The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics (2 volumes).

• Author: Gadda, Muhammad Yaseen
• Position: Book review

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics (2 volumes)

Editor-in-chief Emad El-Din Shahin

New York: Oxford University Press, 2014, 1452 pages, $395, ISBN 9780199739356.

To write about the political dimensions of Islam is, indeed, to examine the universal phenomenon of Islam and politics as it happens to be expressed in the modern Muslim world; because the multiple aspects of politics in Islam continue to reveal themselves in more multifaceted ways. Though there would seem to have been little need to have more encyclopedias after the unveiling of the comprehensive six volumes, the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World (OEMIW) by John. L. Esposito--to which the encyclopedia under review is, but a supplement; the Princeton encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought by Gerhard Bowering et al.; besides the more recent handbook, the Oxford Handbook of Islam and Politics by John L. Esposito and Emad El-Din Shahin. However, as I have pointed out in the opening lines about the dynamic and complex role of the politics in Islam, particularly in the contemporary Muslim world, need has been felt to offer an in-depth authoritative and comprehensive reference work in separate volumes primarily on the political dimensions of Islam. Furthermore, due to the dynamic changes--the Arab Spring, toppling of autocratic regimes, rise of Islamic parties to power, etc--the Muslim world experiences in recent years, have again reasserted the role of Islam in politics as a main catalyst for such dynamic change, resistance, liberation, and reassertion of identity and governance.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics (OEIP)--a supplement to OEMIW as described by the Editor-in-Chief, Emad El-Din Shahin, in a useful way in his preface--seeks to offer an in-depth coverage of the political dimensions of Islam and the Muslim world. Moreover, though, OEIP seeks to target a particular readership, but the entries, by highly qualified scholars in their respective fields, are written in such a simple and lucid way that makes them easily accessible to the general readership as well. Some salient features of the encyclopedia make it clearly distinctive from other such works. First, according to the Editor, the goal is "to blend theoretical dimensions of Islam and politics with practical and institutional aspects" or in other words, it sought to blend theory with practice, and place texts within context. Second, it did not restrict the focus of study to a limited...