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The Hussaini Encyclopedia

book by Muḥammad Ṣādiq Muḥammad Karbāsī

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ7741156 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Hussaini Encyclopedia (Arabic - دائرة المعارف الحسينية - Dāʾirat al-maʿārif al-Ḥusaynīyah) is an encyclopedia in Arabic about Husayn ibn Ali, the third Shia imam, and people and places connected to him. Over 105 volumes and over 95 million words have been published. The author, Mohammed Sadiq Al-Karbassi, established the Hussaini Center for Research in London in 1993. The Hussaini Encyclopedia particularly focuses on the aftermath of battle of Karbala.

About the Hussaini Encyclopedia

In 1987, Al-Karbassi planned to work on the Hussaini Encyclopedia and established the Hussaini Center for Research in London in 1993. The encyclopedia is completely themed on Imam Al-Hussain His inspiration to start this work was by him who "does not speak out of his own fancy" (The Star 53-3 – i.e. the Islamic prophet Mohammed) when he declared: "Hussain is from me and I am from Hussain". And this work has penetrated the barriers of time, place, language and identity in searching and conveying pieces of information related to the Cause of Imam Al-Hussain.

It covers many different aspects and things which are related to Hussain Ibn Ali, these include: Al-Hussain in the Quran, The Hussaini Biography, Al-Hussain and Legislation, The Dreams, Visions and Interpretations, Glossary of Al-Hussain's Partisans, Glossary of Hashemite Partisans of Al-Hussain, Historical Investigations in the Hussaini uprising, Imam Al-Hussain's Uprising – Emergence and Confirmation of History, Al-Hussain's Life Story, History of the Shrines, 'Ziyara' at Al-Hussaini Shrines, Anthology of the First to Fifteenth Hijra Century poetry, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Turkish, English, Albanian, Oriental and Occidental Poetry.

The Hussain Encyclopedia is in Arabic but some parts have been translated into different languages such as: English, Persian, Urdu and Pashto.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Hussaini Encyclopedia” is book by Muḥammad Ṣādiq Muḥammad Karbāsī. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Hussaini, Encyclopedia and book, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1993, 1987—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Hussaini, Encyclopedia and book is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “book by Muḥammad Ṣādiq Muḥammad Karbāsī” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7741156. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1993 and 1987.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Hussaini Encyclopedia”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Hussaini Encyclopedia primary sources, The Hussaini Encyclopedia archive and Hussaini research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Hussaini Encyclopedia”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The Hussaini Encyclopedia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.