Ibn Tufayl, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Malik
The Preaching of Islam: A History of the Propagation of the Muslim Faith
Arnold, Thomas Walker, Sir
History of the Moorish Empire in Europe, Vol. 3 (of 3)
Scott, S. P. (Samuel Parsons)
History of the Moorish Empire in Europe, Vol. 2 (of 3)
Scott, S. P. (Samuel Parsons)
The Arts of Persia & Other Countries of Islam
Kevorkian, Hagop K.
Princess Badoura: A tale from the Arabian Nights
Housman, Laurence
Islam, Her Moral And Spiritual Value: A Rational And Pyschological Study
Leonard, Arthur Glyn
The Speeches & Table-Talk of the Prophet Mohammad
Muhammad, Prophet
Mahomet, Founder of Islam
Draycott, Gladys M.
Islâm
Ali, Syed Ameer
The Islam of Mohamed
Khuda Bukhsh, S. (Salahuddin)
The revolt in Arabia
Snouck Hurgronje, C. (Christiaan)
Alroy: The Prince of the Captivity
Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield
History of the Moors of Spain
Florian
Moorish Remains in Spain
Calvert, Albert Frederick
Sketches from Eastern History
Nöldeke, Theodor
The Arab conquests in Central Asia
Gibb, H. A. R. (Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen)
The Koran (Al-Qur'an)
Islam
Small, Annie H.
Mohammed, The Prophet of Islam
Hayes, Herbert E. E. (Herbert Edward Elton)
Mohammedanism: Lectures on Its Origin, Its Religious and Political Growth, and Its Present State
Snouck Hurgronje, C. (Christiaan)
The Picturesque Antiquities of Spain: Described in a series of letters, with illustrations representing Moorish palaces, cathedrals, and other monuments of art, contained in the cities of Burgos, Valladolid, Toledo, and Seville.
Wells, Nathaniel Armstrong
The Secrets of the Self (Asrar-i Khudi) — A Philosophical Poem
Iqbal, Muhammad, Sir
Modern Persia
Daniel, Mooshie G.
The Koran (Al-Qur'an)
The Confessions of Al Ghazzali
Ghazzali
The holy war "made in Germany"
Snouck Hurgronje, C. (Christiaan)
The Kashf al-mahjúb: The oldest Persian treatise on Súfiism
Hujviri, ‘Ali ibn ‘Usman
Correspondence Relating to Executions in Turkey for Apostacy from Islamism
Various
Two old faiths : $b essays on the religions of the Hindus and the Mohammedans
Mitchell, J. Murray (John Murray)
Christianity and Islam
Becker, Carl Heinrich
Peter's Rock in Mohammed's Flood, from St. Gregory the Great to St. Leo III
Allies, T. W. (Thomas William)
Ten Great Religions: An Essay in Comparative Theology
Clarke, James Freeman
A Critical Exposition of the Popular 'Jihád': Showing that all the Wars of Mohammad Were Defensive; and; that Aggressive War, or Compulsory Conversion, is not; Allowed in The Koran - 1885
Cherágh Ali
Oriental Religions and Christianity: A Course of Lectures Delivered on the Ely Foundation Before the; Students of Union Theological Seminary, New York, 1891
Ellinwood, Frank F. (Frank Field)
Nahjul Balagha
Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib
Sahifa al-Sajjadiyya
Imam Ali ibn Husayn
The Life of Muhammad (Sirat Rasul Allah)
Ibn Ishaq
Ihya Ulum al-Din
Al-Ghazali
Critics, Defenders & Scholars
Critics
Ibn Warraq
Author & Secular Critic · Contemporary · British (b. India)
A secular author and critic of Islam writing under a pen name, known for sceptical scholarship of Islamic origins.
Why I Am Not a Muslim; The Origins of the Koran
Defenders
Ahmed Deedat
Comparative Religion Debater · 1918–2005 · South African
A prominent Muslim apologist and public debater known for defending Islam in comparative-religion debates.
The Choice; Is the Bible God's Word?
Scholars
Al-Ghazali
Theologian & Philosopher · 1058–1111 CE · Persian
One of the most influential Muslim theologians, who reconciled Sufism with orthodox Islam and critiqued the philosophers.
The Incoherence of the Philosophers; The Revival of the Religious Sciences
Related Philosophers
From the Philosophy Library on John Shaqi.
Ibn Sina
Persian polymath whose Canon of Medicine and Book of Healing shaped science and philosophy for centuries.
View profile →
Al-Ghazali
Theologian and mystic who reconciled Islamic orthodoxy with Sufism and critiqued the philosophers.
View profile →
Ibn Rushd
Andalusian jurist and commentator on Aristotle, known in the Latin West as Averroes.
View profile →
Al-Farabi
The "Second Teacher" after Aristotle, founder of Islamic Neoplatonism and political philosophy.
View profile →
Ibn Khaldun
Historian and founder of sociology and historiography, author of the Muqaddimah.
View profile →
Rumi
Sufi mystic and poet whose Masnavi remains among the most beloved works of spiritual literature.
View profile →Sacred & Scholarly Books
Well-known works on Islam — readable in full, right here in the Library.
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
1800 · Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →
Read on site →