After choosing a topic, you will need to locate introductory sources that give basic background information about the subject. Finding background information at the beginning of your research is especially important if you are unfamiliar with the subject area, or not sure from what angle to approach your topic.This guide provides resources for a wide variety of topics related to the Islamic Studies.
Encyclopedias are useful for choosing a topic, educating yourself quickly, understanding various perspectives on a topic, variant spellings, vocabulary, and terminology, and providing bibliographies.
Dictionaries provide a quick definition and often some elaboration on the uses of the term.
Handbooks may also give background through brief articles on various topics, definitions, addresses, and other factual information.
Printed Handbook
The Handbook of Islamic Banking by
The Handbook of Islamic Banking comprises 25 studies by leading international experts on Islamic banking and finance specially commissioned to analyse the various debates and the current state of play in the field.From its origins thirty years ago, Islamic banking has expanded rapidly to become a distinctive and fast growing segment of the international banking and capital markets. Despite this expansion, Islamic banking still remains poorly understood in many parts of the Muslim world and continues to be a mystery in much of the West. This comprehensive Handbook provides a succinct analysis of the workings of Islamic banking and finance, accessible to a wide range of readers. At the same time, it seeks to bring the current research agenda and the main issues on Islamic banking before a wider audience.Islamic banking offers, as an alternative to conventional interest-based financing methods, a wide variety of financial instruments and investment vehicles based on profit-and-loss sharing arrangements. These are all explored in detail along with other subjects such as governance and risk management, securities and investment, structured financing, accounting and regulation, economic development and globalization.M. Kabir Hassan, Mervyn Lewis and the other contributors have created an authoritative and original reference work, which will contribute to a wider understanding of Islamic banking as well as provoking further discussion and research. It will be invaluable to all scholars, researchers and policymakers with an interest in this subject.
The Oxford Handbook of Islam and Politics by
Over the past three decades, scholars, government analysts and terrorism experts have examined the relationship between Islam and politics. But specialists have tended to limit their analysis to a specific country or focus. Few works have provided a geographically comprehensive, in-depthanalysis. Since 9/11, another wave of literature on political Islam and global terrorism has appeared, much of it superficial and sensationalist. This situation underscores the need for a comprehensive, analytical, and in-depth examination of Islam and politics in the post-9/11 era and in anincreasingly globalizing world. The Oxford Handbook of Islam and Politics, with contributions from prominent scholars and specialists, provides a comprehensive analysis of what we know and where we are in the study of political Islam. It enables scholars, students, and policymakers to understand the interaction of Islam andpolitics and the multiple and diverse roles of Islamic movements, as well as issues of authoritarianism and democratization, religious extremism and terrorism regionally and globally.
Routledge Handbook of Islam in the West by
Islam has long been a part of the West in terms of religion, culture, politics and society. Discussing this interaction from al-Andalus to the present, this Handbook explores the influence Islam has had, and continues to exert; particularly its impact on host societies, culture and politics. Highlighting specific themes and topics in history and culture, chapters cover: European paradigms Muslims in the Americas Cultural interactions Islamic cultural contributions to the Western world Western contributions to Islam Providing a sound historical background, from which a nuanced overview of Islam and Western society can be built, the Routledge Handbook of Islam in the West brings to the fore specific themes and topics that have generated both reciprocal influence, and conflict. Presenting readers with a range of perspectives from scholars based in Europe, the US, and the Middle East, this Handbook challenges perceptions on both western and Muslim sides and will be an invaluable resource for policymakers and academics with an interest in the History of Islam, Religion and the contemporary relationship between Islam and the West.
Dictionaries & Encyclopedia
The concise encyclopedia of Islam: With extensive chronology by 
Encyclopaedia of the Qur'An - (A-D) by
"The Qur'an is the primary religious text for one-fifth of the world's population and has been an object of reverence and of intense study for centuries. Drawing upon a rich scholarly heritage, Brill's Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an contains alphabetically arranged articles about the contents of the Qur'an. It is an encyclopedic dictionary of qur'anic terms, concepts, personalities, place names, cultural history, and exegesis extended with essays on the most important themes and subjects within qur'anic studies. With over 750 entries, the EQ is the first comprehensive, multivolume reference work on the Qur'an to appear in Western languages."
Encyclopedia of Islam and the Islamic world
Ensiklopedia peradaban Islam = Encyclopedia of Islamic civilization by 
The encyclopedia of Islam and Iran : dynamics of culture and the living civilization by Printed Journal
Journal of Islam in Asia : a refereed international biannual Arabic - English Journal
Jurnal Falak
