Reading List - Mind In Momentum

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم بسم ربك الأكرم الذي علّم بالقلم
In the name of your Generous Lord, who taught by the pen

This list is predominantly curated for the general audience, not experts or students of knowledge.
The advanced section is intended for readers with a stronger basis in their religious education or are books usually studied in the earlier stages of the Hawza that are better comprehended with the guidance of a teacher.

This is a list of English books, and as such, the quality of the content is restricted to what is available as original works or translations. I have not personally read all of these books; some are based on the recommendation of trustworthy book nerds in the English space. In fact, I probably have not read any of the translations, given my access to the original language.

This is a live list and will be updated over time. Thanks to all those who helped, those who have been named at the bottom of the list, and others who have remained anonymous.

Table of Contents

Theology

Knowing God, Ayatullah Ibrahim Amini (Beginner)
Lessons on Islamic Doctrine, Shaykh Mujtaba Musawi Lari, Books 1 to 3 (God and His Attributes, Seal of the Prophets and His Message, Resurrection, Judgement and the Hereafter)
Doctrines of Shi’i Islam, Shaykh Ja’far Subhani
Islamic Belief System, Mohammad Shomali
The Faith of the Imamiyyah, Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar (Intermediate)
A Shi’ite Anthology, Allamah Muhammad Hussayn Tabataba’i
Divine Justice, Shahid Murtada Mutaharri
Towards Eternal Life, Sheikh Muhammad Saeed Bahmanpour Translated, Abbas Jaffer [Beginner]

Advanced
A Treatise On The Principles Of Shi’ah Theology: A Commentary On Al-Bab Al-Hadi Ashar Of Allamah Hilli, Al-Fadhil Al-Miqdad. Original Text translated, William McElwee Miller. [Critically edited and annotated, Sheikh Abbas Raza
Shi’i Theology: A translation of Kashf al-Murad, ‘Allamah al-Hilli, Translator Fadil Asadi Amjad & Mahdi Dasht Bozorgi [Best understood with a teacher]
Theological Instructions, Sh Mesbah Yazdi
In Allamah’s Presence, Compiled by: Muhammad Husayn Rukhsand translated by: Tawus Raja
Fitrah: Man’s Natural Disposition, Shahid Murtada Mutaharri Translated, Mansoor Limba
Islamic Theology, Shahid Murtada Mutaharri Translated, Ali Quli Qara’i

Imamah/Sunni-Shia

Al-Muraji’at, Sayyid Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din al-Musawi, (Intermediate-Advanced)
The Succession to Muhammad, Wilferd Madelung
Then I Was Guided, Muhammad Al Tijani
Black Thursday, Muhammad Tijani (Beginner)
The Saqifa, Allama Askari
Imamate And Leadership – Lessons on Islamic Doctrine Book 4, Sayyid Mujtaba Musavi Lari
On the Khilafa of Ali Over Abu Bakr, Toyib Olawuyi
Hadith al-Thaqalayn, The Deposed Will of the Last Prophet to Humanity, Toyib Olawuyi
Ali: The Best of the Sahabah, Toyib Olawuyi
Did Abu Bakr Really Lead the Salat?, Toyib Olawuyi

Imam Mahdi

The Mahdi and Islamic Messianism, Behruz Mohammadi, Abdol-Rahim al-Musawi, and Abdol-Karim Behbahani Translated and annotated, Blake Archer Williams [Intermediate]
Imam al-Mahdi Between Perception and Confirming, Sheikh Muhammad Hasan Aal Yaseen Translated, Radwan Saeed [Beginner]
An Enquiry Concerning al-Mahdi, Muhammed Baqir al-Sadr (Intermediate, Short Read)
Discussions Concerning Al-Mahdi, Gulpaygani, Translated, Sayyid Sulayman Ali Hasan (Beginner)
The Rise of the Qa’im: The Appearance of the Mahdi in Established Narrations, Bilal Muhammad

Tafsīr (Commentaries of the Qurʿān)

The Ocean of the Qurʿān, https://theoceanofthequran.org/, Oversighted, Sh Bahmanpour
The Illuminating Lantern: A Commentary on the 30th Part of the Holy Qur’an, Ḥabīb al-Kaẓimī
Islamic Beliefs: Reclaiming the Narrative, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei Translated, Alexander Khaleeli [Intermediate]
The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary, Sayyid Hossein Nasr (Includes Sunni and Shia sources) [Intermediate]
An Enlightening Commentary into the Light of the Holy Qur’an, A Group of Muslim Scholars, under the direction of Ayatullah Allamah Al-Hajj Sayyid Kamal Faqhih Imani.

Advanced
Tafsir Al-Mizan, An Exegesis of the Holy Quran, Allamah Ṭabāṭabāʾī, https://almizan.org/

Hadith Collections

Sunan al-Nabi, Allamah Ṭabāṭabāʾī
Wisdom of the Prophet Muhammad (2 Volumes), Ayatollah Muhammad Rayshahri Translated, Afzal Sumar and Muhammad Reza Tajri
The Scale of Wisdom: A Compendium of Shi’a Hadith (Arabic & English), M Muhammadi Rayshahri, Translated, N Virjee, A Khadim, M Dasht Bozorgi, Z Alsalami, A Virjee
Ghurar Al-Hikam Wa Durar Al-Kalim, Exalted Aphorisms And Pearls Of Speech, A Collection of Aphorisms of Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, Compiled by: Qadhi Nasih al-Deen Abu al-Fath ‘Abd al-Wahid Ibn Muhammad Al-Tamimi al-Amudi (d. 510 AH), Translated by: Tahir Ridha Jaffer. Publisher: Ansariyan Publications – Qum (2012)

(Note: I Intentionally have omitted primary sources like al-Kafi.)

Hadith Sciences

An Introduction to Hadith: History and Sources, Ali Nasiri
Hadith: Muhammad’s Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World, Jonathan Brown (Sunni)
Misquoting Muhammad, Jonathan Brown (Sunni)

Advanced:
Introduction to Hadith, Abd al-Hadi al-Fadli
A Beginner’s Guide to Rijal and Dirayah, Sh Jafar Subhani Translated, Sh Zaid Alsalami
History of Hadith Compilation, Muhammad Ali Mahdavirad Translated, Alexandar Khaleeli

Quranic Sciences

Qur’anic Sciences, Abbas Jaffer and Masuma Jaffer
Qur’anic Sciences and Shi’i Exegesis, Abbas Bahmanpour

Advanced:
An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur’an (Vol 1&2), Muhammad Hadi Ma’rifat
The Prolegomena to the Qur’an, Sayed al-Khoei

Rulings and Fiqh

Islamic Laws: According to the Fatwas of His Eminence Al-Sayyid Ali Al-Husayni Al-Sistani
Temporary Marriage in Islam, Sachiko Murata

Advanced:

Introduction to Jurisprudential Maxims, Baqir al-Irawani, Translator: Zaid Alsalami
Role of Ijtihad in Legislation, Shahid Murtada Mutahhari Translated, Maliha Qara’i
Al-Nihayah: A Concise Description of Islamic Law and Legal Opinions, Author: Mohammad ibn Hasan ibn Ali Abu Ja‘far al-Tusi, Translation: A. Ezzati

Usul al-Fiqh (Legal Theory)

Advanced:
Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, Ayatollah Ja‘afar Subhani, Alexander Khaleeli
Inevitable Doubt: Two Theories of Shi‘ Jurisprudence, Robert Gleave
Lessons in Islamic Jurisprudence, Muhammad Baqir As-Sadr (Author), Roy P. Mottahedeh (Translator), Oneworld Publications (1 October 2014)
Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence According to Shi’i Law Paperback, Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr (Author), Translated, Arif Abdul Hussain, Editors: Hamid Algar, Saʻeed Bahmanpour, ICAS Press, 2003

History

Kitab Al-Irshad: The Book of Guidance into the Lives of the Twelve Imams, Shaykh Al-Mufid (Author), Translated by: I. K. A. Howard. 1982
The Life of the Messenger, Shaykh Jafariyan
Resplendence of Wilayah: An Analytical Biography of Imam ‘Ali, Sh Jafar Subhani
A 250 Year Old Person, Sayed Ali Khamenei (Intermediate)
Imam Husain’s Brothers in Arms, Sayyid Khamenei [Intermediate]
From Medina to Karbala: In The Words of Imam al-Husayn, Muhammad-Sadiq Najmi (Beginner)
Fatimah the Gracious, Shaykh Odeh Muhawesh [Beginner]

Advanced
The Origins and Early Development of Shi’a Islam, S.H.M Jafri
The Saqifa, Allama Askari
The Battle of the Camel, Shaykh al-Mufid,Translation: Badr Shahin (Intermediate – advanced)
Works of Shaykh Baqir Sharif al-Qurashi, a separate book for each Imam (Intermediate – Advanced) (Link)
Shi’i Islam: An Introduction, by Najam Haider

Islamic Intellectual History

Philosophy in the Islamic World, Peter Adamson
A Short History of Islamic Thought, Fitzroy Morissey
The Islamic World, Edited, William H. McNeill and Marilyn Robinson Waldman
Shaykh Murtada Mutahhari: Reformation and Renewal of Islamic Thought, Dr Khanjar Hamiyyah
A History of Shi’i Islam (Shi’i Heritage), by Farhad Daftary
The Study of Shi’i Islam : History, Theology and Law, by Gurdofarid Miskinzoda and Farhad Daftary

Advanced
History of Islamic Philosophy, Henry Corbin

Philosophy

An Introduction to Contemporary Islamic Philosophy, Mohammad Fana’i Eshkevari
An Introduction to Islamic Philosophy Based on the Works of Murtada Mutahhari, Abd al-Rasul Ubudiyat (author), Hussein Valeh (translator) (01 Sep 2020)
Our Philosophy, Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr Translated, Shams C. Inati (Intermediate-Advanced)
Existence and the Fall, Hamid Parsania
Divine Justice, Murtada Mutahhari

Advanced:
Theory of Knowledge, Shahid Murtada Mutaharri
The Elements of Islamic Metaphysics, Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Ṭabāṭabāʾī [Best understood with a teacher]
Shining Sun: In Memory of Allamah Tabatabai, A Translation of Mihr-i Taban, Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Husayni Tihrani Translated, Tawus Raja
The Return to Being, Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i, Translated, M. Dasht Bozorgi and F. Asadi Amjad
Philosophy of Ethics, Shahid Murtada Mutahhari Translated, Mansoor Limba
The History of Islamic Philosophy, Oliver Leaman
Ethical Relativism, Mohammad Shomali
Spiritual Psychology, Mulla Sadra (Translation: Latimah-Pervin Peerwani)
The Treatment of the Problem of Evil in Avicenna, Zahra Makki
Soul-Body Problem in Philosophical Psychology of Mulla Sadra and Ibn Sina, Sheikh Abbas Ali Shameli
Patterns of Wisdom in Safavid Iran: The Philosophical School of Isfahan and the Gnostic of Shiraz, by Janis Esots

Akhlaq and Spirituality

Forty Hadiths, Imam Khomeini (Intermediate)
Discourses on the Vices, Imam Khomeini (Extracts from his book 40 Hadiths)
Discourses of the Virtues, Imam Homeini (Extracts from his book 40 Hadiths)
Self-Building, Ayatollah Ibrahim Amini
Adab as-Salat: The Disciplines of the Prayer, Imam Khomeini
Life of Gnosis, Ayatollah Javadi Amoli (Intermediate – advanced) (Philosophical, Spiritual)
True Servitude and the Reality of Knowledge, Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir Tahriri
Youth: Advice from Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani [Beginner]
The Hadith of Life, Sayyid Ali Khamenei, Translated, Zaid Alsalami
The Etiquettes of Spiritual Wayfaring and the Journey to God, Sayyid Muhammad Javad Vazififard
100 Pearls: Advice from Grand Ayatullah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani [Beginner]
The Last Luminary and Ways to Delve into the Light, Sayyid Ridha Husayni Mutlaq Translated, Saleem Bhimji [Intermediate]
The Greatest Struggle: Combat with the Self, Imam Khomeini [Beginner] [Average Translation]
Combat with the Self, Sheikh Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Hurr al-Amili [Intermediate-Advanced]

Advanced:
Spiritual Mysteries and Ethical Secrets, Mulla Muhsin Fayd Kashani

Life, Lifestyle and Society

A Young Muslims Guide to the Modern World, Seyyed Hossein Nasr [Intermediate]
Sexual Ethics in Islam and the Western World, Shahid Murtada Mutahhari Translated, Muhammad Khurshid Ali
Contemporary Man and the Social Problem, Muhammad Baqir as-Sadr
Tabyeen: The Neglected Obligation, Ayatollah Khamenei
Society and History, Murtada Mutahhari

Women

Ustadhah Fatemah Meghji’s reading list (Link)
On the Islamic Hijab, Shahid Murtada Mutahhari (Beginner)
The Rights of Women in Islam, Murtada Mutahhari

Raising kids

Futuwwah and Raising Males into Sacred Manhood, Dawud Walid [Beginner]

Contemporary Doubts

Slavery and Islam, Jonathon Brown
Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design, Stephen C. Meyer
The Rights of Women in Islam, Murtada Mutahhari
Sexual Ethics in Islam and the Western World, Shahid Murtada Mutahhari Translated, Muhammad Khurshid Ali
Fundamentals of Islamic Thought: God, Man and the Universe, Murtada Mutahhari
Jihad, The Holy War of Islam and Its Legitimacy in the Quran, Murtada Mutahhari
Wilayah, the Station of the Master, Murtada Mutahhari
On the Islamic Dress [Modest Hijab], Shahid Murtada Mutahhari [Beginner]

Biographies

Shining Sun: In Memory of Allamah Tabatabai, A Translation of Mihr-i Taban, Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Husayni Tihrani Translated, Tawus Raja
Cell No. 14, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei [Beginner]
The Vanished Imam: Musa Sadr and the Shia of Lebanon, Fouad Ajami [Intermediate]
The Stolen Dream: A Biography of Sayed Musa al-Sadr, Javad Shomali & Zahraa El-Kabengi

Martyrs

An Altar of Roses: The Memoirs of Zahra Panahi-Rava Translated and annotated, Blake Archer Williams [Beginner]
I Feared Nothing: The Autobiography of Qassem Soleimani 1957-1979 Translated, Milad Mohammadi
Peace Be Upon Ibrahim I: Memories from the Life of Shaheed Ibrahim Hadi, Translated, Sayyid Haydar Jamaludeen [Beginner]
Peace Be Upon Ibrahim II: Memories from the Life of Shaheed Ibrahim Hadi, Translated, Sayyid Haydar Jamaludeen [Beginner]
With His Held High: The Story of Shaheed Mohsen Hojaji, Mohammad Ali Jafari Translated, Sayyid Haydar Jamaludeen [Beginner]