– “Towards Understanding Islam” – Mawdudi
– “What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslism” – Suzanne Haneef
– “Realities of Faith” – Umm Muhammad

Learn to pray: “Salaat from A to Z” Dr. Mamdouh Mohamed

Basic fiqh — “Fiqh us Sunnah”compiled by Sayid (Sayyid) Sabiq

Basic Aqeedah (inspirational rather than dry): “Delight of Faith”by Author: Abdullah bin Jarullah/Zarabozo

Du’as and Dhikr — “Fortification of the Muslim” compiled by Sa’eed ibn Ali ibn Wahf al-Qahtaani

Must have on the curriculum: the Qur’an.
– Learn to read/pronounce with “al Qawaid An Nooraniyah” book & CD system. (Sheikh Muhammad Ar Raee)
– Memorize qur’an for your salaat, and to get closer to Allah, with “Ahl ul Qur’an Gear” CD set (Qari Haroon Baqai)
– Qur’an translation — Saheeh International
or Yusuf Ali translation (for all its problems – and no translation is without problems – I am very fond of this as it is the first translation I read of the glorious Qur’an.)

– I would not go for any heavy multi-volume tafseer right away. The English translation is itself a tafseer.

– Below 2 resources for some basic understanding of meanings of the Qur’an in Arabic (use in conjunction with Saheeh International translation):

http://emuslim.com/Quran/English80.asp

and “A Word for Word Meaning of Quran (3 volume set)” published by JIMAS
Author: Muhammad Mohar Ali.

seerah: “Muhammad: The Last Prophet A Model for All Time” Sayyed Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi. Also this author’s other books. He is writing for a younger audience, but his simple style is very clear and penetrating for adults as well. His basic Arabic books of the same titles are also superb intermediate books for the Arabic learner.

Lives of the Companions:

Companions of the Prophet Volume 1 (5 Audio CD Box) Read by Dawud Wharnsy Ali of the Book by AbdulWahid Hamid

Mothers of the Believers : Lives of the Wives of Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be peace) 11 CD in Travel Album (Imam Suhaib Webb)

Spirituality:

The Dreamer’s Handbook : Sleep Etiquette and Dream Interpretation In Light of the Sunnah : Part 5 of ” The Inevitable Journey Series ” (Muhammad Mustafa al-Jibaly). I love this book; it also has lots of authentic dua’s. The rest of the series is great too.

Also on spirituality:

1) “Purification of the Soul” by Jamal al-Din M. Zarabozo
2) “Purification of the Soul” Author: Hanbali,Qayyim & Ghazali (compiled)
Publisher: Al Firdous Publications Ltd. (UK)

May Allah grant us guidance, beneficial knowledge and benefit ourselves and others from the best of the above resources.

ws
Arif

I’ve just put the time in, to locate the majority of the books on this list, to one location where they can be purchased by almost anyone, anywhere.

http://astore.amazon.co.uk/youngwesternm-21?_encoding=UTF8&node=1

For other useful reading lists for young Muslims, check:
http://sites.google.com/site/youngwesternmuslimsreadinglist/

Allah bless us,
Mohammed Abbullah

wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

By group influence I interpreted from the question and in my answer, to refer to various groups/ideologies/interpretations within Sunni Islam. So by “group influence” I took it to mean groups within Sunni Islam.

This is for the following reasons:

1. Sunni Islam is the overwhelmingly dominant form of Islam on the earth.
2. I have no knowledge in teaching the principles of Shi’ism so I am not qualified to include anything on it and do not wish to include something without giving it due justice.
3. I personally believe in the correctness and orthodoxy of Sunni Islam.

This is by no means to be an attack on Shi’a beliefs, but there is no reason to hide that there is a solid disagreement on creedal and legal issues between Sunnism and Shi’ism, and to hold firm to one’s opinions on it. Thus, I would not include Shi’a creed or views if I was teaching a new Muslim because I firmly believe many of those views are mistaken at their core.

We can hold to the disagreement on this while still considering each other brothers and sisters, and respecting and loving one another as followers of our beloved Messenger (saw), reciters of the Book of Allah, and slaves of the One God, Allah (swt).

wa alaikum assalam
Abdul Sattar

In the spirit of the original question, my understanding is that this curriculum is meant to limit “group influence”, etc. As such, why is there an exclusive focus on Sunni theology and no coverage of the Shi’a school of thought?

Jazak Allah khair

Just a suggestions: I think you might want to change the title, because most of the stuff you mentioned is also helpful to those who were born as Muslims that might be seeking to learn about Islam.

The brother who asked the question above doesn’t seem to mention anything about being a revert/convert, etc. Perhaps it’s a someone who grew up Muslim but never had much awareness of the religion. The reason why I’m saying this is because the title might be misleading to some people. Someone who sees “new muslims” might just assume that it’s a list of basic, amateurish books in Islam. However, you have some good, high level stuff on here that even practicing Muslims may have not read. Most of the material on your list is helpful to anyone that is seeking to learn about Islam, be it a born Muslim or a new Muslim.

Masalaama

Jazak Allah Khair brother Abdul-Sattar! Your compilation is very much appreciated. I enjoyed reading your post, and you made a lot of good points (i.e. about madhab). However, with some of the suggested books, I saw partisan leanings every which way. Can you please specify the books (in each category) that are agreed upon or recommended by the majority of scholars, like what you mentioned about the text of Aqeedah at Tahawiyyah. I guess it would be impossible to study Islam completely objectively (WITHOUT having any preconceived notions about a specific topic/issue and then trying to find evidence(s) to justify that initial notion). For some, that becomes an obstacle/hindrance to seeking knowledge, and thus they get bogged down.

I appreciate your time and effort.

just curious: are Zad al-Ma’ad and ash-Shifa available in English?