The 8th volume of Encyclopedia Islamica was published.

7/20/2025 10:34

The 8th volume of Encyclopedia Islamica—part of a 16-volume series—was published by Brill, under the chief editorship of Farhad Daftary and the late Wilferd Madelung. This English-language edition is a concise translation of the original Great Islamic Encyclopedia, originally edited by Kāẓim Mūsavī Bojnurdī.

CGIE: One of the unique features of Encyclopedia Islamica is its special focus on Shi'a Islam and its rich, diverse heritage, as well as the wider cultural legacy of Iran. This emphasis sets it apart from, and makes it a valuable complement to, other major Western-language encyclopedias—such as Brill’s long-standing Encyclopedia of Islam, which primarily offers a Sunni perspective and generally less coverage of Shi'a traditions and Iranian culture.

This Encyclopedia, besides offering entries on general Islamic topics and key figures, gives Western readers a unique chance to discover Shi'a Islam and the broader cultural heritage of Iran in depth.

Islamica is the result of collaboration between the Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopedia and the Institute of Ismaili Studies. The project operates under the academic supervision of Ahmad Pakatchi in Tehran and Reza Shah-Kazemi in London, with management by Shahram Khodaverdian (Tehran) and Wendy Robinson (London). Editorial team members also include Isabel Miller, Stephen Hirtenstein, Russell Harris, Muhammad Isa Waley, Najm Abbas, Marjan Afsharian, and Mehran Nouri.

The 8^th volume of Encyclopedia Islamica begins with the entry on Ḥabīb al-ʿAjamī and ends with al-Ḥuwayzī, covering a wide range of rich topics. It features in-depth articles about key Shi ‘i Imams (Hasan al-Mujtaba, Husayn, Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī), other prominent Shia figures like ʿAlī ibn Ḥusayn (ʿAli Akbar), Ḥabīb ibn Muzahir, and Allāmeh Ḥillī. Among famous Persian figures, Hafez stands out in this volume. You will also find entries on Sufi masters such as Hasan Baṣrī, Hujwīrī, Khwāja ʿAbdullah Anṣāri Heravī, and Ḥallāj, plus major essays on the Hajj pilgrimage, hadith sciences, the seminary system (Ḥawza), and the concept of truth.

A quantitative comparison between the article on Imam Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī (AS) in Islamica, authored by Ahmad Pakatchi with 12,846 words, and the same entry in the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam at just 784 words, clearly illustrates Islamica’s deep focus on Shi‘i knowledge and scholarship.

Volume 8 of the Encyclopedia Islamica spans 1,180 pages and currently has around 300 ongoing online subscriptions from university libraries, scholars, and academic centers in the West—a remarkably high figure for a reference work of this kind. It is priced at €575 and published by Brill in Leiden, Netherlands—one of the oldest and most respected Orientalist publishers in the West, with a 342-year legacy.