Table of Contents
References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Islam: References & Edit History

Additional Reading

General works

Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 2, part 8 (1970, reissued 1977, vol. 2B), provides an excellent survey. Marshall G.S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, 3 vol. (1974), is a major and influential study of the religion and civilization. R.M. Savory (ed.), Introduction to Islamic Civilization (1976), collects scholarly articles on Islamic history, religion, literature, language, and other topics. Bernard Lewis (ed.), The World of Islam: Faith, People, Culture (1976; also published as Islam and the Arab World), collects articles on various aspects of Islamic culture, and his Islam: From the Prophet Muhammad to the Capture of Constantinople, 2 vol. (1974), is a history composed of translations of original sources. W. Montgomery Watt, The Majesty That Was Islam: The Islamic World, 661–1100 (1974), presents a concise introductory history of the rise and decline of the Islamic empire. Hamilton A.R. Gibb, Mohammedanism, 2nd ed. (1953, reissued with revisions 1969), is a penetrating and concise account of the development of Islam. Louis Gardet, Mohammedanism, trans. by William Burridge (1961), is a systematic presentation of Islam, with religious insight. Fazlur Rahman, Islam, 2nd ed. (1979), provides a historical and systematic interpretation of Islam, and his Islamic Methodology in History (1965) presents a critical appraisal of the development of Sunnah, ijmāʿ, and ijtihād. Reubin Levy, An Introduction to the Sociology of Islam (1930– ), is a useful account of the development of Islamic society and institutions. John W. Bagnole, Cultures of the Islamic Middle East (1978), is an annotated guide to 402 English-language readings for the nonspecialist.

Education

Arthur S. Tritton, Materials on Muslim Education in the Middle Ages (1957), is an informative, useful compilation. Bayard Dodge. Muslim Education in Medieval Times (1962), provides a useful sketch.

Political theory and institutions

Erwin I.J. Rosenthal, Political Thought in Medieval Islam (1958), is a good general survey of the subject.

Islamic arts

In view of the wealth of descriptive treatments, rather than theory, it is difficult to point to a single source. K.A.C. Creswell, A Bibliography of the Architecture, Arts and Crafts of Islam to 1st Jan. 1960 (1961), and Supplement, Jan. 1960 to Jan. 1972 (1973), contain all the necessary references, and his Early Muslim Architecture, 2nd ed. (1969), is also useful; as is American University at Cairo, Center for Arabic Studies, Studies in Islamic Art and Architecture in Honor of Professor K.A.C. Creswell (1965).

Hamilton A.R. Gibb, Arabic Literature: An Introduction, 2nd ed. (1974), is a probing survey of 1,500 years of literature. Salih J. Altoma, Modern Arabic Literature (1975), provides a bibliography of 850 general and scholarly works covering 1800–1970.

Theology and philosophy

Franz Rosenthal (ed.), The Classical Heritage in Islam, trans. from the German by Emile Marmorstein and Jenny Marmorstein (1975); and Richard Walzer, Greek into Arabic: Essays on Islamic Philosophy (1962, reissued 1970), deal with the Greek and Hellenistic background and its appropriation. Parviz Morewedge (ed.), Islamic Philosophical Theology (1979), is a major contribution by nine internationally known authorities written for advanced students. W. Montgomery Watt, The Formative Period of Islamic Thought (1973), studies the evolution of theological thought in the 300 years after Muhammad’s death, and his Free Will and Predestination in Early Islam (1948, reissued 1972) is an excellent treatment of the formative period of Islamic theology.

Louis Gardet and M.-M. Anawati, Introduction à la théologie musulmane, 2nd ed. (1970), is a comprehensive handbook on Sunni theology; and A.J. Wensinck, The Muslim Creed (1932, reprinted 1965), discusses the background and development of Sunni doctrines. Asaf A.A. Fyzee (ed. and trans.), …A Shiʿite Creed (1942), is an annotated translation of a standard Shīʿite creed by Ibn Bābawayh. The theology of the Shīʿah is given a prominent place in Henry Corbin, Histoire de la philosophie islamique (1964– ); and its early development is discussed by Wilferd Madelung, Der Imam al-Qāsim ibn Ibrāhīm und die Glaubenslehre der Zaiditen (1965), and “Imamism and Muʿtazilite Theology,” in Le Shîʿisme imâmite, pp. 13–30 (1970).

M.M. Sharif (ed.), A History of Muslim Philosophy, 2 vol. (1963–66), is a comprehensive collective work on the history of Islamic philosophy and related subjects that is especially useful for the later medieval and modern periods. Majid Fakhry, A History of Islamic Philosophy (1970), is a general history. Fazlur Rahman discusses the development of the later synthesis between mysticism and philosophy in “Dream, Imagination, and ʿĀlam al-Mithāl,” Islamic Studies, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 167–180 (June 1964), in the introduction to Selected Letters of Shaikh Aḥmad Sirhindī (1968), and in “The Eternity of the World and the Heavenly Bodies in Post-Avicennan Philosophy,” in George F. Hourani (ed.), Essays on Islamic Philosophy and Science (1975), a collection representing recent trends in interpreting Islamic philosophy.

Islamic myth and legend

Tor Andrae, Die Person Muhammeds in Lehre und Glauben seiner Gemeinde (1917), treats the development of Muhammad-mysticism. Israel Friedländer, Die Chadhirlegende und der Alexander-Roman (1913), discusses the relation between the Alexander romance and the figure of Khiḍr. Max J.H. Horten, Die religiöse Gedankenwelt der gebildeten Muslime in heutigen Islam (1916), gives an account of popular Islam, and Die religiöse Gedankenwelt des Volkes im heutigen Islam, 2 parts (1917–18), gives an account of the ideas of educated people in Islam. Western Semitic themes are explored in A.J. Wensinck, “The Ocean in the Literature of the Western Semites,” Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen, vol. 19, no. 2 (1918), and “The Ideas of the Western Semites Concerning the Navel of the Earth,” ibid., vol. 17, no. 1 (1916). Seyyed H. Nasr, Three Muslim Sages (1964, reissued 1976), gives an account of the theories of Suhrawardī al-Maqtūl and Ibn ʿArabī. Joseph Horowitz, “The Growth of the Mohammed Legend,” Moslem World, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 49–58 (January 1920), stresses the Haggadic influences. Ernst A. Zbinden, Die Djinn des Islam und der altorientalische Geisterglaube (1953), studies the different types of spirits in Islamic folklore and tradition. Rudolf Kriss and Hubert Kriss-Heinrich, Volksglaube im Bereich des Islam, 2 vol. (1960–62), presents useful studies in Islamic folklore, with extensive bibliographies. Taufic Canaan, Mohammedan Saints and Sanctuaries in Palestine (1927), treats Palestinian folklore. Also useful are articles in the Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam (1953), an authoritative collection of information, each article furnished with an extensive bibliography.

Article History

Type Description Contributor Date
Add new Web site: Golden Gate University School of Law - Digital Commons - Arbitration of Islamic Financial Disputes. Oct 01, 2024
Cross-reference to the Britannica article on Greek philosophy added. Sep 23, 2024
Links added. Oct 28, 2023
Add new Web site: Social Sciences LibreTexts - Islam and Sufism. Aug 18, 2023
Cross-reference added. Apr 23, 2023
Media added. Feb 09, 2023
Media added. Feb 02, 2023
Add new Web site: Humanities LibreTexts - Islam. Dec 04, 2022
Add new Web site: World History Encyclopedia - Islam. Aug 17, 2022
Add new Web site: PBS - Latino Muslims. Aug 17, 2021
Add new Web site: PBS - Latino Muslims. Aug 17, 2021
Article revised and updated. Aug 15, 2019
Media added. Jan 17, 2019
Media added. Nov 10, 2017
Add new Web site: PBS LearningMedia - Ramadan. Feb 17, 2017
Add new Web site: PBS LearningMedia - Ibn Battuta. Feb 17, 2017
Add new Web site: PBS LearningMedia - Eid Al-Adha. Feb 16, 2017
Add new Web site: United Religions Initiative - Islam: Basic Beliefs. Dec 05, 2016
Media added. Oct 14, 2016
Add new Web site: Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Religion and Ethics - Islam. Jul 07, 2016
Article revised and romanization changed. Feb 01, 2016
Add new Web site: ReligionFacts - Islam. Feb 27, 2013
Add new Web site: Buzzle.com - Islamic Beliefs and Practices. Feb 27, 2013
Add new Web site: ReligionFacts - Islam. Feb 27, 2013
Add new Web site: IslamiCity - Islam. Feb 13, 2013
Add new Web site: Cultural India - Indian Religions - Islam Religion. Jan 11, 2013
Add new Web site: Spartacus Educational - Biography of George Cruikshank. Jan 08, 2013
Add new Web site: Public Broadcasting Service - Islam. Jan 08, 2013
Add new Web site: Islamic Philosophy Online - Islam. Jan 08, 2013
Add new Web site: The Catholic Encyclopedia - Islam. Jan 08, 2013
Add new Web site: British Broadcasting Corporation - Islam. Jan 08, 2013
Article revised to mention Solomon as a prophet in Islam. Jul 20, 2012
Article revised to mention the romanization of Farid al-Din Attar's "The Conference of the Birds." Apr 04, 2012
Article revised to mention that Zoroastrians and Hindus had been regarded as "people of the book" in particular times and places. Mar 20, 2012
Add new Web site: Texas State Historical Association - The Handbook of Texas Online - Biography of Edna Ferber. Mar 09, 2012
Article revised and romanization changed. Jan 27, 2012
Article revised and romanization changed. Jan 26, 2012
Romanization changed. Dec 01, 2011
Media revised. Jul 14, 2011
Add new Web site: GlobalSecurity.org - Islam. Apr 25, 2011
Add new Web site: The Canadian Encyclopedia - Islam. Feb 15, 2011
Add new Web site: IndiaNetzone - Islamic Concepts. Jan 30, 2011
Media added. May 20, 2009
Added new Web site: How Stuff Works - History - Islamic Culture. Oct 21, 2008
Added new Web site: Minnesota State University - History of Islam. Jul 25, 2008
Added new Web site: Mid East Web - A Concise History of Islam and the Arabs. Jul 25, 2008
Added new Web site: AllMusic - Biography of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Jun 23, 2008
Added new Web site: JewishEncyclopedia.com - Islam. Jun 23, 2008
Added new Web site: Quatr.us - History of Islam. Jun 20, 2008
Media added. Apr 21, 2008
Article revised and updated. Feb 26, 2008
Islamic thought section revised. Feb 26, 2008
Added new Web site: TheatreHistory.com - Comus. Dec 07, 2007
Added new Web site: The Metropolitan Museum of Art - William Blake. Nov 28, 2007
Added new Web site: USA Today - Health Encyclopedia - Chickenpox. Nov 15, 2007
Media revised. Oct 25, 2007
Added new Web site: Country Studies - Islam. Jun 22, 2007
Added new Web site: Los Angeles County Museum of Art - Early Islamic Period.
  • Gaurav Shukla
Apr 13, 2007
Added new Web site: World History International Project - Islam From the Beginning to 1300. Sep 19, 2006
Added new Web site: Minnesota State University - Islam. Aug 10, 2006
Added new Web site: USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts. Jun 16, 2006
Added new Web site: USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts. Jun 16, 2006
Added new Web site: USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts - Women in Islam. Jun 07, 2006
Added new Web site: Ummah.com - About Islam and Muslims. May 23, 2006
Added new Web site: LookLex Encyclopaedia - Islam. May 05, 2006
Article revised. Jun 24, 2004
Article revised. Apr 11, 2003
Article revised. May 31, 2002
Article revised. Sep 01, 1999
Article added to new online database. Sep 30, 1998
View Changes:
Article History
Revised:
By: