A Concise Encyclopedia of Islam

Interest in Islam is at an all-time high, and beginners who seek basic information about this world faith tradition will find an excellent resource in A Concise Encyclopedia of Islam. In short alphabetical entries from the Abbasids to the practice of zakat (almsgiving), Gordon Newby presents fundamental facts about the important concepts, people, places and movements in Islam. The entries are quite short (the note on Sufism, for example, is just over 40 lines long), but full of data. The appendices include a chronology, a list of the 99 divine names and a bibliography for further reading.