Appel à entrées : Islam: A Worldwide Encyclopedia (4 Volumes) — LIMITE : URGENT

This is a call for entries for a major reference work on Islamic faith contracted with ABC-CLIO. Inquiries should be addressed to Editor, Dr. Cenap Çakmak, at cenapcakmak@yahoo.com. Potential authors are kindly requested to send a brief CV indicating their areas of expertise and major scholarly works. Entry list will be subsequently sent to the interested parties for selection.

A small amount of honorarium will be paid to the contributors; particularly emergent scholars are encouraged to use this opportunity to get published. Entry length ranges between 500 to 2,000 words. Deadlines vary; some are due as early as Sept. 2014, whereas some others are to be delivered later.

TENTATIVE TITLE: Islam: A Worldwide Encyclopedia (4 Volumes)

RATIONALE: One of the most popular religions in the world with a huge number of followers and adherents, Islam has attracted a great deal of attention in recent times particularly in the Western world. The growing number of incidents of terror associated with Islam, particularly the September 11 attacks, and lifestyles and worldviews held by its followers that are unusual to the Western people, may be cited as the primary reasons for this increased attention. However, it is no secret that most of these views on Islam and Muslims in the Western countries stem from assumptions or some sort of biases that do not reflect the reality and truth on Islam. In addition to giving some basic information on Islam, this work seeks to shed light on some controversial issues including jihad, violence in Islam, polygamy and apostasy. In other words, what this volume-set basically wants to do is to introduce Islam to mainly Western audience with keen interest in knowing it and address some disputed issues that may serve as basis for biases and stereotypes in the minds of the Western people.

To this end, the entries in this encyclopedia will be authored by mostly Muslim scholars particularly for the beginners who have no or little prior knowledge on Islam in the Western world. For this reason, the entries are picked based on their popularity and disputability in the West.

SCOPE AND PURPOSE:  The entries in the encyclopedia will cover a period between the birth of Islam and the present time. However, given space limits, the editor will adopt an eclectic approach, focusing on the most relevant and significant events and concepts and leaving the others out. Relevance will be determined by a Western perspective rather than an Islamic one. The volume will include historical, conceptual, personal or geographical accounts and entries. The entries will be written by experts in the field; therefore, it is very likely that the encyclopedia will serve as a source of authoritative information for those looking for it.

AUDIENCE: Particular attention will be paid to make sure that the volume covers the most basic concepts on Islam; therefore, the encyclopedia will attract the attention by those all with a keen interest in Islam-related subjects. The entries will provide the most essential aspects of the issues covered; but the style and language will be concise and jargon-free to make sure that the audience will get the highest benefit.

Most entries have already been assigned or delivered; but there are still some unassigned entries which will be made explicit to the interested authors.

Cenap Cakmak, PhD
Assoc. Prof. International Law and Politics
Eskisehir Osmangazi University
Dept. of Int’l Relations
Meselik Kampus, Eskisehir, Turkey
+90(0)5327203211, +90(0)2222393750(1130 ext.)
cenapcakmak@yahoo.com
Email: cenapcakmak@yahoo.com
Information http://www.h-net.org/announce/show.cgi?ID=215955