The Islamic World

The Islamic World is an outstanding guide to Islamic faith and culture in all its geographical and historical diversity. Written by a distinguished international team of scholars, it elucidates the history, philosophy and practice of one of the world's great religious traditions. Its grounding in contemporary scholarship makes it an ideal reference source for students and scholars alike.

Edited by Andrew Rippin, a leading scholar of Islam, the volume covers the political, geographical, religious, intellectual, cultural and social worlds of Islam, and offers insight into all aspects of Muslim life including the Qur’an and law, philosophy, science and technology, art, literature, and film and much else. It explores the concept of an ‘Islamic’ world: what makes it distinctive and how uniform is that distinctiveness across Muslim geographical regions and through history?

Andrew Rippin is Professor of Islamic History and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, University of Victoria Canada, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His publications include Muslims: their religious beliefs and practices (third edition Routledge 2005) and The Qur’an and its interpretative tradition (2001).