Bibliography

The scholarly foundation of the Islamic Heritage Encyclopaedia

This page lists the core scholarly sources that form the foundation of our encyclopaedia — primary Islamic texts, classical scholarship, and modern academic work. Individual articles carry their own References and Further Reading sections with specific citations; this master bibliography gathers the books they draw on from the encyclopaedia's own source library. A work an article read elsewhere, such as a classical chronicle read on an approved website, is cited in that article's own references and is not listed here. It is a reading list of what the encyclopaedia rests on, not a claim that every article draws on every title here.

Primary Islamic Sources

The foundational texts of the Islamic tradition from which the encyclopaedia draws its religious and historical content.

The Holy Quran

  • The Noble Quran — All Quranic references cite surah and verse number (e.g., Quran 2:255). Translations consulted include Sahih International and Abdullah Yusuf Ali.

The Six Canonical Hadith Collections (Al-Kutub al-Sittah)

  • Al-Bukhari, Muhammad ibn Ismail. Sahih al-Bukhari. Translated by Muhammad Muhsin Khan. Riyadh: Darussalam Publishers, 1997. [Original c. 846 CE]
  • Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj. Sahih Muslim. Translated by Abd al-Hamid Siddiqui. New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan, 2000. [Original c. 875 CE] Also cited in the Darussalam English translation in seven volumes, translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab and edited by Huda Khattab.
  • Abu Dawud, Sulaiman ibn al-Ash'ath. Sunan Abu Dawud. Translated by Ahmad Hasan. New Delhi: Kitab Bhavan, 1990. [Original c. 889 CE] Also cited in the Darussalam English translation in five volumes, translated by Yaser Qadhi and Nasiruddin al-Khattab.
  • Al-Tirmidhi, Muhammad ibn Isa. Jami' al-Tirmidhi. Riyadh: Darussalam Publishers, 2007. [Original c. 892 CE]
  • Al-Nasa'i, Ahmad ibn Shu'ayb. Sunan al-Nasa'i. Riyadh: Darussalam Publishers, 2007. [Original c. 915 CE]
  • Ibn Majah, Muhammad ibn Yazid. Sunan Ibn Majah. Riyadh: Darussalam Publishers, 2007. [Original c. 887 CE]

Other Hadith Collections

  • Ibn Hanbal, Ahmad. Musnad Ahmad. Cairo: Mu'assasat Qurtubah, 1978. [Original c. 855 CE] Also cited in the Darussalam English translation by Nasiruddin al-Khattab, edited by Huda al-Khattab. Riyadh: Darussalam, 2012.
  • Al-Uthaymeen, Muhammad ibn Salih. Sharh Riyad as-Salihin (Explanation of Riyadus Saliheen). Riyadh: Maktaba Dar-us-Salam, 2016. — the commentary on al-Nawawi's Riyad al-Salihin.
  • Al-Bukhari, Muhammad ibn Ismail. Al-Adab al-Mufrad: Prophetic Morals and Etiquettes. With commentary based on the rulings and comments of Muhammad Naasiruddeen al-Albaanee and others; compiled by Abu Naasir Ibrahim Abdur-Rauf. Petaling Jaya: Dakwah Corner Publications, 2014. [Original 9th century CE]
  • Abdul Baqi, Fuwad, comp. Al-Lu'lu' wal-Marjan: A Collection of Agreed upon Ahadith from Al-Bukhari and Muslim. Arabic-English. Translated by Muhammad Muhsin Khan. Riyadh: Dar-us-Salam Publications.
  • Az-Zubaidi, Zain-ud-Din Ahmad ibn Abdul-Lateef, comp. The Translation of the Meanings of Summarized Sahih Al-Bukhari. Arabic-English. Translated by Muhammad Muhsin Khan. Riyadh: Maktaba Dar-us-Salam, 1994.
  • Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali. The Heavenly Dispute. Birmingham: Dar as-Sunnah Publishers, 2017. [Author d. 795 AH] — a translation of his Ikhtiyar al-Awla Sharh Ikhtisam al-Mala' al-A'la, an explanation of the hadith “The Dispute of the Lofty Group [of Angels]”.

Classical Islamic Historians and Scholars

The medieval scholars whose historical chronicles, biographies, and analyses provide the primary narrative framework for Islamic history.

  • Ibn Kathir, Ismail ibn Umar. Al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya (The Beginning and the End). 14 vols. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1986. [Original c. 1370 CE] Its opening portion, on the creation and the prophets from Adam to Yunus, is also cited in the Darussalam translation Early Days. Riyadh: Darussalam, 2010.
  • Ibn Kathir, Ismail ibn Umar. Qisas al-Anbiya (Stories of the Prophets). Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 2003. [Original c. 1370 CE] Also cited in English translation as Stories of the Prophets, among them the translation by Rashad Ahmad Azami. Darussalam, 2003.
  • Ibn Kathir, Ismail ibn Umar. Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya (The Life of the Prophet Muhammad). Translated by Trevor Le Gassick; reviewed by Muneer Fareed. 4 vols. The Center for Muslim Contribution to Civilization, 1998. [Original c. 1370 CE]
  • Al-Suyuti, Jalal al-Din. Tarikh al-Khulafa (History of the Caliphs). Cairo: Dar al-Fajr lil-Turath, 2004. [Original c. 1500 CE] Its chapters on the Rightly Guided Caliphs are also cited in Abdassamad Clarke's translation, The History of the Khalifahs Who Took the Right Way. 3rd rev. ed. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.
  • Juzjani, Minhaj al-Siraj. Tabaqat-i Nasiri. Translated from the Persian by Major H. G. Raverty. 2 vols. London: Gilbert & Rivington, 1881. [Original c. 1260 CE] — the earliest sustained chronicle of the Ghaznavids, Ghurids and early Delhi sultans, used with Raverty's critical apparatus.
  • Khwandamir. Qanun-i Humayuni (also known as Humayun Nama). Edited by M. Hidayat Hosain. Calcutta: Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1940 (Bibliotheca Indica). [Author d. 942 AH / 1535 CE] — a work on the rules and ordinances established by the emperor Humayun and on some buildings erected by his order.
  • Jauhar Aftabchi. Tazkirat al-Waqi'at (the Tezkereh al Vakiat, Private Memoirs of the Moghul Emperor Humayun). Translated by Charles Stewart. London: Oriental Translation Fund, 1832. [Original 995 AH / 1587 CE] — the account of Humayun's reign written by his ewer-bearer (aftabchi), who set down the events he had witnessed himself.
  • Bada'uni, Abd al-Qadir. Muntakhab al-Tawarikh. Calcutta: Bibliotheca Indica, 1864–9. Translated by Ranking, Lowe and Haig. [Original c. 1595 CE] — written privately by a court imam who sat in Akbar's house of debate and worked on his translation programme, and the indispensable counterweight to the official history of the reign.
  • Abu'l-Fazl Allami. Akbarnama. Calcutta: Bibliotheca Indica, 1873–87. Translated by H. Beveridge. 3 vols. [Original c. 1598 CE] — the official history of Akbar's reign, written by the emperor's own counsellor.
  • Lahori, Abdul Hamid. Padshahnama (Badshah-nama). [Original c. 1648 CE] — the official chronicle of Shah Jahan's reign, and the source for the succession crisis that followed Jahangir's death.

Quranic Exegesis (Tafsir)

  • Ibn Kathir, Ismail ibn Umar. Tafsir al-Quran al-Azim. Riyadh: Dar Taybah, 1999. [Original c. 1370 CE] Also cited in the abridged English translation, Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged), 10 vols., by a group of scholars under the supervision of Safiur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri. 2nd ed. Riyadh: Darussalam, 2003.
  • Shafi Usmani, Mufti Muhammad. Maariful Quran. 8 vols. Translated by Muhammad Hasan Askari and Muhammad Shamim; revised by Muhammad Taqi Usmani. Karachi: Maktaba-e-Darul-Uloom. [Urdu original, 20th century CE]
  • Usmani, Mufti Muhammad Taqi. The Meanings of the Noble Qur'an with Explanatory Notes. Karachi: Maktaba Ma'ariful Quran.
  • As-Sa'di, Abdur-Rahman Nasir. Tafseer as-Sa'di. 10 vols. Translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab; edited by Huda Khattab. Riyadh: International Islamic Publishing House, 2018.
  • Suleiman, Omar, and Ismail Kamdar. Qur'an 30 for 30: Thematic Tafsir Based on Seasons 1–4. Irving, TX: Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research, 2024.
  • Khan, Nazir. The Straight Path: How Surah al-Fatihah Addresses Modern Ideologies. Irving, TX: Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research.
  • Al-Hajj Ahmad, Yusuf. The Unchallengeable Miracles of the Qur'an: The Facts That Can't Be Denied by Science. Translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab; edited by Huda Khattab. Riyadh: Darussalam.

Islamic Jurisprudence and Theology

  • Islahi, Muhammad Yusuf. Etiquettes of Life in Islam. Translated by Riaz Husain; revised by Abdul Waheed Khan. Lahore: Islamic Publications.
  • Al-Ghazali, Abu Hamid. The Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names of God (Al-Maqsad al-Asna fi Sharh Asma' Allah al-Husna). Translated with notes by David B. Burrell and Nazih Daher. Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1992.
  • Ibn Taymiyyah, Ahmad. Gardens of Purification. Birmingham: Dar as-Sunnah Publishers, 2016. — a translation of his Al-Zuhd wa'l-Wara' wa'l-'Ibadah.
  • Thanvi, Ashraf Ali. Heavenly Ornaments (Bahishti Zewar): A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law. Edited and translated by Muhammad Mahomedy. 2nd ed. Karachi: Zam Zam Publishers, 2005.
  • Al-Uthaymeen, Muhammad ibn Salih. The Islamic Awakening. Translated by Faisal ibn Muhammad.
  • A Dua a Day: Prophetic Prayers for Ramadan. Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research.

Modern Academic Works

Peer-reviewed scholarship from university presses and established historians that forms the backbone of our modern analytical framework.

General Islamic History

  • Najeebabadi, Akbar Shah. The History of Islam. 3 vols. Riyadh: Darussalam. — a narrative history in the classical mould rather than a modern academic monograph, and used accordingly alongside the works above.
  • Abdul Aziz, Molvi. Islamic Studies. Maktaba Dar-us-Salam, 2011. — a graded school course, of which the volumes for Grades 8, 10 and 12 are cited; the Grade 10 and 12 volumes were revised and edited by Larbi Benrezzok.

Early Caliphate and Conquests

  • Akram, A. I. The Muslim Conquest of Persia. Edited by A. B. al-Mehri. Birmingham: Maktabah Booksellers and Publishers.
  • Abdul Aziz, Maulvi. Abu Bakr as-Siddiq: The First of the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs. History of Islam: A Reader Series. Riyadh: Darussalam.

Regional Histories

  • Nehru, Jawaharlal. The Discovery of India. Centenary ed. Oxford University Press, 1989. [First published Calcutta: The Signet Press, 1946.]
  • Panikkar, K. M. A History of Kerala, 1498–1801. Annamalainagar: The Annamalai University, 1960.
  • Hasan, Mohibbul. History of Tipu Sultan. Calcutta and Dacca: The Bibliophile Ltd., 1951.
  • Dale, Stephen Frederic. Islamic Society on the South Asian Frontier: The Mappilas of Malabar, 1498–1922. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980.
  • Panikkar, K. N. Against Lord and State: Religion and Peasant Uprisings in Malabar, 1836–1921. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1989.
  • Al-Ghadiry, Fawzy. The History of Palestine: A Study.

Prophetic Biography

  • Al-Mubarakpuri, Safi-ur-Rahman. The Sealed Nectar (Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum). Darussalam, 2002.
  • As-Sallabi, Ali Muhammad. Ali ibn Abi Talib. 2 vols. Riyadh: Darussalam.
  • As-Sallabi, Ali Muhammad. The Biography of Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq. Translated by Faisal Shafeeq. Darussalam.
  • As-Sallabi, Ali Muhammad. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab: His Life and Times. 2 vols. Translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab.
  • As-Sallabi, Ali Muhammad. The Biography of 'Uthman Ibn 'Affan: Dhun-Noorayn. Translated by Nasir Khattab; edited by Hoda Khattab. Darussalam.
  • As-Sallabi, Ali Muhammad. The Rightly-Guided Caliph and Great Reviver 'Umar bin 'Abd al-'Aziz: Indicators of Renewal and Guided Reformation on the Prophetic Path. Riyadh: Darussalam.
  • Haykal, Muhammad Husayn. The Life of Muhammad. Translated by Isma'il Razi A. al-Faruqi. Selangor: Islamic Book Trust, 2008.
  • Akram, A.I. Sword of Allah: Khalid bin al-Waleed, His Life and Campaigns. Riyadh: International Islamic Publishing House, 2004.
  • Sheikh, Omer Khayyam. Strategies of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Darussalam.
  • Ghadanfar, Mahmood Ahmad. Commanders of the Muslim Army. Translated by Jamila Muhammad Qawi; edited by Muhammad Ayub Sapra. Riyadh: Darussalam.
  • Dehalvi, Ahmed Saeed. The Miracles of the Prophet Muhammad. English translation by Mohammad Younus Qureshi, 2001.

Prophets in the Quran

  • Seoharwy, Hifzur Rahman. Qasasul Ambiyaa. Translated by Yusuf Karaan. New Delhi: Idara Impex, 2016.

Islamic Science and Medicine

  • Al-Hassani, Salim T. S., chief ed. 1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization. 3rd ed. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society.

Al-Andalus and Islamic Spain

  • Kennedy, Hugh. Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus. London: Longman, 1996.
  • Akram, Agha Ibrahim. The Rise of Cordoba. Army Education Press, GHQ Rawalpindi, 1992.

Ottoman, Mughal, and Safavid Empires

  • Dalrymple, William. The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857. London: Bloomsbury, 2006. — drawn on for the Delhi court under Akbar Shah II and Bahadur Shah Zafar, and for the records of the British Residency there.

Modern Islamic History

  • The Muslim 500: The World's 500 Most Influential Muslims. Amman: The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre. — an annual, cited across its editions from 2009 to 2026; the chief editor of the 2021 edition was S. Abdallah Schleifer.
  • Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. The Hashemite Custodianship of Jerusalem's Islamic and Christian Holy Sites, 1917–2020. — a white paper.

The South Asian Reformist Movements

These works underpin the encyclopaedia's coverage of Deoband, the Barelvi and Ahl-i Hadis tendencies, and the scholars of the reformist seminaries. Metcalf and Zaman between them are among the most frequently cited works on the site.

  • Metcalf, Barbara Daly. Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband, 1860–1900. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1982.
  • Zaman, Muhammad Qasim. The Ulama in Contemporary Islam: Custodians of Change. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.
  • Ahmad, Irfan. Islamism and Democracy in India: The Transformation of Jamaat-e-Islami. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009.
  • Rizvi, Sayyid Mahboob. History of the Dar al-Ulum Deoband. 2 vols. Translated by Murtaz Husain F. Quraishi. Deoband: Idara-e Ihtemam, 1981. Also cited in an independent printing of the same text in two volumes, The History of Deoband.
  • Kandhlawi, Muhammad Yusuf. Hayatus Sahabah (The Lives of the Companions). 3 vols.
  • Qasmi, M. Burhanuddin. Darul Uloom Deoband: A Heroic Struggle against the British Tyranny. Mumbai: Markazul Ma'arif, 2001.
  • Usmani, Muhammad Taqi. Islam and Modernism. — the English version of his Urdu Islam aur Jiddat Pasandi.

Women in Islam

  • Ghadanfar, Mahmood Ahmad. Great Women of Islam. Riyadh: Darussalam, 2001.
  • Golden Stories of Sayyida Khadijah. Riyadh: Darussalam.

Reference Atlases

  • Atlas of the Islamic Conquests. Riyadh: Darussalam.
  • Atlas of the Quran. Riyadh: Darussalam.

Reference Encyclopaedias

  • Bearman, P.J., et al., eds. Encyclopaedia of Islam. 2nd ed. 13 vols.: vols. 1–11, A–Z; vol. 12, Supplement, 2004; vol. 13, List of Entries and Glossary and Index of Terms. Leiden: Brill, 1960–2005.
  • Ben Razzouq, Al-Arabee, comp. A Concise Children's Encyclopedia on Islam. Darussalam.

A Note on Sources

Every article in this encyclopaedia includes its own References and Further Reading section with specific citations, arranged under the headings Primary Islamic Sources, Classical Islamic Sources, Academic and Scholarly Sources, and Further Reading; a heading is left out where a subject has no sources of that kind. This master bibliography lists the books from the source library that the articles use. It lists books and printed reference works only: the websites consulted are cited, page by page, in the articles that use them.

Research is carried out within a defined source base: an approved library of authoritative books together with a curated set of approved reference websites. A source outside that base is used only with explicit authorisation, and where that has happened the article records it. No blogs, opinion sites, or social media content is used as a source, and recalled or general knowledge is not treated as a source — every factual claim must be traceable to something identifiable. Where a claim cannot be traced, it is omitted rather than hedged.

Where a book from the source library is cited, it is given by title and author. Where reliable sources disagree, the article reports the disagreement and names the variants instead of silently choosing one.

For hadith citations, we note the collection, book, and hadith number. Where relevant, we include authenticity grading (sahih, hasan, or da'if). Quranic verses are cited by surah and verse number with the format (Quran Chapter:Verse).