Recommended Books for All Muslims

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful

I was looking into books that would be most beneficial to new Muslims. Upon further reflection I realized that in reality majority of the Muslim world itself has yet to recognize the true Islamic concepts on the nature of God, the Angels, Life After Death, the Soul, and Pre-destiny vs Free Will. Hence, here are five books that all Muslims should read to truly understand their religion and its intricate nature in the most simple manner. Titles are linked to the electronic PDF copies of the books from www.alislam.org/books.

An Elementary Study of Islam

“On March 12, 1990, at the invitation of the Department of Islamic Studies, Seville University, Spain, Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad delivered an address entitled 'Islam -- A Discourse on its Elementary and Fundamental Teachings'. He was advised by the Head of the Department to introduce Islam at an elementary level, keeping in view that most of the audience, drawn from other departments and the general public, would have very little knowledge of Islam.”

Topics: Unity of God, The Angels, The Books, The Prophets, The Prayer, Spending in the Cause of Allah, The Pilgrimage, Fasting, The Holy War, Life After Death, Pre-destiny and Free Will.

Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam

Present the views of Islam on the following five subjects:

1. The physical, moral and spiritual conditions of man.
2. The state of man after death.
3. The object of man's life on earth and the means for attaining the same.
4. The effect of action in this life and the next.
5. What are the means for the attainment of spiritual knowledge?

Life of Muhammad (saw)

Introductory book on the life of Holy Prophet (saw). Presents image of Arabia at the time of his birth and his personality and character. Thoroughly covers major events from prior to receiving first till his last days.

Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues

“The central theme of the lecture is peace in this world: or to be more exact the teachings of Islam regarding peace” It is spread into following six categories:

1. Inter-religious peace and harmony
2. Social peace, in general
3. Socio-economic peace
4. Economic peace
5. Peace in national and international politics
6. Individual Peace

Absolute Justice,Kindness, and Kinship

“The Quranic verse which I have chosen for today’s address is extremely vast and comprehensive:

'...Indeed Allah requires you to abide by justice, to treat with grace and to give like the giving of kin to kin. ...' (Surah al-Nahl; Ch. 16: V.91)

Allah does not command us to exercise justice (‘Adl) alone, but also desires us to voluntarily add benevolence (Ihsan) to the act of justice and then to move further to the third stage of human relationships, which is Ita’i Dhil-Qurba—a spontaneous expression of love and care as experienced by a mother for her child.”