The present Dictionary of Islamic Law comes to fill a gap in the bibliographical panorama on Islam in the Hispanic world, and even in the European sphere, in the absence in any Western language a repertoire of the scope and characteristics of the work that now sees the light. Islamic law is - with Roman law and English Common Law - one of the legal systems that have reached a universal dimension, and is the expression of Islamic law, developed through the set of divine prescriptions regulating human actions. Beyond a set of norms and principles, Islamic law forms a mentality and represents a way of life within the Muslim communities in which religion and law are in close contact, so that each custom, institution, relationship or attitude, is related to it, even in the most insignificant and intimate acts. From this doctrinal and normative complex, this dictionary offers a synthetic and up-to-date exposition, referring both to the times of the past and to present-day Islamic societies, with special attention to the personal status codes in modern states, whose population today one thousand three hundred million Muslims, from the Atlantic to the Philippines and from sub-Saharan Africa to China. As an essential reference for law students, as well as for Arabists and Islamists, this dictionary will also interest non-specialists, who will find in their pages clear, concise and solvent information on issues of growing relevance also in our societies.