Encyclopaedic Works on Islamic Political Thought and Movements in the Twenty-first Century

Books Reviewed: Gerhard Bowering, et. al., eds., The Princeton Encyclopediaof Islamic Political Thought (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton UniversityPress, 2013); John L. Esposito and Emad El-Din Shahin, eds., The OxfordHandbook of Islam and Politics (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013);Emad El-Din Shahin, ed., Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics, 2 vols.(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).During last two decades or so, many encyclopedias have been published onIslam and its history – classical to contemporary – with a modern approach,among them Richard Martin’s two-volume Encyclopedia of Islam and theMuslim World 1 and John L. Esposito’s Oxford Encyclopedia of the ModernIslamic World.2 Other encyclopedic works focus on specific eras, like JosefMeri’s Medieval Islamic Civilization.3 One more category is that of Islam andpolitics, political Islam, and/or the various facets, complexities, and intricaciesof Islamic movements. This essay focuses on three works that discuss thethemes and issues that fall in this last category.The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought (EIPT)4 is awide-ranging one-volume publication, as well as the first encyclopedia andreference work on Islamic political thought. It includes articles ranging fromthe classical to the contemporary periods and incorporates the eras from theProphet’s time to the present. Written by prominent scholars and specialistsin the field, The Oxford Handbook of Islam and Politics (OHIP)5 is a singlevolumesourcebook that provides a comprehensive analysis of “whatwe knowand where we are in the study of political Islam,” thereby enabling scholars,students, and policymakers “to appreciate the interaction of Islam and politicsand the multiple and diverse roles of Islamic movements” both regionally andglobally (p. 2; italics mine). By analyzing Islam and politics through a detailedand profound study, the two-volume Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and ...