World of Islam

Published by: Leicester: UK Islamic Academy, 2022, 402pp. ISBN: 9781872531823.

The book under review presents itself with grand ambitions. “World”, “the Chronology”, “1430 Years” – Hijazi is not shy in pitching this book as the definitive word on Islamic history. The scale of this book and the volume of information contained therein certainly goes some distance in honouring its lofty ambitions. This book is a 300+ page spreadsheet, listing important events across four categories, as promised, over 1430 years. Other than a brief introduction and conclusion, there is little by way of narrative or analysis. This renders the World of Islam a highly useful, dense, reference book rather than an argument or an academic contribution. Yet, as a reference work, it suffers because there are no citations or even a bibliography. The book’s ambition of being “on shelves of libraries worldwide” is hindered by this substantial academic flaw. World of Islam does yet retain utility if the reader (or user rather) is willing to trust this account, or cross-reference events. The celebratory and reverential narrative used in the book’s front matter is likely to facilitate such trust within particular circles.