Scholarship on Islam and women has expanded exponentially over the past twenty years, with increasing specialization within the field, as well as cross-pollination between other fields and disciplines. With this surge in interest there is a genuine need for a systematic reference work to provide balanced comprehensive coverage of the field. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Women is designed to meet this need by providing clear, current, comprehensive information on the major topicsof scholarly interest within the study of women and Islam. The Encyclopedia, which is based on the highly acclaimed Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World and is one of four encyclopedias in the Islamic World series, will be published as an e-book, in print, and on Oxford Islamic Studies Online. It will feature several hundred in-depth articles written by leading experts and is intended as a single source for accurate overview articles covering all aspects of this flourishing area of research.