Encyclopedia of Islam

Encyclopedia of  Islam

in which all may live freely and pursue visions of 

the highest values the cosmos provides.

In creating these encyclopedias, the attempt 

has been made to be comprehensive if not exhaus-

tive. As space allows, in approximately 800 entries, 

each author has attempted to define and explain 

the basic terms used in talking about the religion, 

make note of definitive events, introduce the 

most prominent figures, and highlight the major 

organizations. The coverage is designed to result 

in both a handy reference tool for the religious 

scholar/specialist and an understandable work 

that can be used fruitfully by anyone—a student, 

an informed lay person, or a reader simply want-

ing to look up a particular person or idea.

Each volume includes several features. They 

begin with an essay that introduces the particular 

tradition and provides a quick overview of its his-

torical development, the major events and trends 

that have pushed it toward its present state, and 

the mega-problems that have shaped it in the con-

temporary world.

A chronology lists the major events that have 

punctuated the religion’s history from its origin to 

the present. The chronologies differ somewhat in 

emphasis, given that they treat two very ancient 

faiths that both originated in prehistoric time, sev-

eral more recent faiths that emerged during the last 

few millennia, and the most recent, Protestantism, 

that has yet to celebrate its 500-year anniversary.

The main body of each encyclopedia is consti-

tuted of the approximately 800 entries, arranged 

alphabetically. These entries include some 200 

biographical entries covering religious figures of 

note in the tradition, with a distinct bias to the 

19th and 20th centuries and some emphasis on 

leaders from different parts of the world. Special 

attention has been given to highlighting female 

contributions to the tradition, a factor often 

overlooked, as religion in all traditions has until 

recently been largely a male-dominated affair.

Geographical entries cover the development 

of the movement in those countries and parts 

of the world where the tradition has come to 

dominate or form an important minority voice, 

where it has developed a particularly distinct 

style (often signaled by doctrinal differences), or 

where it has a unique cultural or social presence. 

While religious statistics are amazingly difficult 

to assemble and evaluate, some attempt has been 

made to estimate the effect of the tradition on the 

selected countries.

In some cases, particular events have had a 

determining effect on the development of the 

different religious traditions. Entries on events 

such as the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (for 

Protestantism) or the conversion of King Asoka 

(for Buddhism) place the spotlight on the fac-

tors precipitating the event and the consequences 

flowing from it.

The various traditions have taken form as 

communities of believers have organized struc-

tures to promote their particular way of belief and 

practice within the tradition. Each tradition has a 

different way of organizing and recognizing the 

distinct groups within it. Buddhism, for example, 

has organized around national subtraditions. The 

encyclopedias give coverage to the major group-

ings within each tradition.

Each tradition has developed a way of encoun-

tering and introducing individuals to spiritual 

reality as well as a vocabulary for it. It has also 

developed a set of concepts and a language to 

discuss the spiritual world and humanity’s place 

within it. In each volume, the largest number 

of entries explore the concepts, the beliefs that 

flow from them, and the practices that they 

have engendered. The authors have attempted to 

explain these key religious concepts in a nontech-

nical language and to communicate their meaning 

and logic to a person otherwise unfamiliar with 

the religion as a whole.

Finally, each volume is thoroughly cross-

indexed using small caps to guide the reader to 

related entries. A bibliography and comprehen-

sive index round out each volume.

—J. Gordon Melton

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In publishing the Encyclopedia of Islam I am 

indebted to a great many people. Creating an 

encyclopedia on any topic is necessarily a group 

project, requiring the shared knowledge, insights, 

perspectives, skills, and experiences of many. 

The task is made even more challenging when it 

involves religion, which encompasses so many dif-

ferent subjects—ranging from the historical, social, 

political, and cultural to the spiritual, philosophi-

cal, and doctrinal. Moreover, the global nature of 

Islam and the sometimes intense differences that 

have arisen among Muslims and between Muslims 

and non-Muslims during the nearly 1400 years of 

its history pose additional challenges when seek-

ing to realize the ideals of comprehensiveness, 

factual accuracy, and fairness.

In order to meet the challenges facing this 

undertaking, I have made a particular effort to 

draw upon the wide-ranging and deep scholarly 

talents of the faculty, postgraduate, and graduate 

students of the University of California, Santa 

Barbara, especially those specializing in Islamic 

and Middle East studies. My editorial assistants, 

John Iskander (now at the U.S. Department of 

State) and Michelle Zimney, helped me launch 

the project and assisted with editing early drafts 

of many of the contributed articles. Among the 

more than 40 contributors, I am especially grate-

ful to Garay Menicucci (University of California, 

Santa Barbara), Nuha N. N. Khoury (University of 

California, Santa Barbara), Kathleen M. O’Connor 

(University of South Florida), Amir Hussain 

(Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles), 

Jon Armajani (College of St. Benedict/St. John’s 

University in Minnesota), Firoozeh Papan-Matin 

(University of Washington), Mark Soileau (Albion 

College), Anna Bigelow (North Carolina State 

University, Megan Adamson Sijapati (Gettysburg 

College), Aysha Hidayatullah (Emory Univer-

sity), Caleb Elfenbein (University of California, 

Santa Barbara), Linda G. Jones (Spanish National 

Research Council in Barcelona), Patrick O’Donnell 

(Santa Barbara City College), Nancy L. Stockdale 

(University of North Texas), Stephen Cory (Cleve-

land State University), Shauna Huffaker (Univer-

sity of Windsor), Heather N. Keaney (American 

University in Cairo), and Reza Aslan (University 

of California, Riverside). These individuals wrote 

a number of articles for the volume, offering fresh 

perspectives obtained from their recent research 

in their respective fields of expertise.

Among other colleagues at the University of 

California, Santa Barbara, who have provided sup-

port and inspiration are R. Stephen Humphreys, 

the holder of the King Abd Al-Aziz ibn Saud Chair 

of Islamic Studies; Mark Juergensmeyer, director 

acknowledgments

K

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