Welcome to our ever-growing library of knowledge and reads for pleasure, recommended by House of Amal’s very own Lead Writing Instructor, Sara Bawany. Through teaching the Writing Residency and facilitating the Writers’ Roundtables for our members, alongside ongoing book recommendation requests in her personal life, and the addition of the annual Book Club to our programming, we decided to put together this free resource.

We live in an era where the joy and act of reading has declined, especially amongst Muslims. Given that we are a people of “Iqra’”, we hope this small space inspires our community and other visitors to pick up books more often, especially because there are so many here written by fellow Muslim writers.

How to navigate:

1. The books are divided by genre and linked at the top of the page for easy browsing. You can check back frequently to see new additions.

2. Note that there are no ratings; assume that if a book is listed here, Sara rates it highly. (You may even see some familiar names!)

3. Please note that listing these books is not an endorsement of the authors’ views. We believe in a practice of separating art from the artist (to the degree it is possible).

4. Each book is linked to an external website for purchase. House of Amal DOES NOT support purchasing books on Amazon (unless they are the publisher and only option) and will make every effort to redirect you to the original publisher, as well as ethical online bookstores. We also encourage you to browse your local library first before purchasing secondhand and used copies, to prevent waste and keep the spirit of book exchanges alive.

Happy reading!