What is the ruling on acquiring the World Arabic Encyclopedia, which contains images of living beings and some images of women, and can a student of knowledge rely on it as a source, and are there other encyclopedias free of images of living beings?

There is no objection to purchasing and owning the Arabic World Encyclopedia, even if it contains images of animate beings or images of women. This is because these images are not intended for their own sake but are subsidiary, and what is forgivable in a subsidiary matter is not forgivable in other cases. It is not obligatory to obliterate the images, but doing so for images of 'awrah (private parts) and women, in order to protect children, would be preferable. The encyclopedia is a reliable source of information, and there is no problem in relying on it.