Encyclopaedia of Islam


The Encyclopaedia of Islam is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies published by Brill. It is considered to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies. The first edition was published in 1913–1938, the second in 1954–2005, and the third was begun in 2007.

Content

According to Brill, the EI includes "articles on distinguished Muslims of every age and land, on tribes and dynasties, on the crafts and sciences, on political and religious institutions, on the geography, ethnography, flora and fauna of the various countries and on the history, topography and monuments of the major towns and cities. In its geographical and historical scope it encompasses the old Arabo-Islamic empire, the Islamic countries of Iran, Central Asia, the Indian sub-continent and Indonesia, the Ottoman Empire and all other Islamic countries".

Standing

EI is considered to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies. Each article was written by a recognized specialist on the relevant topic. However, unsurprisingly for a work spanning 40 years until completion, not every one of them reflects recent research.
This reference work is of fundamental importance on topics dealing with the geography, ethnography and biography of Muslim peoples.

Editions

The first edition was modeled on the Pauly-Wissowa Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. EI1 was created under the aegis of the International Union of Academies, and coordinated by Leiden University. It was published by Brill in four volumes plus supplement from 1913 to 1938 in English, German, and French editions.
An abridged version was published in 1953 as the Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam, covering mainly law and religion. Excerpts of the SEI have been translated and published in Turkish, Arabic, and Urdu.
The second edition of Encyclopaedia of Islam was begun in 1954 and completed in 2005 ; it is published by the Dutch academic publisher Brill and is available in English and French. Since 1999, has been available in electronic form, in both CD-ROM and web-accessible versions. Besides a great expansion in content, the second edition of EI differs from the first mainly in incorporating the work of scholars of Muslim and Middle Eastern background among its many hundreds of contributors:
Publication of the Third Edition of EI started in 2007. It is available online, printed "Parts" appearing four times per year. The editorial team consists of twenty 'Sectional Editors' and five 'Executive Editors'. The Executive Editors are Kate Fleet, Gudrun Krämer, Everett Rowson, John Nawas, and Denis Matringe. The scope of EI3 includes comprehensive coverage of Islam in the twentieth century; expansion of geographical focus to include all areas where Islam has been or is a prominent or dominant aspect of society; attention to Muslim minorities all over the world; and full attention to social science as well as humanistic perspectives.

1st edition, ''EI1''

The Urdu Encyclopaedia of Islam is the project of translating the Encyclopedia of Islam into Urdu.
It was started in the 1950s at University of the Punjab, as a project led by Muhammad Shafi. The editorial board worked on translating the Leiden Encyclopaedia into Urdu, amending, correcting, and adding to the Leiden text themselves.
The original plan for publication, as laid out by Shafi and others, was for the Encyclopaedia to span between 20 and 22 volumes, with roughly a hundred illustrations per volume, published at a rate of four volumes per year.
At the time of Shafi's death in 1963, one volume of the encyclopaedia had been published, and a second volume was in press.
Because of Shafi's death, and lack of funding, work on the Encyclopaedia stalled until 1971, when a grant from the Asia Foundation enabled it to resume. Volumes 10 and 12 were completed by 1973.
By 1985, 21 out of a planned 25 volumes had been published.