Religions in a Global Context: Islamic Studies
A library guide for the Religions in a Global Context: RELS 1015:0AAA
Dome of the Rock
Jerusalem, Dome of the Rock, 691–2; interior (restored); photo credit: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY
MES Reference
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British Library's EThOS (Electronic Theses Online)Includes 400 doctoral theses focusing on the Middle East, Islamic studies and related subjects which can now be downloaded for free by scholars worldwide. Users must register.
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Brockelmann Online This link opens in a new windowBrockelmann Online consists of both original volumes Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur (GAL) by Carl Brockelmann (1868-1956), as well as the three supplement volumes, including the indexes. It is full-text searchable, making it much easier to consult for researchers and students. The "Brockelmann" has become an indispensible research tool for anyone working on the Islamic world in general and the Middle East in particular.
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Encyclopedia Iranica This link opens in a new windowThe Encyclopædia Iranica is dedicated to the study of Iranian civilization in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. The academic reference work will eventually cover all aspects of Iranian history and culture as well as all Iranian languages and literatures, facilitating the whole range of Iranian studies research from archeology to political sciences.
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Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān This link opens in a new windowThe Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān Online is an encyclopaedic dictionary of qur’ānic terms, concepts, personalities, place names, cultural history and exegesis extended with essays on the most important themes and subjects within qur’ānic studies.
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Encyclopaedia Islamica This link opens in a new window"Encyclopaedia Islamica Online is based on the abridged and edited translation of the Persian Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Buzurg-i Islāmī, one of the most comprehensive sources on Islam and the Muslim world. A unique feature of the encyclopaedia Islamica Online lies in the attention given to Shiʿi Islam and its rich and diverse heritage."
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Encyclopedia of Arabic language and linguistics This link opens in a new windowComprehensively covers all aspects of Arabic languages and linguistics. It is interdisciplinary in scope and represents different schools and approaches to be as objective and versatile as possible.
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Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures Online This link opens in a new windowThis encyclopedia is an interdisciplinary, trans-historical, and global project embracing women and Islamic cultures in every region where there have been significant Muslim populations. It aims to cover every topic for which there is significant research, examining these regions from the period just before the rise of Islam to the present.
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Islamic Philosophy OnlineThis site contains hundreds of full-length books and articles on Islamic philosophy, ranging from the classical texts in the canon of Islamic philosophy to modern works of Muslim philosophy.
Databases
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Index Islamicus This link opens in a new windowThe Index Islamicus database indexes literature on Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world. It is produced by the Islamic Bibliography Unit at Cambridge University Library.
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Encyclopaedia of Islam This link opens in a new windowThe Encyclopaedia of Islam sets out the present state of our knowledge of the Islamic World from religion and history to politics and culture. It includes articles on distinguished Muslims of every age and land, on tribes and dynasties, on the crafts and sciences, on political and religious institutions, on the geography, ethnography, flora and fauna of the various countries and on the history, topography and monuments of the major towns and cities. Its geographical and historical scope encompasses the old Arabo-Islamic empire, the Islamic countries of Iran, Central Asia, the Indian sub-continent and Indonesia, the Ottoman Empire and all modern Islamic states. The entire text of volumes I to XI and Supplement (Volume XII) of the printed edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam is included.
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Early Western Korans This link opens in a new windowKoran Printing in the West, 1537-1857. This collection of Early Printed Korans demonstrates what impact the holy book of Islam achieved in Europe.
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Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān This link opens in a new windowThe Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān Online is an encyclopaedic dictionary of qur’ānic terms, concepts, personalities, place names, cultural history and exegesis extended with essays on the most important themes and subjects within qur’ānic studies.
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Islamic Manuscripts from MaliIndex to Islamic Manuscripts from Mali features 32 manuscripts from the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library and the Library of Cheick Zayni Baye of Boujbeha, both in Timbuktu, Mali. The manuscripts presented online are displayed in their entirety and are an exemplary grouping that showcase the wide variety of subjects covered by the written traditions of Timbuktu, Mali, and West Africa. Provided by The Library of Congress.
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The Middle East Virtual Library (MENALIB)The Middle East Virtual Library (MENALIB) is an information portal for Middle East and Islamic Studies. It provides access to online information and to digital records of printed and other offline media and thus supports the concept of a hybrid library for Middle East and Islamic Studies.
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Online Text, Translation and Commentary on the Qur’anAn online collection of Quranic commentary, providing the original Arabic texts of over 100 books of tafsir (Quran tafseer or commentary), recitation (tajwid) tutorials and hadith collections, and other fields, pertaining to the study of Quranic exegesis.
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Islamic Studies (Oxford Bibliographies) This link opens in a new windowThe field of Islamic Studies is both wide-reaching and dynamic. It includes the range of foundational documents, traditions, institutions, and history of Muslims in various countries and regions throughout the world from the origins of Islam to the present day. This interdisciplinary field therefore includes history, religion, philosophy, anthropology, Arabic language and literature, as well as literatures in other languages including Persian, Turkish, and Urdu, and remains responsive to new discoveries, interpretations, ideologies and theories. Combining the best features of an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia, Oxford Bibliographies in Islamic Studies guides researchers to the best available scholarship across a wide variety of subjects.
Primary Sources for History
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Afghanistan Digital LibraryThe immediate objective of the Afghanistan Digital Library is to retrieve and restore the first sixty years of Afghanistan’s published cultural heritage. The project is collecting, cataloging, digitizing, and making available over the Internet as many Afghan publications from the period 1871–1930 as it is possible to identify and locate. In addition to books, this will eventually include all published serials, documents, pamphlets, and manuals.
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Arab Film DistributionPerhaps the leading US distributor of Arabic language films. The UI Libraries holds many titles from their catalog.
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Archives Unbound This link opens in a new windowArchives Unbound presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents that support the research and study needs of scholars and students at the college and university level. Covers a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history. Collections are chosen for Archives Unbound based on requests from scholars, archivists, and students.
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Confidential Print: Africa, 1834-1966 This link opens in a new windowConfidential Print: Africa, 1834-1966 covers the whole of the modern period of European colonization of Africa: from coastal trading in the early nineteenth century, through the Conference of Berlin of 1884 and the subsequent Scramble for Africa, to the abuses of the Congo Free State, fights against tropical disease, Italy’s defeat by the Abyssinians, World War II, apartheid in South Africa and colonial moves towards independence. The Confidential Print series, issued by the British Government between c. 1820 and 1970, originated out of a need to preserve the most important papers generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices. Documents range from single-page letters or telegrams to comprehensive dispatches, investigative reports and texts of treaties.
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Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969 This link opens in a new windowConfidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969 covers the whole of modern British involvement in North Africa and the Middle East: from the Egyptian reforms of Muhammad Ali Pasha in the nineteenth century, the Middle East Conference of 1921, the Mandates for Palestine and Mesopotamia and the Suez Crisis in 1956, to the partition of Palestine, post-Suez Western foreign policy and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Confidential Print series, issued by the British Government between c. 1820 and 1970, originated out of a need to preserve the most important papers generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices. Documents range from single-page letters or telegrams to comprehensive dispatches, investigative reports and texts of treaties.
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Early Western Korans This link opens in a new windowKoran Printing in the West, 1537-1857. This collection of Early Printed Korans demonstrates what impact the holy book of Islam achieved in Europe.
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Empire Online This link opens in a new windowThis resource brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and it's theories, practices and consequences. The materials span across the last five centuries and are accompanied by a host of secondary learning resources including scholarly essays, maps and an interactive chronology.
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Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration, and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new windowThis resource brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of global commodities in world history. The commodities featured in this resource have been transported, exchanged and consumed around the world for hundreds of years. They helped transform societies, global trading operations, habits of consumption and social practices.
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History of Afghanistan online This link opens in a new windowThe most important history of Afghanistan ever written (originally written in Persian), Sirāj al-tawārīkh or The History of Afghanistan. The roots of much of the fabric of Afghanistan’s society today—tribe and state relations, the rule of law, gender issues, and the economy—are elegantly and minutely detailed in this immense work.
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Middle East Microform Project (MEMP)The purpose of the Middle East Microform Project (MEMP) is to cooperatively acquire or produce microform and digital copies of unique, scarce, rare and unusually bulky and expensive research material pertaining to the field of Middle Eastern studies; and to preserve deteriorating printed and manuscript materials of scholarly value. UI researchers may borrow MEMP materials; contact the bibliographer for details.
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Jerusalem Post, 1932-2008 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new windowThe Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on 1 December 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post in the British Mandate of Palestine. During the Mandate period, the publication supported the struggle for a Jewish homeland in Palestine and openly opposed British policy restricting Jewish immigration. In 1950, two years after the State of Israel was declared, the paper was renamed The Jerusalem Post.
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U.S. Intelligence on the Middle East, 1945-2009 This link opens in a new windowThis comprehensive document set sheds light on the U.S. intelligence community’s spying and analytic efforts in the Arab world, including the Middle East, the Near East, and North Africa. It covers the time period from the end of World War II to the present day, up until the 2002-2003 Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) assessments, the Global War on Terror, the Iraq War, and Iran’s nuclear program.
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Women and Social Movements, International— 1840 to Present This link opens in a new windowOnline archive of published and manuscript primary sources focusing on women’s international activism since the mid-nineteenth century. The archive includes proceedings of women’s international conferences, books, pamphlets, articles from newspapers and journals, as well as correspondence, diary entries, and memoirs. Also contains numerous online publications of contemporary Non-Governmental Organizations.
Subject Guide

Rachel Garza Carreón
Contact:
Religious Studies, Philosophy, Classics and Latino Native American Cultural Center
(319) 335-6441