The Ibn Khaldun classical Islamic studies collection is one of the richest in the region. This collection includes the following subject areas:

• The Quranic sciences include Tafsir (Quranic exegesis), the schools of Tafsir, absolute and relative verses, qira'at (variant readings), abrogation (nasikh wa mansukh) and the Quranic concept of tawhid (unicity, that Allah is one, indivisible, unique, eternal, and constant being);
• Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence);
• Usul al-Fiqh ( including: ijtihad, the disciplined intellectual effort to derive legal ruling from the sources while taking into consideration the variables imposed by the fluctuating circumstances of the Muslim society; qiyas, the analogy or reasoning based upon similar circumstances when no direction from the Quran and Sunnah is available; naqli, the transmitted sciences; and aqli, the intellectual sciences);
• Islamic Madhahib (schools of law: the Malikiyyah, Shafiyyah, Hanafiyyah, Hanabilah, Zaydiyyah, Jaffariyyah and Ibadiyyah);
• Comparative Fiqh (the methodology of different schools of fiqh);
• Fiqh of Islamic minorities;
• fatawa (juridical verdicts);
• Hadith (the verbalized form of the tradition of the Prophet);
• ilm al-Kalam philosophy;
• ilm Maqasid Shariah (the ultimate aims, objectives and intents of the Shariah);
• Islamic Legacy;
• Islamic Sects (Sunni, Shiia and Abdiyah);
• Islamic Theology (Kalam);
• Orientalism;
• Seerah (biography of the Prophet); and
• Tasawuf (Sufism).

Although this collection is predominantly in Arabic, English translations of classical Islamic works are acquired as they become available. A special collection of masters and doctoral dissertations with 700 dissertations in English and 300 dissertations in Arabic are available for reference use. In addition, the Ibn Khaldun Library has a unique hard-to-replicate audiovisual collection of recorded seminars, conferences, and panel discussions of leading Islamic scholars in subjects in or related to Islamic studies. Faculty and students may access the audiovisual collections for use within the audiovisual section of the library.

Complementing the Islamic studies collection is a collection of the social sciences that relate to Islamic life, history and institutions and their counterparts in the Western world including: Asian studies, Awqaf (Charitable Trust), Conflict Resolution, Counseling, Creed and Ethics, Democracy, Economics, Education, Ethics, History, Human Rights, Islamic Economics, Islamic Education, Islamic Ethics, Islamic Fundamentalism, Islamic History, Islamic Minorities, Islamic Political Thought, Islamic Reform, International Relations, Modern Development of the Muslim World, Philosophy, Prophethood and Politics, Renewal in Islam (Ghazzali, Ibn Tayamiyyah, Al 'Izz Ibn Abd al Salam, and Sufi groups), and Women's Studies.

The reference section has numerous sources for comparative religious studies and interfaith work. These include:

• Encyclopedia Judaica;
• Encyclopedia of Jewish Religion;
• Rabbi Joseph Telushkin's Biblical Literacy ;
• Wilson's Old Testament Word Studies; New Catholic Encyclopedia (10 volumes);
• The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers (28 volumes);
• The Complete Encyclopedia of Christian Worship (7 volumes);
• Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation (4 volumes);
• Encyclopedia of Religion (16 volumes);
• Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (12 volumes);
• Encyclopedia of Religion and Society;
• Companion Encyclopedia of Theology;
• J. Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (4 volumes);
• Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels (2 volumes);
• The Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology; Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology;
• The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church;
• The Cambridge Companion to the Bible;
• Abingdon's Strong's The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Greek and Hebrew Dictionary;
• Comprehensive Concordance of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures; Young's Analytical Concordance of the Bible; Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling; and
• Young's African Theology.