The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam

This fully revised new edition comprehensively encompasses the religion, history and culture of the Islamic world in some 1300 entries. It covers aspects of religious belief, ritual, practices, prayer, significant political movements, spiritual and political leaders, art, architecture, sects, law, social institutions, history, ethnography, nations and states, languages, science, major cities and centres of learning.The first edition of the Encyclopedia won worldwide acclaim. This work is the result of a lifetimes study and a wide personal acquaintance with the Muslim world. As a western scholar (a graduate of Columbia University) and a practicing Muslim, Cyril Glassé manages to straddle both cultures with an understanding of, and respect for both the current Islamic world and its complex past.