This book resulted from a joint research project conducted by the governments of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia, with IRCICA as research coordinator. It is a collection of articles written by scholars and experts from the Malay region. The drafting of the chapters was conducted through workshops held in the three countries from September 1985 to June 1994. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Taib Osman from Malaysia was editor-in-chief for the project. Following the original English edition published in 1997, the book was published in Malay by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (Academy of Language and Literature, Kuala Lumpur, 2000), Persian (Organisation of Culture and Islamic Relations, Tehran, 2001) and Turkish (IRCICA, 2000).
