Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Aaron Chapter 2 ‘Aba’ Chapter 3 al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib Chapter 4 'Abbasids Chapter 5 'Abd Chapter 6 Abdal Chapter 7 'Abd Allah ibn Maymun al-Qaddah Chapter 8 'Abd Allah ibn az-Zubayr Chapter 9 'Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim Chapter 10 'Abd al-Qadir, Amir Chapter 11 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani Chapter 12 'Abd ar-Rahman ibn 'Awf Chapter 13 'Abduh, Muhammad Chapter 14 Abjad Chapter 15 Ablutions Chapter 16 Abortion Chapter 17 Abrahah Chapter 18 Abraham Chapter 19 Abu Ayyub Chapter 20 Abu Bakr Chapter 21 Abu Hannifah al Nu'man ibn Thabit ibn Zuta Chapter 22 Abu Hurayrah Chapter 23 Abu Jahl Chapter 24 Abu Lahab Chapter 25 Abu Madyan, Shuayb ibn al-Husayn al-'Ansari Chapter 26 Abu Muslim Chapter 27 Abu Nuwas Chapter 28 Abu Sa'id Ahmad ibn Isa-l-Kharraz Chapter 29 Abu Sufyan Chapter 30 Abu Talib Chapter 31 Abyssinia Chapter 32 'Ad Chapter 33 Adab Chapter 34 Adam Chapter 35 Adat Chapter 36 Adhan Chapter 37 Adnan Chapter 38 al-Afghani, Jamal ad-Din Chapter 39 Afghanistan Chapter 40 Afsharids Chapter 41 Aga Khan Chapter 42 Agha Chapter 43 Aghlabids Chapter 44 Ahkam Chapter 45 Ahl al-Bayt Chapter 46 Ahl al-Hadith Chapter 47 Ahl-i Haqq Chapter 48 Ahl al-Kisa' Chapter 49 Ahl al-Kitab Chapter 50 Ahmad of Ra'e Bareli Chapter 51 Ahmadiyyah Chapter 52 'A'ishah Chapter 53 Akbar Chapter 54 Akhbaris Chapter 55 Akhund Chapter 56 'Alawi Chapter 57 al-'Alawi, Abu-'Abbas Ahmad ibn Mustafa Chapter 58 Albania Chapter 59 Alexander the Great Chapter 60 "Alexander's Wall" Chapter 61 Algerian Democratic Republic Chapter 62 Alhambra Chapter 63 'Ali ibn Abi Talib Chapter 64 'Ali Ilahis Chapter 65 'Alids Chapter 66 Aligarh Chapter 67 'Ali Shir Nava'i Chapter 68 Allah Chapter 69 Almagest Chapter 70 Almohads Chapter 71 Aloes, Fragrant Chapter 72 Alyasa' Chapter 73 Amal Chapter 74 Ammer 'Ali Chapter 75 Amin Chapter 76 al-Amin Chapter 77 Aminah Chapter 78 Amir Chapter 79 Amir Khusraw Dihlawi Chapter 80 al-Amr Chapter 81 'Amr ibn al'-Asi Chapter 82 Amulets Chapter 83 Anas ibn Malik Chapter 84 Andarun Chapter 85 Andarz Chapter 86 Angels Chapter 87 Ansar Chapter 88 al-Ansari, Abu Isma'il 'Abd Allah Chapter 89 Antinomianism Chapter 90 Apocatastasis Chapter 91 Apostasy Chapter 92 'Aqabah Chapter 93 'Aqiqah Chapter 94 al-'Aql Chapter 95 Aq Qoyunlu Chapter 96 al-Aqsa Chapter 97 Aqsaqalism Chapter 98 Arabic Chapter 99 Arabs Chapter 100 al-A'raf Chapter 101 'Arafat Chapter 102 al-Arba'ayn Chapter 103 'Arif Chapter 104 Arkan ad-din Chapter 105 Arqam Chapter 106 al-'Arsh Chapter 107 'Asabiyyah Chapter 108 Ashab as-Suffah Chapter 109 Asharah Mubasharah Chapter 110 al-Ash'ari, Abu-l Hasan Ali ibn Ismail

About the Author

Born in 1944, Cyril Glasse, author of The New Encyclopedia of Islam, is an American citizen of mainly Russian descent. He is currently an international lecturer on comparative religion, and is preparing a timeline of Islamic history (alongside other works). He has recently lectured at the University of Saratov, Russia; the Oriental Institutes in St Petersburg and Moscow; at the Grand Mosque, Tashkent; the Badshahi Mosque, Lahore; the University of Calabria, Italy; the Open Center and Cooper Union in New York; and at Lund Sweden. He is the author of The Berlitz Guide to Saudi Arabia, editor of A Pilgrim's Guide to Mecca for the Hajj Research Center of King Abd al-'Aziz University in Jeddah. His graduate degree in Islamic Studies from Columbia College in 1991 had been preceded 15 years earlier with a degree, also from Columbia, in Russian. As a young man, Cyril Glasse worked in Morocco as a volunteer on a United Nations development project. It was in Ouzzanne, the religious center in the foothills of the Rif mountains in Morocco, and site of age-old Arabo-Islamic institutions, that Glasse converted to Islam. In the late 1960s, he studies there with traditional teachers, and faqihs. At the same period of early life he conversed or studied with the heads of various important mosques and centers of pilgrimmage, including Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, the Imam of the Qarawiyyin, Sidi Boush'arah (one of the last surviving representatives of the Shaykh Tayyib Darqawi), Sidi Ahmad al-'Alawi (of Algeria), and various other 'ulama (scholars of theology). His acquaintanceship and region of studies included association with wandering dervishes and Sufis of various orders. In parallel, he studied the full range of Western academic authorities on Islam (and the other major religions), in the five langauges of which he has a fluent command. From this period Glasse has continued to travel extensively throughout the Islamic world, attending spiritual centers in Maurentia, Algeria, Egypt, Turkey, Arabia, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the republics of Central Asia. He has an intimate acquaintance with Mecca. From 1972-1978 his main residential base was Switzerland, as editor of an international journal. He now lives in New York City, with his wife and son.

Reviews

The first major reference work about Islam to be written by a Muslim for a Western audience...A successful explanation of what Islam means to its believers as well as an outline of historical data....The 1200 entries cover an extraordinary range of Islamic literature and history as well as the religion itself. The maps and chronologies are particularly valuable.
*The Middle Eastern Economic Digest*

We must give full credit to the author for his sincere efforts in accomplishing what is undoubtedly a painstaking feat of gigantic proportions....There are some very useful charts, maps, plans and geographical tables and the overall presentation is neatly packaged.
*The Muslim Herald*

This will prove to be a useful reference tool for students, scholars, librarians on most aspects of classical Islam and its history. For the student of classical Islam....An excellent guide.
*Theological Book Review*

One can wonder whether in all the human sciences there is greater need for a reference work than for this one....It is more than just a new reference work on Islam that is up-to-date and has been kept within manageable compass; in the long run it can helpits users to see the phenomenon of Islam in a new lightttt
*Huston Smith, from the introduction*

This reference work is highly recommended for all types and sizes of libraries. There are simply no other sources of comparable quality, especially in one volume and at a reasonable price. Curiosity about the Islamic faith is at an all-time high in the Western world, and any library staff wanting a good source for answering questions in a balanced and fair manner should have the New Encyclopedia of Islam close at hand. It comes very highly recommended for all libraries.
*CHOICE, June 2002*

This grand, beautifully illustrated book is a feast of fact and insight about this ancient religion of 800 million believers. An enormous amount of information is contained here, all of it fascinating.
*The Review of Higher Education*

One can wonder whether in all the human sciences there is greater need for a reference work than for this one....It is more than just a new reference work on Islam that is up-to-date and has been kept within manageable compass; in the long run it can help its users to see the phenomenon of Islam in a new light
*Huston Smith, from the introduction*