This volume of Encyclopaedia Islamica is the eighth of a projected 16-volume set, largely consisting of an abridged and edited translation of the Persian Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Buzurg-i Islāmī, one of the most comprehensive sources on Islam and the Muslim world, to which a number of original articles, written specifically for the English edition, have been added. One of the unique features of this work of reference lies in the attention it gives to Shiʿi Islam and its rich and diverse heritage, which makes it complementary to other encyclopaedias. In addition to providing entries on important themes, subjects and personages in Islam generally, it offers the Western reader an opportunity to appreciate the various dimensions of Shiʿi Islam, the Persian contributions to Islamic civilisation, and the spiritual dimensions of the Islamic tradition.
This volume of Encyclopaedia Islamica, covering Ḥabīb al-ʿAjamī to al-Ḥuwayzī, contains a range of articles of an original and analytically significant nature, with special attention given to Shiʿism and Sufism. There are biographies of seminal figures in Islamic history, including the Prophet’s grandsons, Imams al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, as well as the great Persian lyric poet, Ḥāfiẓ; the Ithnāʿasharī scholar, al-ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī; the founder of the Nizārī Ismaili state in Persia, Ḥasan-i Ṣabbāḥ; and arguably the most renowned mystic in the entire history of Sufism, Ḥusayn b. Manṣūr al-Ḥallāj. Regarding the esoteric traditions, there are also articles on Hujwīrī, author of Kashf al-maḥjūb, the first Sufi manual in Persian; the early ascetic, al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī; the ‘sage of Herat’, Khwājah ʿAbd Allāh Anṣārī Harawī; and the Malay Sufi master, Ḥamza Fanṣūrī. Core Islamic disciplines are also addressed, including the foundations of Islamic history, scholarship, religious practice and theology, in articles on subjects such as Ḥadīth, Ḥawza ʿIlmiyya, Ḥajj, Ḥaqīqa, and Ḥayra. As with previous volumes, the articles demonstrate above all the richness of the Shiʿi traditions in Islam.
‘Clearly the editors of ISLA have selected articles they consider will augment the existing reference sources – and they have completed this selection task with acumen and skill. The work as a whole remains, however, a “specialist encyclopaedia” […] – or perhaps more accurately, it is an encyclopaedia for specialists […]. In that sense, it is a valuable addition […] to the reference work available at present. Perhaps its greatest merit is that it brings to an international audience a key example of and an excellent advertisement for high-quality Iranian scholarship which has hitherto been available but known only to a few.’
– Robert Gleave, Journal of the American Oriental Society
‘[The] publication of Encyclopaedia Islamica is a notable step forward in including the Shi‘a viewpoint in scholarship on Islam.’
– Mousa al-Reza Wahdati, Journal of Shi‘a Islamic Studies
‘Printed on coated paper, the five volumes so far published are an impressive achievement both in production as well as in scholarship related to Persian themes.’
– Yashab Tur, Islamic Sciences