Islam: Beliefs and Teachings is an internationally recognised book by Ghulam Sarwar of the Muslim Educational Trust. It was published by Sarwar as the first English textbook for madrasa students in Britain [citation needed].
Overseas editions: French, Norwegian, Romanian, Chinese and Bengali [1]
Sarwar notes in the preface, that "I feel humbled to note that 275,000 copies of my book 'Islam: Beliefs and Teachings' have been printed in England since 1980".[2]
The Independent newspaper call it a "popular school textbook" [3] The Times newspaper say that it is a "standard text for Muslim religious education" [4]
Ed Husain states that "The first book I read about Islam in English was Islam: Beliefs and Teachings by Ghulam Sarwar" [5] and goes on to state that after only being taught about Islam orally by his family, Sarwars book "filled a gap".
As he was taught that Islam and politics do not mix [5] he says that "one part of the book has stayed with me." This being the chapter "Political System in Islam".[5] He says that Sarwar said that Politics within Islam is fundamental.[5]
The book was written in collaboration with Usamah K. Ward, Prof Dr. Muhammad Abdul Jabbar Beg, Dr. Faruq Nurul Arefin, Dr. Muhammad Qamarul Hasan and Nasreen Sarwar, Farhat Yasmeen Sarwar, Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood (Rosalyn Kendrick) (former head of Religious Studies) and Syed Dohan Nuh.
Sarwar writes in the preface of the 8th Edition that: