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A Concise Encyclopedia of Islam ACONCISE ENCYCLOPEDIA of ISLAM other books in the same series A Concise Encyclopedia of Judaism, Dan Cohn-Sherbok, ISBN 1–85168–176–0 A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Klaus K. Klostermaier, ISBN 1–85168–175–2 A Concise Encyclopedia of Christianity, Geoffrey Parrinder, ISBN 1–85168–174–4 A Concise Encyclopedia of Buddhism, John Powers, ISBN 1–85168–233–3 A Concise Encyclopedia of the Baha´’ı´ Faith, Peter Smith, ISBN 1–85168–184–1 other books on islam published by oneworld Approaches to Islam in Religious Studies, Richard C. Martin, ISBN 1–85168–268–6 Averroes: His Life, Works and Influence, Majid Fakhry, ISBN 1–85168–269–4 The Faith and Practice of Al-Ghaza´lı´, William Montgomery Watt, ISBN 1–85168–062–4 Faith and Reason in Islam: Averroes’ Exposition of Religious Arguments, translated by Ibrahim Najjar, ISBN 1–85168–263–5 Islam and the West, Norman Daniel, ISBN 1–85168–129–9 Islam: A Short History, William Montgomery Watt, ISBN 1–85168–205–8 Islam: A Short Introduction, Abdulkader Tayob, ISBN 1–85168–192–2 Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Mysticism: A Short Introduction, Majid Fakhry, ISBN 1–85168–252–X The Legacy of Arab-Islam in Africa: A Quest for Inter-religious Dialogue, John Alembillah Azumah, ISBN 1–85168–273–2 The Mantle of the Prophet, Roy Mottahedeh, ISBN 1–85168–234–1 Muhammad: A Short Biography, Martin Forward, ISBN 1–85168–131–0 Muslim Women Mystics: The Life and Work of Rabica and other Women Mystics in Islam, Margaret Smith, ISBN 1–85168–250–3 On Being a Muslim: Finding a Religious Path in the World Today, Farid Esack, ISBN 1–85168–146–9 The Qur’an and its Exegesis, Helmut Ga¨tje, ISBN 1–85168–118–3 Revival and Reform in Islam, Fazlur Rahman, ISBN 1–85168–204–X Speaking in God’s Name: Islamic Law, Authority and Women, Khaled Abou El-Fadl, ISBN 1–85168–262–7 What Muslims Believe, John Bowker, ISBN 1–85168–169–8 ACONCISE ENCYCLOPEDIA of ISLAM GORDON D. NEWBY A CONCISE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ISLAM Oneworld Publications (Sales and Editorial) 185 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7AR England www.oneworld-publications.com # Gordon D. Newby 2002 Reprinted 2004 All rights reserved. Copyright under Berne Convention A CIP record for this title is available from the British Library ISBN 1–85168–295–3 Cover design by Design Deluxe Typeset by LaserScript, Mitcham, UK Printed and bound in India by Thomson Press Ltd NL08 Contents Preface and acknowledgments vi Transliteration and pronunciation ix Introduction 1 A Concise Encyclopedia of Islam 13 God’s Ninety-Nine Names 219 Chronology 221 Bibliography 228 Thematic Index 233 Preface and acknowledgments riting about Islam in a single volume is a daunting task, but it is Wone that I happily took on because of my longstanding desire to help more people in the English-speaking world understand and appreciate this religion. Islam is not only a world religion, claiming about a fifth of the world’s population, it is also a system of culture and politics. Muslims are found in most countries of the world, speaking most of the world’s languages. There is no central authority that can speak for all Muslims, and there is no single way to be a Muslim. It is, like the other great religions of the world, diverse, dynamic, and difficult to define in only a few words, terms, and entries. This Concise Encyclopedia of Islam is meant to represent Islam’s diversity and offer the reader a short definition of major terms and introduce major figures. In writing this Encyclopedia, I have chosen to use the distinction that was made by the late M.G.S. Hodgson in his Venture of Islam, between those subjects that are “Islamic” and those that are, in his word, “Islamicate.” By “Islamic,” he meant those subjects that have to do with the religion, and by “Islamicate,” he meant those subjects that are products of the culture that Muslims, and Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, Hindus, and others living under Islam, have produced. We speak of “Islamic science,” meaning the scientific advances during the time of the Western Middle Ages, but those scientific advances were a product of the interaction of Jews and Christians as well as Muslims living in Islamic countries. The religion of Islam contributed to the development of that and other branches of learning, because Muslim rulers chose to sponsor learning as part of their vision of themselves as Muslims. I have chosen to leave the political and cultural material to others. This volume contains terms that are related to Islam as a religious system. As I mentioned, Islam is a diverse and dynamic religion. No Muslim will accept everything that I have presented in this volume as Islamic. In vii Preface and acknowledgments attempting to represent Islam’s diversity, I have tried to include material that tells the story of the major groups within Islam. This means that the views of the Shıˆcˆı as well as the Sunnıˆ are included. My choice to do this is, in part, a corrective. Works of this kind have often been heavily weighted toward the Sunnıˆ perspective. The reasons for this are complicated, but it had much to do with the history of how the West came to learn about Islam and the desire of Western Orientalist writers to essentialize Islam and not acknowledge the nuances and differences that they did in Western Christianity. Recognizing complexity in someone else or in another religious system is an important step toward understanding that religion as well as one’s own. This single volume is not intended to be the end and the answer to questions about Islam, but, rather, a beginning. At the end of the volume, the reader will find a bibliography listing additional English- language reference works, monographs, and introductory texts. I strongly urge readers to seek out as many of those texts as possible. Many of the references should be available in local libraries. There is also a wealth of information about Islam on the Internet. Many basic Islamic texts are available in English translation on line. I have listed a few of the gateway URLs that should serve as a start into the rapidly growing world of the Islamic Internet. One caution, however, is that the Internet is rapidly changing, with many varied opinions expressed in the sites. Remember that the many different opinions reflect the great diversity within the religion called Islam. There is also a time-line of major dates and events in Islamic history to assist the reader in placing the information in the Encyclopedia in historical perspective. The terms in the Encyclopedia are transliterated from their appropriate Islamic languages. The diacritic marks on the terms represent the consonants and vowels in the original language. This is meant to be an aid to the student of those languages in locating the term in an appropriate language dictionary or encyclopedia. Without the diacritics, it is difficult, particularly for the beginner in the language, to distinguish what appear to be homonyms. For the reader who doesn’t know the Islamic languages, the pronunciation guide that follows this preface will assist in a reasonable approximation of the sound of the terms to be able to talk with those who do know how to pronounce them. The information for this volume has been drawn from many different sources. In the bibliography, I have left out the many specialty monographs and other works for lack of space. Additionally, I have A Concise Encyclopedia of Islam viii been aided by many individuals who have patiently read my drafts and offered helpful suggestions. I would like to thank my colleagues at Emory University in particular. Profs. Mahmoud Al-Batal, Kristen Brustad, Shalom Goldman, Frank Lewis, Richard Martin, Laurie Patton, Devin Stewart, and Vernon Robbins have each strengthened my efforts. The best parts of this volume are to their credit, and the deficiencies are mine. I would also like to thank the editors of Oneworld Publications for the opportunity to write this volume. It has provided me a wonderfully concentrated time to review the Islamic religious scene and the years of study I have devoted to Islam, and the opportunity has been personally enriching. Finally, I wish to express my thanks to my wife, Wendy. Her support, encouragement, and forbearance have kept me well and happily throughout this project. The publisher and author would like to thank the following organiza- tions and individuals for providing the pictures reproduced in this volume. Pages 46, 47, 48, 54, 61, 66, 76, 134, 138, 141, 154, 189, 208 # Peter Sanders Photography Ltd. Pages 19, 32, 104, 127, 188, 201 # D.P. Brookshaw. Pages 72, 99, 101, 144, 171, 178, 210 # Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Page 170 from the collection of Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan. Map, page xii, by Jillian Luff, Mapgrafix. Cover photograph (far right) of children, Jakarta, Istiqlal Mosque – Religious Education; Mock Hajj # Mark Henley/Impact. Cover photograph (center) interior of the prayer hall, Islamic Cultural Center, New York # Omar Khalidi. Transliteration and pronunciation any of the terms in this Concise Encyclopedia are transliterated Mfrom their original scripts in the Islamic languages of Arabic, Persian, Turkish, or Urdu. The system listed below will assist those who wish to identify the correct term in the original language. The pronunciation guide will assist in approximating the sound of the words. The system of transliteration is that used in many scholarly publications on Islam. The order of the list is the order of the Arabic alphabet. Consonants Arabic letter Symbol Approximate pronunciation c glottal stop b English b t English t th English th as in thin j English
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