Customer Reviews

Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam: Edited on Behalf of the Royal Netherlands Academy

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"Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam" by H.A.R. Gibb & J.H. Kramers, (1953 first published; 1956, 1957, 1961, 1965, 1974, 1991 reprints); just 1 volume of 671 pgs, hardback, English; ISBN: 90-04-00681-8. The 1974 edition notes: "The `Shorter Encyclopadia of Islam' includes all of the articles contained in the first edition and Supplement of the [earlier] `Encyclopaedia of Islam' [9 vols. between 1913-1930s] which related particularly to the religion and law of Islam. The majority of the original articles have been reproduced without material alteration. A number of articles have been shortened or revised, and a few new articles have been added. In most cases, additional entries have been made in the bibliographies in order to bring them up to date." Why is this volume `short'? For its' shortened contents, let's re-read the book's preface note: "related particularly to the religion and law of Islam." Therefore, nothing under `J' for `Jihad'. BUT in the `Register of Subjects', "War" refers a reader to: Dar al-Harb, Dar al-Islam, Dar al-Sulh, Dhimma, Djihad [about 800 words], & Dijizya. Regarding `djihad' the authors opined: "holy war. The spread of Islam by arms is a religious duty upon Muslims in general" (p. 89).Regarding `updated' material, it's difficult to compare, but I did stumble upon Kaba: "The [cloth covering] kiswa is prepared in Egypt every year and brought to Mecca by the pilgrim caravan." If I recall correctly, after 1990s the kiswa is now made in Saudi Arabia - maybe this has been updated in later reprints. Q's are spelled with K's: Quran is offered as Kur'an, the Quraish as Kuraish; thereby, NO subject listings under the "Q" chapter-heading - totally empty. Regarding slavery (`abd'), the author wrote: "Theoretically slaves have no legal rights whatever; according to Mohammedan law they are merely things, the property of their owner" (p. 2). The author wrote about 3,000 words analyzing Islamic slavery. Very informative, just that sometimes you have to do a little searching to find the earlier subject spelling.