PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

The first edition of this book having been out of print for several years and frequent inquiries having been made for copies, this new edition has been prepared and an effort has been made to revise the work in the light of the fresh materials that have accumulated during the last sixteen years; but I can make no claim to have made myself acquainted with the whole of the vast literature on the subject, in upwards of ten different languages, which has been published during this interval. The growing interest in Islam and the various branches of study connected with it, may be estimated from the fact that since 1906 five periodicals have made their appearance devoted to investigations cognate to the subject-matter of the present work, viz. Revue du Monde Musulman, publiée par La Mission Scientifique du Maroc (Paris, 1906– ); Der Islam, Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Kultur des islamischen Orients (Strassburg, 1910– ); The Moslem World, a quarterly review of current events, literature, and thought among Mohammedans, and the progress of Christian Missions in Moslem lands (London, 1911– ); Mir Islama (St. Petersburg, 1912– ); and Die Welt des Islams, Zeitschrift der deutschen Gesellschaft für Islamkunde (Berlin, 1913– ). The Christian missionary societies are also now devoting increased attention to the subject of Muslim missionary activity and accordingly it takes up a proportionately larger place in their publications than before.

I am also much indebted for several valuable indications to those scholars who reviewed the book when it first appeared,—above all, to Professor Goldziher, whose sympathetic interest in this work has encouraged me to continue it.

London, 1913.