Entries invited for Muslim Book Awards 2025

Muslim Matters has invited Muslim authors, writers and publishers to submit their entries for the Muslim Book Awards 2025

Tuesday September 2, 2025 0:32 AM, ummid.com News Network

Chicago: Muslim Matters has invited Muslim authors, writers and publishers to submit their entries for the Muslim Book Awards 2025.

Launched five years ago, the Muslim Book Awards (MBA) is an annual celebration of Muslim voices in publishing, from mainstream publishers, Islamic publishers, or authors who self-publish.

Hosted by MuslimMatters.org and featuring a panel of well-known Muslim reviewers from Bookstagram, the award takes in nominations before finally judging the entries and announcing the winners.

What is Muslim Bookstagram?

Muslim Bookstagram is the unofficial name for the niche space on Instagram where Muslim book lovers reside. It is a vibrant community of readers, writers, librarians, bookstore owners, and all those who are bookishly inclined.

Book reviews are shared, new and old publications highlighted, and deep discussions about publishing, representation, and storytelling are had. Muslim Bookstagram has become both an amazing space for valuable conversations and a resource for Muslim parents, as well as anyone else interested in diverse, representative literature.

Judges Panel for the MBA 2025

Amire Hoxha is a mechanical drafter by trade, a reader by heart, and the author of “AMAR’S FAJR REWARD“. Her meticulous nature helps her identify quality and assess books. Aside from her online presence, Amire has established, curated and grown her local masjid library for 7 years. Her background in Islamic knowledge has made her an authentic resource for Muslim parents wanting authentic Islamic books.

Shifa Saltagi Safadi is the author of KAREEM BETWEEN (Putnam 2024), the AMINA BANANA chapter book series (Putnam 2025), the picture book THE GIFT OF EID (Holiday House 2025), and indie Muslim published SPELL IT LIKE SAMAR (2019), HEAVEN AT MAMA’S FEET (2021) and PEPPERONI, PITCHES, AND OTHER PROBLEMS (2021).

Shifa shares her favorite Muslim books on her online instagram bookblog and is an ELA middle school teacher, so books are basically her whole life. Shifa was born in Syria and immigrated to the US with her parents as a young girl. She lives near Chicago (GO BEARS!) with her husband and four children.

Kirin Nabi is a former Islamic School Librarian who now stewards three little free libraries, and posts about children’s and YA books by Muslim authors or books containing Muslim characters at www.islamicschoollibrarian.com.

Zainab bint Younus is a Canadian Muslim woman who writes on Muslim women’s issues, gender-related injustice in the Muslim community, and Muslim women in Islamic history. She also provides in-depth book reviews of Muslamic literature on her Instagram account, covering everything from YA and adult fiction, academic treatises, and Islamic religious literature.

Submissions are restricted to Muslim authors, illustrators, and publishers. If you’ve written, illustrated, or published a Muslim books awards worthy book, then you can surely apply, the Muslim Matters said.

Application Requirements

Must be written by a Muslim author
A Muslim Story: The story must involve clearly Muslim characters and at least some reference to elements of Islam.
Islamically Appropriate: The story must not promote beliefs or actions that are clearly prohibited by Islam or go against Islamic values. This does NOT mean that characters don’t experience serious conflicts or go through challenges; it does mean that the final message should not be something that promotes unIslamic beliefs or actions (e.g. shirky beliefs, promoting LBGTQ relationships, praising zina).
Published between January 2025-December 2025
English language: Unfortunately, we do not have the resources or ability to include non-English-language books.
Must be prepared to provide sample pages upon request
Must be prepared to provide complimentary physical copies to all 4 judges
No AI, whether used for writing or illustrations.