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The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World

This unique reference is a comprehensive encyclopedia dedicated to the institutions, religion, politics, and culture in Muslim societies throughout the world. Beginning coverage in the sixth century and extending it to the present day, the Encyclopedia covers Muslims in the Arab heartland as well as South and Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
An invaluable resource, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World offers extensive comparative and systematic analyses of Islamic beliefs, institutions, movements, practices, and peoples on an international scale. The articles range from brief 500-word essays to major interpretive and synthetic treatments of topics such as the Islamic state, pilgrimage, law, marriage, and foreign relations. Related entries cover areas of general interest such as social and political movements, women, Muslim minorities, human rights, Islam in the West, and interreligious affairs. Prominent figures that had a lasting impact on Islam are also explored, including Muhammad, Aga Khan, Malcolm X, Muhammad Iqbal, 'Ali Shari 'ati, Ayatollah Khomeini, and Hasan al-Turabi.

2976 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

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About the author

John L. Esposito

84 books156 followers
He is a professor of International Affairs and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. He is also the director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal center for Muslim-Christian understanding at Georgetown University.

Esposito was raised a Roman Catholic in an Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York City, and spent a decade in a Catholic monastery. After taking his first degree he worked as a management consultant and high-school teacher. He then studied and received a masters in theology at St. John's University. He earned a PhD at Temple University, Pennsylvania in 1974, studying Islam and held post doc appointments at Harvard and Oxford. He is well-known as a promoter of strong ties between Muslims and Christians and has challenged the Vatican to make greater efforts to encourage such ties.

A specialist in Islam, political Islam, and the impact of Islamic movements from North Africa to Southeast Asia, Dr. Esposito serves as a consultant to the Department of State as well as multinational corporations, governments, universities, and the media worldwide. In 2005, Professor Esposito won the American Academy of Religion's prestigious Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion. This award honors a scholar who has been exemplary in promoting the public understanding of religion. A prolific writer, Professor Esposito is the author of over 25 books, including What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam, The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?, and Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, The Oxford History of Islam, and The Oxford Dictionary of Islam.


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