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Mawsuat al-Aalam - al-Awqaf al-Misriyya
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- Mawsuat al-Aalam - al-Awqaf al-Misriyya
Mawsū‘at al-A‘lām (The Encyclopedia of Notable Figures) is a specialized biographical encyclopedia produced by the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs under the Egyptian Ministry of Awqaf in Cairo as part of its multi-volume specialized Islamic encyclopedia initiative .
Background and Institutional Context
In Ramadan 1417 AH (February 1996 CE), the Centre for Islamic Studies and Encyclopedias (Markaz al-Dirāsāt wa-l-Mawsū‘āt al-Islāmiyya) was established within the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs under the supervision of the Egyptian Minister of Awqaf, Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq . The centre was charged with two primary objectives: monitoring publications on Islam in foreign languages and conducting studies to offer scholarly responses, and publishing specialized reference encyclopedias in Arabic and foreign languages .
The overarching encyclopedia project aimed to present an Islamic scholarly perspective in modern reference works, balancing the orientalist scholarship represented by works such as the Encyclopaedia of Islam . The council additionally planned to have each completed volume translated into English and French to broaden access for international audiences .
Scope and Structure
The biographical encyclopedia was conceived as one of fifteen designated specialized domains within the council's broader series on Islamic thought, preceded by an introductory volume dedicated to general concepts and terms (Mawsū‘at al-Mafāhīm al-Islāmiyya al-‘Āmma) . The series defined fifteen fields:
- Creed (‘Aqīda)
- Qur'an and its sciences (al-Qur’ān wa-‘ulūmuh)
- Sīrah and Sunnah (al-Sīra wa-l-Sunna)
- Islamic legislation (al-Tashrī‘ al-Islāmī)
- Islamic ethics (al-Akhlāq al-Islāmiyya)
- Islamic civilization (al-Ḥaḍāra al-Islāmiyya)
- Islamic philosophy (al-Falsafa al-Islāmiyya)
- Islamic Sufism (al-Taṣawwuf al-Islāmī)
- Islamic sects (al-Firaq al-Islāmiyya)
- Contemporary issues (al-Qaḍāyā al-mu‘āṣira)
- History of sciences (Tārīkh al-‘ulūm)
- Islamic political thought (al-Fikr al-siyāsī al-Islāmī)
- Biographies and notable figures (al-Tarājim / al-A‘lām)
- Islamic literature (al-Adab al-Islāmī)
- Islamic history (al-Tārīkh al-Islāmī)
Within this framework, the biographical work was designed to document the biographies and intellectual contributions of key figures in Islamic civilization, compiled collaboratively by committees of specialized scholars and researchers affiliated with the council .
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