Islam Readings for Educators
- Armstrong, Karen, A History of Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths.
- ____________, Islam: A Short History.
- Hourani, Albert, A History of the Arab Peoples: An Updated Edition.
- Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Islam: Religion, History, and Civilization.
- Ruthven, Malise, Islam: A Very Short Introduction.
Islam Readings for the Classroom
Below are two short religious literacy text sets sorted by grades K-3 and 4-5. These can be used in the classroom to engage students in understanding lived religions. Please note that teachers should carefully read and review texts before using them in the classroom to ensure alignment with curricular goals.
Grades K-3
Bullard, Lisa, and Holli Conger. My Religion, Your Religion. Minneapolis, MN: Millbrook Press, 2015. This book provides a multi-perspective story on four major religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism.
Hoffman, Mary, and Karin Littlewood. The Color of Home. New York, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2002. Young Hassan arrives in the United States from Somalia and paints a picture at school of his homeland.
Khan, Hena, and Julie Paschkis. Night of the Moon: A Muslim Holiday Story. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2018. This book tells the story of Yasmeen and her family and friends celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Grades 4-5
Ajmera, Maya, Magda Nakassis, and Cynthia Pon. Faith. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2009. Photographs document how children around the world celebrate their faith traditions.
Bortzer, Etan, and Robbie Marantz. What Is God? Willowdale, ON: Firefly Juvenile, 2002. This text provides a comparative introduction in text and colorful pictures to Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and their sacred texts.
Buller, Laura. A Faith Like Mine: A Celebration of the World’s Religions – Seen through the Eyes of Children. London, England: DK Publication, 2006. A comprehensive informational text provides plenty of pictures that detail the major and even some of the world’s more minor faith traditions.
Glossop, Jennifer, and John Mantha. The Kids Book of World Religions. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 2013. An informative text details the major faith traditions of the world.
Marsico, Katie. Islam. Ann Arbor, MI: Cherry Lake Publishing, 2017. This text, which is part of the Global Citizens: World Religions series, describes Islam through text and pictures.
Osborne, Mary Pope. One World, Many Religions: The Ways We Worship. New York, NY: Knopf, 1996. A non-fiction story uses photographs to detail seven major faith traditions today.
Harvard Divinity School: Case Studies on Islam
- Environmental Fatwas of Indonesia
- Malaysia’s Sisters in Islam (SIS)
- African American Muslims
- Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood
- Muslims in Outer Space
Harvard University Pluralism Project: Essays on Islam
Miscellaneous Links on Islam
- WHFUA – World History for Us All website
- Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs – Knowledge resources on five major world religions and religious issues in world today.
- Unity Productions Foundation – Documentary films and teaching resources on Islam.
- NEH/ALA Bridging Cultures Bookshelf – Support materials for learning about Muslim societies and religion over time.
- Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies
- Islamic Networks Group (ING) – Lessons for world religions/history
- K-14 Education Outreach: Center for Contemporary Arab Studies Georgetown
Resources for Ramadan
- “Fact Sheet on Ramadan” with reference to websites and children’s/teen activities that you can use in your teaching
- 21 Children’s Books about Ramadan and Eid – find read-aloud stories online!
- PBS Column: How teachers can support students during Ramadan
- We are Teachers: 9 Ways to Support Students During Ramadan
- Resources for teaching about Ramadan and Eid from Teaching Tolerance
- 5 Things Everyone Should Know About Ramadan (ABC News)