Dictionary of Muslim Symbols, by Malek Chebel, Albin Michel Edition (Pocket Size), Living Spiritualities Collection

Relations between Islam and the West are one of the crucial issues of our time. However, the Muslim universe remains for many an unknown and foreign domain. With 1,600 entries, a considerable bibliography and a multitude of references and quotations - notably suras from the Koran -, this dictionary is the essential tool for all those who wish to understand the deep imagination of hundreds of millions of believers. . The symbolism strictly speaking - numbers, colors, bestiary, great Koranic figures... - mixes with ritual, historical and theological questions. The great mystical tradition (Sufism) rubs shoulders with a host of terms that are mentioned daily in the press but whose real meaning is often unknown: ayatollah, fatwa, Shi'ism, veil, chari'a...
A veritable educational encyclopedia of Islam, this summary by the anthropologist Malek Chebel gives us one of the keys to the present day.