The Encyclopaedia of Islam (EI) is a scholarly encyclopaedia covering all aspects of Islamic civilization and history.

Standing

EI is considered by academics to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies:

The most important and comprehensive reference tool for Islamic studies is the Encyclopaedia of Islam, an immense effort to deal with every aspect of Islamic civilization, conceived in the widest sense, from its origins down to the present day... EI is no anonymous digest of received wisdom. Most of the articles are signed, and while some are hardly more than dictionary entries, others are true research pieces- in many case the best available treatment of their subject.

(Humphreys, p. 4)

Editions

EI has three versions. The first (EI1) was published in three 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 (SEI) and covers mainly law and religion. The current, second edition of Encyclopaedia of Islam (EI2) was begun in 1954 and completed only recently; it is published by the Dutch company Brill Academic Publishers and is available in English and French.

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:

EI1; and SEI were produced almost entirely by European scholars, and they represent a specifically European interpretation of Islamic civilization. The point is not that this interpretation is "wrong", but that the questions addressed in these volumes often differ sharply from those which Muslims have traditionally asked about themselves. EI2 is a somewhat different matter. It began in much the same way as its predecessor, but a growing proportion of the articles now come from scholars of Muslim background. The persons do not represent the traditional learning of Qom and al-Azhar, to be sure; they have been trained in Western-style universities, and they share the methodology if not always the cultural values and attitudes of their Western colleagues. Even so, the change in tone is perceptible and significant.

(Humphreys, pp. 4-5)

References

• Encyclopaedia of Islam Online Edition
  • EI Online Demo Page

Encyclopedias | Islam

Encyclopaedia of Islam | イスラーム百科事典