Islamic Encyclopaedic Works in the Malay World before the 20th Century

Abstract

This article examines two pre-20th-century Malay-Islamic texts—Bustān al-Salātīn (1638) and Kitāb Pengetahuan Bahasa (1858) from the Malay World—as encyclopaedic works. Modern definitions of encyclopedias—such as alphabetical order, secular objectivity, and an editorial system—do not easily apply to these texts. This creates a challenge: when Western standards evaluate Malay works, the risk of completely misreading them arises. This study aims to identify the structural and conceptual features that define Malay-Islamic encyclopaedic writing. Using qualitative content, textual, and conceptual analyses, the study identifies seven attributes that constitute the Perbendaharaan Framework. The analysis shows that Bustān al-Salātīn and Kitāb Pengetahuan Bahasa embody these attributes not as mere compilations but as coherent, purposeful projects that unite religious and non-religious knowledge, instruct readers morally, and preserve Malay-Islamic identity. The article concludes that Malay-Islamic encyclopaedic writing constitutes a distinct intellectual tradition—one rooted in tawḥīd method of knowledge that affirms the unity of the religious and non-religious domain—that differs fundamentally from Enlightenment-era Western encyclopaedias. Recognising this tradition corrects earlier scholarly misreadings and opens new avenues for studying knowledge organisation in the Malay world.