About Encyclopedia

Preface

The researches that will be included in this encyclopedia are special researches that are not published like the rest of the general researches. This specialization is based on two main things:

The first is that they are researches prepared to be included in a scientific encyclopedia, and one of the characteristics of encyclopedias is that the research in them is short in size, based on a general but comprehensive view of the subject of the research, without indulging in details and particulars, and is characterized by clarity in its language and content, logical order in its construction, sections and titles, and with accurate documentation of its quotations, and references, aiming in all of this to be an introduction to the research topic, helping researchers to refer to it and delve into it, and guide them to its references and sources..

The second is that they are researches included in an encyclopedia of political terms and topics that were mentioned in political jurisprudence from the Islamic heritage, which makes them researches framed by a specific field of knowledge, that of Islamic heritage in the section devoted to political jurisprudence in all its aspects, direct and indirect, and in its founding sources; The Qur’an and the Sunnah, and its investigations in reality, and if the research leaves this field in a limited way for comparison or to show what it might be affected or influenced..

Based on this privacy, this research is ongoing as follows:

 

1- The structure of research

 

First: Issues and Concepts:

The research is based on the following elements:

• A brief introduction with a few lines which include the definition of the topic, the framework for research, its importance and the extent of its spread in political jurisprudence.
• Indicating whether the subject/term has been mentioned in the Qur’an and Hadith, and listing the texts related to that, especially the founding texts.
• A statement of the origin of the research in the subject/term in political jurisprudence, its development over time, and the most important stages it passed through.
• Presenting the most important resources in which the topic was mentioned from the heritage books, with a statement of the most important ones, especially those that were distinguished by leadership and innovation.
• Presenting the meanings contained in the subject of the research, the elements it contains, and the implications it contains as mentioned in the heritage with its various manifestations; the direct (books of legal politics) and the indirect (the rest of the literature: interpretations, general jurisprudence, and theology.).
• Presenting comparisons with similar topics and terms in the constitutional jurisprudence prevailing these days.
• Problems related to the research topic, if any.
• Providing a list of the most important references and sources that benefit the researcher in the subject of the research.
• Keywords.

 

Second: المفاهيم السياسية الكبرى:

ويبنى فيها البحث على العناصر التالية:

• مقدّمة تمهيدية مختصرة للتعريف بالمفهوم وأهميتها.
• ذكر المفهوم في القرآن والسنة.
• مراحل تطور المفهوم في الفقه السياسي.
• ذكر المفهوم في كتب التراث، وخاصة ما تميز منها بالريادة والابتكار.
• التفرعات والمعاني والعناصر التي يتضمنها موضوع البحث.
• المقارنة مع المواضيع والمصطلحات المشابه في الفقه الدستوري الوضعي السائد اليوم.
• الإشكالات المتعلقة بالمفهوم إن وجدت.
• إيراد قائمة بأهمّ المراجع والمصادر التي تفيد الباحث في موضوع البحث.
• الكلمات المفتاحية.

 

Third: Figures

The research is based on the following elements: 

• Introducing the figure.
• His biography (teachers, students, and school of thought).
• A brief summary of his books in the field of Islamic political jurisprudence.
• His most important political opinions. 
• Providing a list of the most important references and sources that benefit the researcher in the subject of the research.
• keywords.                                                                                  

 

Fourth: Parties and Sects::

The research is based on the following elements:

1. Defining the sect and the party.
2. Origin and development.
3. The most important ideas they represent.
4. The most important members of the party with an indication of their contributions.
5. The sect’s contribution to issues of Imamate and political affairs.
6. Comparing ideas if necessary.
7. Providing a list of the most important references and sources that benefit the researcher in the subject of the research.
8. keywords.

 

Fifth: The Book

The research is based on the following elements:

1. Introducing the author of the book.
2. The different ideas of the book.
3. The position of the book in Islamic political thought.
4. Providing a critical view of the book’s ideas.
5. Keywords.  

 

 

2- Research Methodology

The research methodology is based on the following principles:

• The research is carried out on the basis of aggregating, totality and comprehensiveness of all aspects of the subject , and avoiding inundation with details, so that the reader comes out with a general and accurate perception of the subject, which enables him to go deep in his research and reach the full details of it..
• Arranging the elements of the subject in a logical sequential order with the inclusion of what is partial of them in the total in order to achieve the clarity required by encyclopedia research..
• The language of research depends on simplicity, accuracy, clarity and smoothness of style. Encyclopedias are visited by those interested from all classes; students, researchers and academics. Everyone should find it easy to benefit from..
• Since the nature of research in encyclopedias is to be an introduction to deepening and expanding thought, this requires that the documentation be accurate in what is cited and referred to. Since the nature of this encyclopedia is that it is essentially a heritage encyclopedia, it requires citations, quotations and referrals be extensive in these researches of the encyclopedia, reminding that the first idea from which the preparation for the encyclopedia was launched is to include the heritage texts in the approved articles and to be content in editing..
• Because the heritage issues related to legitimate politics are spread in more than one field of heritage, this requires that the references adopted by the research be comprehensive for all assumptions; from direct books on legal politics, to books on theology, to interpretations, to economic books (books on tax and money for example), without excluding recent research on the same topics..
• In order for the research to be not purely theoretical, and for the sake of further benefit, it is necessary – as we estimate – to discuss the practical development of the subject of the research in the political reality of Muslims in terms of the extent of what has been achieved from what has been presented theoretically in the reality in which politics took place in the political history of Muslims, and comment on that fate in its causes and effects..

 

3- Citation

Because one of the main objectives of the encyclopedia is to open the doors for researchers to expand on the listed topics and go deeper in them, this requires that each research should be appended with a list of references and sources that benefit the researcher in that, whether they are quoted and referenced in the body of the research or not. Sources and references included in this list should be about the most important topics in the research. We estimate that the average of what is included in this list should be at least ten references and sources in each research..

 

4- References

 • The encyclopedia is open to all references,   with priority given to Arabic literature prepared by specialists as basic sources in Islamic political jurisprudence..

Not excluding non-Arabic sources. Rather, the encyclopedia management believes that it is necessary to take advantage of these sources, especially since it is not possible in the current era of cultural openness to be sufficient with one language, or to dispense with what is written in foreign languages about Islamic thought..

Dealing with previous research ( quotation or summary ) should be clear, documented and brief.

Clear reference to the original sources and references.

The researcher’s addition and personal opinions (explanation or criticism) should be clear, with fairness and avoidance of fanaticism..

The encyclopedia adopts the “ cross-referral” method, in order to prevent repetition, as the researcher focuses on one specific topic and then refers side issues to other entries within the encyclopedia.

 

5- Research volume

Despite the variety of the importance of the topics included in the encyclopedia, the research that we deal with, we estimate that it averages between ten and fifteen pages (between 3000 and 5000 words approximately) , and according to this, the size of the encyclopedia can be more than seven volumes, each of which is in 500-600 pages..

6- Arrangement

 Encyclopedia entries are arranged lexically, according to the first letter of each word; without considering (the), so we write, for example:: Hisbah, Ministry, Allegiance, and that instead of The Hesba,The Ministry, The Allegiance. In the case of proper names, what is attached to the names, such as Abu, Ibn, Walad, and Al, is omitted, but the nickname or date of death is established in parentheses, for example:: Muhammad bin Jarir ((Al-Tabari, d.310 AH).

Paying attention to the arrangement of the material according to special standards that are followed in the order; such as chronological precedence, frequency, references, etc.

Introduction

Islamic law came to take into account the interests of people in religion and this world, and the interest of the individual and the group, as well as taking into account the interest of the individual within the framework of the group and the interest of the group with other groups, and the rules of Islamic jurisprudence were to urge to bring interests and abolish corruption. From this point of view, the scholars of Islam, ancient and modern, have contributed in the fields of public life, especially in the field of legal politics, endoscopically and visually..

The legal politics as defined by Ibn Aqil al-Hanbali is: “The action with which people are closer to right and farther from corruption, even if the Messenger, PBUH, did not legislate it and no revelation came about.”

Dozens of books that have been classified in this field have come to light, but a large part of them did not receive their due in terms of arrangement, refinement, collection and approximation. From this point of view, we decided in (Strategic Thought Center for Studies) to work in collecting these books that focused on this subject, from the beginning of authorship in this field to the end of the tenth century AH, starting from contemporary political issues, searching for them in the books of legitimate politics, with arrangement, refinement and compiling them in a single encyclopedia without interpretation or analysis, so that Arab readers and researchers can return to it in an easier way, and benefit from it without any trouble, and to be a primary point for returning to heritage, arranging and refining it, leaving to other researchers the tasks of interpretation, analysis and investigation..

Project name

Encyclopedia of Islamic political jurisprudence

Importance

1. Legitimate politics derive its importance from the significance of the Islamic heritage itself, which lies in establishing the foundations of the renaissance and civilization aspired by the Ummah. Therefore, collecting this heritage and bringing it closer to researchers is a kind of service of this science..
2. Strengthening the Islamic identity and linking the contemporary generation with its heritage, which, with the eternal revelation, leads to the preservation of the ummah’s entity, warding off corruption, and realizing interests, with the least effort and cost..
3. It is noticeable that Islamic political jurisprudence was not composed in one way or in one stage, and that is why the authors who dealt with this science and the method of authorship differed in their methodology, and from this point of view comes the importance of collecting it according to one methodology, and in one encyclopedia..

Goals

1. Connecting the new generation to the political heritage of their ummah, and trying to integrate legitimate politics into the chapters of political thought and political philosophy, and drawing attention to the knowledge produced by the Islamic mind in that period that can be referenced and benefited from..
2. Presenting the Islamic political heritage of the ummah collected in one encyclopedia, according to an objective arrangement and classification that is easy to access..
3. Facilitating the way to the researchers, academics and intellectuals to view, evaluate and start from their heritage.

Encyclopedia format

The encyclopedia is in two versions: –
The first version: the paper version, and it includes the research prepared by the researchers..
The second version: the electronic version, and it consists of three sections::
The first section – Research: it is the research prepared by researchers working in the encyclopedia..
The second section is the texts: it includes the texts quoted from the heritage sources, and they are collected and classified in a special section, and the link between them and the research is electronic via (hypertext).
The third section – The Library: it includes all the literature and works that were written in the Islamic Political Jurisprudence section..

Project organizational structure

First: the general supervisor of the project..

Second: the advisory board..

Third: the Scientific Committee..

Fourth: the Executive Committee..

Fifth: the researchers..

Specialties

First: the general supervisor
He is the supervisor of the scientific, administrative and financial progress of the project.

His responsibilities:

1. Approval of the executive plans and guidance thereon.
2. Approving the budget and monitoring its implementation.
3. Appointment of the executive committee and the research team.
4. Nominating the head and members of the advisory board and the scientific committee.
5. Ratification of agreements and contracts concluded with the authorities concerned with the completion of the encyclopedia (based on the recommendation of the Executive Director, and the consultation of the Scientific Committee)..

Second: the advisory board.

a- Definition:
It is a scientific board that adopts scientific standards in its work and decisions.

b- Composition:

1. The advisory board shall consist of nine members; a chairman, a secretary and five members, in addition to the general supervisor and the executive director.
2. The head of the advisory board is nominated by a decision from the general supervisor.
3. The secretary is chosen from among the members of the advisory board.

c- Responsibilities:

1. Adopting the final version of the encyclopedia at each stage of its completion.
2. Approving the encyclopedia materials.
3. Adopting the topics and structures of the encyclopedia according to the stages of its completion.
4. Deciding upon the scientific issues raised by the Scientific Committee, and issuing decisions in this regard..
5. Determining the time period for completing the encyclopedia and publishing it electronically and on paper.

D- Responsibilities of the head of the advisory board:

The Chairman of the Advisory Board performs the following duties:

1. Following up of the work and tasks of the advisory board.
2. Supervising the management of the Authority’s Affairs.
3. Presiding over the commission’s meetings.
4. Adopting the commission’s agenda.

E – Functions of the Secretary of the Commission:

1. Setting the Authority’s Agenda
2. Preparing the reports of the commission’s meetings.
3. Drafting the Commission’s decisions.
4. Keeping documents and papers.

F- Conditions of the members of the advisory board

• Each of them should be an academic; PhD and above, in the same field; legal politics or political science..
• To have published books in this field.
• It is preferable to have political contributions at the level of the state or political entities (political practitioner).

G- Criteria for forming the advisory board:

• Geographical diversity in the Islamic world; The Levant, The Maghreb, Europe and East Asia.
• The balanced distribution between political science, legitimate politics and political practice, including the various competencies and their areas of specialization..
• Taking into account intellectual and sectarian diversity.

Third: The Scientific Committee.

A- Definition:

It is the committee that is entrusted with the process of arbitration, evaluation, review and examination of the validity of information, soundness of logic and following the scientific method .

B- Composition:
It consists of a competent academic team, selected as required by a decision of the general supervisor, after consulting the advisory board..

C- Conditions of Committee Members:

• The member should be an academic; PhD and above.
• He should be specialized in: political thought, legitimate politics, jurisprudence, thought and doctrines, Arabic language, political science, political systems, rights and law, economics, or institutional management..
• He should have supervised scientific theses and research in his field.

D- Functions of the Scientific Committee:
Supervising and arbitrating research in accordance with approved scientific and methodological standards.

E- Duties of the Scientific Committee:

• Reviewing and evaluating ready-made research, modifying it and making comments about it.
• Acceptance or rejection of researches.
• Periodic supervision of the completed research and commenting on it according to the plan.
• Attending workshops and meetings with the advisory board and the executive committee.

Fourth: The Executive Committee.

A- Definition:
It is the team in charge of implementing the encyclopedia project and bringing it to light, according to the plans approved by the general supervisor..

B- Composition:
The Executive Committee is made up of the CEO as chairman, and the administrative work team..

c- Responsibilities:

1. Implementation of the project according to the plan approved by the Scientific Committee.
2. Determining the scientific issues that should be presented to the scientific committee.
3. Suggesting new experts and researchers to work for the encyclopedia.
4. Suggesting amendments to the plan or the stages, and presenting them to the scientific committee..
5. Submitting a periodic report to the General Supervisor of what has been accomplished according to the agreed mechanism.
6. Submitting a periodic report to the advisory board on what has been accomplished.
7. Following up of the research team’s work.
8. Following up of the work of the Scientific Committee.
9. Preparing the project budget and submitting it to the general supervisor for approval.

D- Duties of the Executive Committee Chairman:

1. Managing the executive board and chairing its meetings.
2. Supervising the progress of the research process, following up on the advisory board, research materials, and the publishing process..
3. Coordinating between the advisory board and the scientific committee to solve urgent problems.
4. Communicating with the scientific committee, advisory board, and researchers..
5. Inviting members of the Scientific Committee to attend the meetings.
6. Signing contracts with all employees of the encyclopedia.

Fifth: The researchers.

A- Definition:
They are the team that will write the research required of them according to the research methodology.

B-Configuration:
A group of academic researchers interested in Islamic political jurisprudence.

C- Conditions:

1. He must have a bachelor’s degree or higher in one of the human sciences.
2. To be specialized or interested in (legitimate politics – or ideas and doctrines – or political science and international relations – or political sociology, or law, or economics, or human rights)..
3. Full knowledge of the Arabic language.
4. To have published refereed research contributions.
5. He should have at least three years of experience in research work.
6. To be objective and methodical in dealing with research issues.
7. To adhere to the editorial methodology of the Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Jurisprudence.
8. Pass the oral personal interview.

D- Tasks of the researchers:

• Preparing research papers on the required topics in a modern language.
• Searching for sources related to specific topics.
• Submitting topics on a monthly basis, and keeping them in the electronic system..
• Compiling the texts that were referred to or benefiting from them in the research process and submitting them separately from the research in order to be accommodated in the relevant section electronically.
• Committing to the regulations, curricula and mechanisms used in research and approved by the Scientific Committee.

Research

A- Definition:
They are the topics that are determined by the Scientific Committee, in order to research them, according to the system adopted and followed in the encyclopedia, and categorize them within the main entries..

B-Configuration:

It consists of different topics classified alphabetically, and provides a general and brief idea about the topic..

Electronic system

A- Definition:
It is an electronic program for managing encyclopedia research electronically, which facilitates the work mechanism for researchers, advisory board and management, through technical control of research, follow-up of the work mechanism of researchers and advisory board, submitting periodic reports to the encyclopedia management, storing and archiving ready-made research, conducting the linking process between different materials and the possibility of referral to it within the electronic version that is adopted at the end of the research, so that it can be added to it in the future when a new discovery in this field is discovered or if various issues and topics are realized..

B-Configuration:
The program consists of four main sections, which are as follow::

1. Researchers.
2. Research.
3. Arbitration/review.
4. Reporting and archiving.

 

First: Encyclopedic works in the Islamic heritage..

1- Lexicalinvestigations in the Islamic heritage 

“Encyclopedias” in the Islamic heritage were first associated with language investigations whereas the second century AH scholars have tended to monitor the vocabulary of the language and determine its structures and meanings, so lexical books have appeared, such as: Al-Ain book by Al-Khalil bin Ahmed Al-Farahidi (175 AH), and Al-Jim book by Abu Amr Al-Shaibani (206 AH). and Jamhrat al-Lughah by Ibn Duraid (321 AH), and the Dictionary of al-Zamakhshari (the basis of rhetoric), which is precious and innovative in its composition and the goal of dealing with the vocabulary included in it.

This was followed by the emergence of major dictionaries and general encyclopedias, which differed in their topics and purposes from language dictionaries, and expanded their fields to include literature, history, geography and thought. The owners of those encyclopedias worked individually, spending many years collecting all the information he could reach, summarizing all the knowledge he understood, providing in-depth analyses when necessary, adding explanations, historical backgrounds, influential personalities, references and scholarly conventions.

Some historians (Brockelmann, for example) indicate that this type of Arabic encyclopedic composition began at the end of the fourth century AH with Al-Khwarizmi’s Book of Keys to Science (T.: 387 AH / 997 AD), but this opinion is inaccurate, as the encyclopedic composition appeared almost a century before the era of Al-Khwarizmi, where we find – for example – important encyclopedic works by Ibn Qutayba al-Dinori (d. 276 AH/889 AD) and Ibn Abd Rabbo al-Andalusi (d. 328 AH). The former excelled in encyclopedic composition and wrote “The Book of Knowledge”, pointing, in its introduction, that his book includes many arts of knowledge, the first of which is the principle of creation and the stories of the prophets, the news of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. the famous mosques and Al-Futuh News. As for his other important encyclopedia, it came under the title of “Oyoun Al-Akhbar.” He made the first chapter in this encyclopedia entitled “The Sultan’s Book,” in which he collected texts, news, correspondence, advice, and consulting, all of which are at the heart of politics. It was relied on by those who came after him who wrote about royal rulings and legal politics, and it reveals a deep understanding of the beginnings of political thought, its most important sources and stages of development during the first Islamic centuries.

As for Ibn Abd Rabbo al-Andalusi (d. 328 AH), he followed the same path, and wrote the book “The Unique Contract”, which is one of the book typesetting. Although it is considered one of the general encyclopedias, and despite its greater interest in poetic and prose anthologies, its first chapters was about the Sultan and wars, as well as other chapters on the history of caliphs, governors and writers, and on good politics and the establishment of the kingdom, which in its entirety is a political material that adds many and varied details to what is contained in the politics books.

 

2- Science encyclopedias                         

If the first three centuries in Islamic civilization were characterized by linguistic dictionaries and general encyclopedias, the fourth century AH was distinguished by the emergence of another type of encyclopedic research, which is “encyclopedias of science” Muhammad bin Ahmed bin Yusuf Al-Khwarizmi (died: 387 AH) was the first to initiate this approach, then Others came after him, such as Al-Sakaki, Al-Jarjani, Tash Kubbar Zadeh (t. 962 AH), Haji Khalifa (t. 1067 AH), and Al-Thanoni, and they followed his path or were close to it. Al-Khwarizmi says in the introduction of his book “The Keys to Science” that his purpose in organizing the book is to be “a collector of the keys to science and the first industries, including between every class of scholars all or most of the positions and conventions that books of linguistics are devoid of, so that if the prominent linguist in literature contemplates one of the books that were classified in the sections of science and wisdom, and he was not drawn to that industry, he will not understand anything from it.” Al-Khwarizmi devoted half of his encyclopedia to legal sciences, and the second half to the Greek and other nations, but he did not address political jurisprudence in either section.

This, and “Encyclopedias of Science” in Islamic civilization cannot be mentioned without a reference to “Rasa’il Ikhwan al-Safa and Khallan al-Wafa” (10th century), or to “Nahayat al-Arb fi Fonun al-Adab” by al-Nuwairi (1272-1332 AH). The latter is a huge encyclopedia in all sciences, but it is distinguished by the fact that it contains a large section in the field of Islamic political jurisprudence, the fifth section, and it contains an important subject, detailed by the following headings: on the king and what is required from him, what he needs, what is obligatory for the subjects, and what the subjects must do. It is related to the mention of ministers, commanders of armies, descriptions of weapons, governors of religious positions, writers and rhetoricians, and it contains fourteen chapters. We note that these chapters have included everything that is mentioned in the jurisprudence of politics, which was reported by the previous ones (such as Al-Mawardi and Abi Ya’la Al-Fara’), with many additions. In addition, this encyclopedia is characterized by a detailed account of the history of the Islamic kingdoms.

It is worth noting that the nucleus of political material might be born first in the books of jurists, where the jurist usually dedicates in his book a chapter on “the Imamate”, in which he talks about its definition and conditions, and then some of jurists began to single out this with an independent research, so the books of philosophers have appeared, especially Al-F arabi (T.: 339 AH / 950 AD), and Ibn Sina (T: 428 AH). Nevertheless, these books were more interested in explaining and commenting on the works of the Greek philosophers than in the issues of Islamic thought, which made another group of thinkers and jurists rise to this task, and it appeared since the fifth century AH the books of Sultanate rulings and religious states, which are a group of books that are completely abstract from the topics of Islamic politics in which the author collects all the legal laws related to the issues of the Imamate and its conditions, the pillars of bay’ah (pledge of alliance), then he adds what is suitable of kings, sultans, ministers and judges’ conditions . In this regard, the writings of Al-Mawardi (died: 450 AH), Abu Ya’la al-Farra, al-Juwayni, al-Ghazali, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Khaldun and others emerged.

It is clear from this brief narration that the books of Islamic heritage were replete with politics and its issues, but that material remained scattered among books of jurisprudence, general encyclopedias (literary and historical), books of royal rulings, books of philosophers, groups and doctrines. Although many encyclopedias on “sciences” have appeared, no comprehensive encyclopedia of Islamic political jurisprudence has appeared, which makes the need for this type of composition urgently needed, as it sheds the light on only one science among other sciences.

 

Second: Islamic Political Jurisprudence Encyclopedia 

Its subject, objectives and features:

1- Objectives of the encyclopedia:

There is a deep feeling among readers that the Islamic library lacks a comprehensive book on Islamic political jurisprudence, which includes what is dispersed among the sources, and what is dispersed in heritage books, starting with books of jurisprudence and biographies, to history books, and ending with major encyclopedias, which include, in addition to political jurisprudence, other sciences that are very diverse. We have intended from this encyclopedia to fill that void by creating a comprehensive book that will be a reference in this field, in which we include everything that a researcher can aspire to in the sources of Islamic political thought..

It goes without saying that this encyclopedia does not seek to achieve any partisan or sectarian goals, as much as it seeks to enhance the scientific capabilities of researchers of different intellectual backgrounds, guided by what Boutros al-Bustani wrote a century and a half ago in the introduction of his encyclopedia, where he says that he made the basis for writing the encyclopedia “Purpose free from any party, and avoid partisanship, so that the encyclopedia is a general book for all sects, benefiting those who have no book, as the author of the book benefits from it.”

 

2- Topics of the encyclopedia and its preferential feature:

The owners of comprehensive encyclopedias used to count the sciences and arts and arrange them into divine and philosophical sciences, then civil and political sciences, historical sciences, until they ended up with machine and nature sciences, then literature and crafts (as Ibn Qutayba and Ibn Abd-Rabbo did in the past, and as al-Bustani did recently). This encyclopedia is concerned only with one field of knowledge that it does not go beyond; it is the field of Islamic political thought as it seeks to collect and analyze material and issues of political jurisprudence in the Islamic heritage, whether that material is in the Qur’an and Sunnah, in the jurisprudential blogs of imams and sects, in books of royal rulings, or in correspondence and institutions. 

The encyclopedia aims to be distinguished from its predecessors through the following:

• Adherence to just one field of Islamic sciences.
•  The originality of the topics and the avoidance of repetition and rumination.
• The suitability of the material and its interaction with contemporary scientific production.
• Clarity of the method and structure of the tight research.
• The logical sequence of arguments and narration.
• Taking into account the contemporary global dimension.
• Taking into account the issues of women, minorities, and civil society.
• Mixing between traditional and modern sources.

 

3- The encyclopedia approach

• Authors: This is a category of able researchers, and it is characterized by multi-disciplinarity..
• Editors: They are a group concerned with linguistic proofreading, material sequencing, clarity of style, and other editing work..
• Reviewers:  They are the group to whom the process of arbitration, evaluation and examination is entrusted for the validity of information, soundness of logic and following the scientific approach.
  1.  The encyclopedia depends on collecting facts and information related to Islamic political thought, which were recorded by previous scholars in their published works (or manuscript), or dealt with by modernists through addition or criticism and correction.
  2. The encyclopedia’s reliance on these works, both traditional and modern, does not mean merely transferring, summarizing and translating, but rather includes many clarifications, notes and additions that are required by the context or that grant the material a contemporary character away from arbitrariness or exaggeration.

4- Range

The encyclopedia covers the subject of political jurisprudence, starting from the first foundation stage, then the stage of specialization and distinction, then the modern era until the middle of the twentieth century.

 

5- Encyclopedia entries

We aspire, through this encyclopedia, which we review its main entries, to be a qualitative turning point in the course of Islamic political writing thanks to the information and data it will provide about Islamic political thought, ancient and modern, with its various schools and sects. These data serve as a starting point for more in-depth research and studies on the issues and topics of this thought. They also provide a solid educational material that goes beyond the academic’s needs and demands to those of the general reader..

A- Definition of the entry

The entry is a keyword that indicates the following:

• A concept, term, or institution in the field of Islamic political jurisprudence, which enjoys an appropriate amount of collective understanding among art owners..
• A well-known name for those with opinions and doctrines.
• A name for a group or group of people with opinions or doctrines.
• In this encyclopedia, we follow the method of Al-Zarkali (D.: 1396 AH), where he stipulated“ that the translator should have a knowledge that his classifications testify to, or a caliphate, a kingdom, an emirate, or a high position:: such as a ministry or a judiciary in which he had a prominent impact, the head of a doctrine, an art with which he was distinguished, an impact on construction that is mentioned to him, a poetry, or a position in which his name is mentioned.”

b- Entry content: 

• The entry begins with a brief definition of the concept under study, then moves on to clarify the historical and political contexts in which it appeared, and then indicates the institutional form it took (if any)..
• Focuses on the essence of the topic.
• Provides basic facts and ideas with broad meaning.
• Avoids precise details and digression and stays away from the emotional language of an advocacy nature..
• The size of the “entry“varies according to the variety of topics. In some cases, we may be sufficient with giving a brief definition of some concepts, or providing an introduction to some personalities while in other cases the size of the” entry“ can be increased to provide a comprehensive presentation of the topic under consideration.

The main topics of the encyclopedia

The proposed entries for this encyclopedia, which exceed 500  entries, can be classified according to their content into four categories:

•  A category related to the major political topics and issues that political thinkers in Islam were concerned with, such as legitimacy, sovereignty, and the imamate…etc..
•  A category classified as the great figures who had a prominent contribution in the field of political thought, and for whom translation is supposed to have mentioned their political works, and what they excelled at, such as Abdul Hamid Al-Kateb, Al-Jahiz, Al-Mawardi, Al-Juwayni…etc..
• A category classified as the Islamic political sects and currents that were distinguished by a special political and sectarian article, such as the Sunnis and the group, the Kharijites, the Shiites…etc..
• A fourth category is the major political concepts that political thinkers in the Islamic field preoccupied with, such as the concept of justice, Sharia, rights, opposition…etc.

6- References

• The encyclopedia is open to all references, with priority given to Arabic literature prepared by specialists as basic sources in Islamic political jurisprudence..
•  Not excluding non-Arabic sources. Rather, the encyclopedia management believes that it is necessary to take advantage of these sources, especially since it is not possible in the current era of cultural openness to be sufficient with one language, or to dispense with what is written in foreign languages about Islamic thought..
•  Dealing with previous research( quotation or summary)  should be clear, documented and brief.
•  Clear reference to the original sources and references.
•  The researcher’s addition and personal opinions (explanation or criticism) should be clear, with fairness and avoidance of fanaticism..
•  The encyclopedia adopts the “cross-references” method, in order to prevent repetition, so that the researcher focuses on one specific topic and then refers side issues to other entries within the encyclopedia.

 

7- Arrangement

Encyclopedia entries are arranged lexically, according to the first letter of each word; without considering (the), so we write, for example:: Hisbah, Ministry, Allegiance, and that instead of The Hesba, The Ministry, The Allegiance. In the case of proper names, what is attached to the names, such as Abu, Ibn, Walad, and Al, is omitted, but the nickname or date of death is established in parentheses, for example:: Muhammad bin Jarir (Al-Tabari, d.310 AH).

Paying attention to the arrangement of the material according to special standards that are followed in the order; such as chronological precedence, frequency, references, etc.