This unique reference is a comprehensive encyclopedia dedicated to the institutions, religion, politics, and culture in Muslim societies throughout the world. Beginning coverage in the sixth century and extending it to the present day, the Encyclopedia covers Muslims in the Arab heartland as well as South and Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

An invaluable resource, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World offers extensive comparative and systematic analyses of Islamic beliefs, institutions, movements, practices, and peoples on an international scale. The articles range from brief 500-word essays to major interpretive and synthetic treatments of topics such as the Islamic state, pilgrimage, law, marriage, and foreign relations. Related entries cover areas of general interest such as social and political movements, women, Muslim minorities, human rights, Islam in the West, and interreligious affairs. Prominent figures that had a lasting impact on Islam are also explored, including Muhammad, Aga Khan, Malcolm X, Muhammad Iqbal, 'Ali Shari 'ati, Ayatollah Khomeini, and Hasan al-Turabi.