168 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 8, No. I, 1991 Book Review Dictionary of Qur'anic Terms and Concepts By Mustansir Mir. New York: Garland Publishing, 1987, 244pp. A long-awaited Muslim source and a nonorientalist handy reference book, this glossary (a more appropriate title for this dictionary) of the Qur'an fills The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 8, No. 1, 1991 169 a major vacuum. To date, we had to rely solely on Penrice’s Dictionary and Glossary of the Qurbn. This process of generating sources (indexes, bibliographies, handbooks, dictionaries, glossaries, and the like) - a sole prerogative of the Western world-has recently been taken up by Muslims. A healthy trend in this regard is visible in the source under review. Though this book has covered mainly Qur’anic terms and concepts, it has admittedly entered into the field of non-Qur’anic terms. This extension of scope makes it more useful to the community of scholars and students of the Qur’an. As the author rightly mentions in his introduction: “In a few cases, the Arabic terms used are the ones that have become traditionally accepted, even though they do not occur in the Qur’an (i.e., wu(iii’) or occur in it in a different sense (i.e. q d h . ; these include, in one or two cases, words which for some technical reason are to be regarded as ‘extra-Qur‘anic’ even when words from the same root and with the same basic meaning occur in the Qur’an-i.e., bayfih, though mubiiyQizh (in perfect and imperfect forms, that is) occurs in the Qur”n” (pp. xiii-xiv). Mir has used the generally accepted meanings and notions in his scholarly work. His explanations and notes are interesting and meaningful. For instance, explaining the term “Median Community” or “ U m h Wusu[,” he goes on to say that the title of ”Median Community” is not only a prerogative, but also carries with it a responsibility-the responsibility to stay on the median path and guide others to it (p. 132). Similarly, under the term “Repentance” we find “k, after he had sinned, repented and was forgiven by God (237). Thus, he was sent upon earth not to receive punishment for his disobedience, but in accordance with an already existing plan. Since &am was forgiven, no original sin attaches to the human race” (p. 180). Similarly, we find at another place: “Din has four meanings: 1. Submission . . . 2. A system of beliefs . . . 3. Law . . . and 4. Recompense . . .” (p. 49). The dictionary is arranged in alphabetical form by terms/concepts. Each entry normally has details like the background of the term, shades of meaning, usage in the Qur’an, and a “see also” reference to related areas. For instance, the entry “Emigration” has its Ambic meaning, general information, emigration as a proof of faith, legal entailments of emigration, emigration between despair and hope, characteristic features of this Qur’anic concept, and a “see also” reference which refers the reader to “ Wuliiyah .” Quantitatively, this dictionary contains 198 entries spread over 216 pages, which means it has on the average a little more than one page per term. It has 365 “see” and “see also” references. The size of each entry ranges from 50 words (as in the case of “Jibt,” “Munn,” and “Sulwu”) to 770 words (i.e., in “Emigration,” “Islam”, “Man”). By themes, the coverage can be classified into ‘ibiidah and mu‘timaliit, which are almost half of the total entries. In terms of broad headings, the dictionary has themes like “‘lblidah,” 170 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences Vol. 8, No. 1, 1991 “Prophethood,” “Kitiib,” “Socio-Cultural Aspects,” ”Legalities” and so on. The additional list of “see” and “see also” references appended to the dictionary adds to its utility. This book has a few shortcomings, and a revised edition may take care of these. As a suggestion, a more appropriate title would be A Glossary of Quriznic E m ; another suggestion is a dictionary of all Qur’anic root words as an added appendage to the glossary, which in turn m u l d help all concerned with Islam and Islamic studies. Further terms like “Tadabbur,” “Efqur,” “Zqrii’,’’ “Fajr,” “Najl,” and “Ezkiyah” are conspicuous by their absence. A few terms need a little more explanation, or are also missing, such as: a) “@s&z” (used differently by different Muslim schools); b) the difference between Adam as man and Adam as the first Prophet of Islam (incidentally Adam, the first created soul according to the Qur’an, has found no place in this source); c) “I1Bh’-other gods-as used implicitly and explicitly in the Qur’an, is again missing in this dictionary; and d) “ZkhZii.y7’ and ‘ X h a c f ‘ (on which there is one full siirah), are strangely absent. Maybe the other terms covered, like “Monotheism,” are felt to be satisfactory by the author of the dictionary, but for a seeker of truth this is not a satisfying approach. Use of “see” and “see also” indicative references is not uniformly adopted. For example, under “Wickedness” one is referred to terms like “Fisq” and “Fujiir.,, “Fujiir” (on p. 81) is defined as “impiety, wickedness, evil.,’ Of these three meanings, only evil is explained at length (on p. 66). Further, the Arabic meaning given of the term “Evil” is “sharr,” which leaves a student wondering about the linkage of these words: fijiir, sharr, Jisq, and so on. A “see also” reference from “Evil” to “Fujiir” and also to “Fisq” could have done some justification in showing the connections of the terms. Again, a terdword “Baghi” finds a “see” reference to “Din,” but under the description of “ D X one has to hunt all the way for its use. Just a mention of the meaning of the word (i.e., revolters) would have been sufficient for a user-friendly dictionary. The exact usage of the term could have been referred to with a “see also” reference. Interestingly, this pattern already exists for “RamadBn” and “Fasting.” Hence a uniformity for all terms is desirable. A useful and indispensable tool, this dictionary is a handy source for scholars/students of Islamic studies, Qur’anic studies, textual studies, and those interested in understanding the terminology and concepts of Islamic literature. A fruitful by-product of this venture could be a permuted Qur’anic index, a thesaurus, and a concordance. Mohamed Taher School of Library Studies Rutgers University New Brunswick, New Jersey