There are mixed reasons why interest in Islam has grown among Westernized readers in recent years. Long‐established cultural and religious study of Islam and other faiths, including Christianity and Judaism, has been rather overtaken in the popular imagination by talk of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. This has increased the demand for popular, reliable, and above all dispassionate, reference works in libraries and for sale in book‐stores. John Esposito’s record in this field is widely‐known: his introduction to Islam (Esposito, 1991) is a very suitable starting point for the student and beginner, moving through the history to modern changes and challenge, as is his history of Islam (Esposito, 2000). Later works, like Unholy War (Esposito, 2002), pick up on the growth of terror in the name of Islam, while the four‐volume Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World (Esposito, 1995) is a modern classic. He is professor of religion and international affairs and director of the Center for Muslim‐Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.
The Oxford Dictionary of Islam is intended for the general reader with no knowledge of Islam. It is easy for Westernized readers to use, with a readable style, good cross‐referencing and transliteration without diacritics. This makes the book suitable for college and academic libraries, reference collections in public libraries, and for personal use. At the time of reviewing, there is no paperback, but the £30 price for the hardback is fair. Esposito leads a strong editorial team which includes Tamara Sonn and Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr and a team of some 100 contributors (mainly North American, but also international). The coordination and selection of entries represents this wide subject field very well.
It is strong on Islamic religion, as one would expect: Muhammad, Prophet, Quran, Hadith, Pillars of Islam, Companions, Sufism, hagiography, and moves on into important related concepts like ideology of Islam, pan‐Islamism, revival and renewal, Tawhid (monotheism), and Westernization. There are modernist, post‐modernist and pluralist perspectives such as woman and Islam along with liturgical and ritual‐related terms like imam and dawah (call of God), Salat (prayer or worship), hajj (pilgrimage) and zandaqah (heresy). Shii and Sunnah approaches to Islam are noted. Shrines like Qom and the main sacred cities (Mecca, Medina and Karbala) are included, along with wider cultural and anthropological entries on science and calendar, property and birth control and taxation. A limited number of cross‐references to Christianity and Classical culture are provided.
The dictionary is, predictably and gratifyingly, strong on law: Shariah, schools of law, justice, ijma, qiyas (deductions from the law), fatwa, zina (unlawful sex), family law, istihsan (where public interest influences legal decisions), and halal. Ethics and bioethics are included. Another strength lies in recording key thinkers, past and present, in Islam – Qutb and Shirazi, Haykal and Sadr, Iqbal and Turabi. Coverage of items likely to interest readers wanting to check modern political events is also good – Hizb Allah and Hamas, Mujahadin and Qaddafi, Palestine Liberation Organization and Islamic Jihad, Taliban and al‐Qaeda. Islamic history is provided through entries like the Khilafat Movement and the Ottoman Empire, the Iranian Revolution of 1969 and Sanusi Tariqah, although a coherent knowledge of the history (say, from Esposito (1991), Islam: The Straight Path, is needed to make sense of this).
Updates on Islam in major countries of the world – Chad and Sudan, Libya and Iran, Uzbekistan and Indonesia and others – will help those wishing to trace its expansion. Illustrated material can (and should) be used in any formal teaching and learning context, and would need to be consulted separately. This reference work is sure‐footed in covering a very wide area for modern Westernized readers and in reflecting current concerns as well as the interests of longer‐term scholarship. It wears its wisdom lightly and will compete well in its field. The preface reveals that its 2,000 entries “synthesize selected materials from The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World with a large number of new entries”, so, if you already have the first, check to see what the second has to offer.
