Journal of the Contemporary Study of Islam

Publisher: London : Institute for the Contemporary Study of Islam, 2020-
ISSN: 2633-7282

"The Journal of the Contemporary Study of Islam was launched in 2019 by the Institute for the Contemporary Study of Islam, based in the UK, to investigate Islam and Muslims in the contemporary world. Although we may consider any submissions that fall within the scope of the journal, we are keen on publishing articles that address some of the most pressing issues that Muslims face in the contemporary world, such as: innovative methods in Islamic law; developing trends in the Muslim world (e.g. new forms of Atheism, Deism, and Agnosticism); Islam and politics; sectarianism in the Muslim world; Islamophobia; Islam and social change; Islam and human rights; Muslim-Christian relations; methodological developments in Quranic studies; and hadith studies.

The JCSI aims to reach wider readership beyond the academy, and thus we suggest authors avoid technical language in their submissions. The journal is open access; free of cost for authors and readers alike with unrestricted online access for readers.

The JCSI evaluates manuscripts through a double-blind peer-review process. The journal is published quarterly, and every issue includes original scholarly contributions as well as critical book reviews. We also accept short responses to articles published in the journal.

Once your paper has been assessed for suitability by the editorial team, it will then be peer-reviewed by at least two independent, anonymous expert referees. Response time is generally within two months."

URL: https://contemporarystudyofislam.org/index.php/jcsi/issue/view/3

See the Alphabetical List of Open Access Journals in Middle Eastern Studies

New OA Book: Practices of Commentary

Congratulations to Christina Lechtermann and Markus Stock on the publication of their volume, “Practices of Commentary,” published in the Zeitsprünge series. This book arose out of a conference held at the Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main, in December 2018, where scholars from both the University of Toronto and the Goethe University convened to consider the boundaries of commentary. The introductory chapter of this volume (by Christina Lechtermann and Markus Stock) presents a number of questions about the nature of commentary and leads into a series of premodern case studies in the fields of Arabic, English, German, Jewish, Latin, and Romance studies. Read the text in full below.

A hearty congratulations also to the contributors of this volume, many of whom are currently involved with the Global Commentary project:
Stefanie Brinkmann, “Marginal Commentaries in Ḥadīṯ Manuscripts.”
Walid Saleh, “The Place of the Medieval in Qur’an Commentary: A Survey of Recent Editions.”
Jeannie Miller, “Commentary and Text Organization in al-Jāḥiẓ’s Book of Animals.”
Suzanne Akbari, “Ekphrasis and Commentary in Walter of Chatillon’s Alexandreis.”
Jennifer Gerber, “About Form and Function of German Vernacular Commentaries.”
Christina Lechtermann, “Commentary as Literature: The Medieval ‘Glossenlied.'”
Philip Stockbrugger, “Mirroring Authorization in Torquato Tasso’s Rime Amorose.”

URL: https://globalcommentary.utoronto.ca/?p=654. Direct download of the book: https://globalcommentary.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Practices-of-Commentary-Zeitspru%CC%88nge-Forschungen-zur-Fru%CC%88hen-Neuzeit.pdf.

New Open Access Journal: Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World

Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World

Editor-in-Chief: Stéphane Pradines

"Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World (MCMW) aims to be a new reference for field archaeologists, (art) historians, anthropologists, curators, and scholars and students of the (art) history, archaeology, architecture, anthropology & ethnography of the Muslim world. This readership represents a new broader definition of material culture that includes not only artefacts, architectural structures and monuments, but also crafts. The journal also aims to inform (other) disciplines and historiographies, by including (unreviewed) archaeological field surveys for example. 

The journal focuses on un(der)explored Muslim regions outside of the Middle East and Nord Africa: sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Ocean, Central Asia, India, South-East Asia and Europe. 

The journal accepts submissions in English, French, German and Spanish and short reports in Arabic, Persian and Turkish with an English abstract."

Submissions should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief, Stéphane Pradines, at Stephane.Pradines@aku.edu 

Frequency: 1 volume per year, 2 issues per volume 

Expected date of publication of the inaugural double issue: October 2020. 

Publisher: Brill

ISSN: 2666-6278

ISSN: 2666-6286

See also: Alphabetical List of Open Access Journals in Middle Eastern Studies

Open Access Journal: Journal of Islamic Ethics

Journal of Islamic Ethics

Editor: Mohammed Ghaly

"The focus of the Journal of Islamic Ethics is on the ethical approaches embedded in Islamic philosophy, theology, mysticism and jurisprudence as well as Islamic civilization in general, and, more particularly, on the principles and methods (to be) followed in applying these approaches to various sectors of contemporary social life. These fields include: Arts, Environment, Economics, Education, Gender, Media, Medicine, Migration & Human Rights, Politics and Psychology. The Journal will strongly focus on thematic issues on current events as well as on individual empirical case studies. 

The Journal of Islamic Ethics is a full Open Access journal sponsored by the Research Center of Islamic Legislation and Ethics in Doha (Qatar), which is affiliated to the Faculty of Islamic Studies, Hamad Bin Khalifa University."

Publisher: Brill

ISSN: 2468-5534/ Online ISSN: 2468-5542

Open Access E-Book: The Maghrib in the Mashriq Knowledge, Travel and Identity

The Maghrib in the Mashriq

Knowledge, Travel and Identity

Edited by: Maribel Fierro and Mayte Penelas

De Gruyter | 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110713305

ISBN 9783110713305 (e-book)/ 9783110712698 (hardcover)

" This is a pioneering book about the impact that knowledge produced in the Maghrib (Islamic North Africa and al-Andalus = Muslim Iberia) had on the rest of the Islamic world.

It presents results achieved in the Research Project "Local contexts and global dynamics: al-Andalus and the Maghrib in the Islamic East (AMOI)", funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and directed by Maribel Fierro and Mayte Penelas.

The book contains 18 contributions written by senior and junior scholars from different institutions all over the world. It is divided into five sections dealing with how knowledge produced in the Maghrib was integrated in the Mashriq starting with the emergence and construction of the concept 'Maghrib' (sections 1 and 2); how travel allowed the reception in the Maghrib of knowledge produced in the Mashriq but also the transmission of locally produced knowledge outside the Maghrib, and the different ways in which such transmission took place (sections 3 and 4), and how the Maghribis who stayed or settled in the Mashriq manifested their identity (section 5).The book will be of interest not only for those whose research concentrates on the Maghrib but more generally for those who want to understand the complex and shifting dynamics between 'centres' and 'peripheries' as regards intellectual production and circulation."

Open Access E-book: Transregional and Regional Elites – Connecting the Early Islamic Empire

 

Transregional and Regional Elites – Connecting the Early Islamic Empire

Volume 1

Edited by: Hannah-Lena Hagemann and Stefan Heidemann

De Gruyter | 2020

ISBN 9783110669800 (ebook)/ 9783110666489 (hardcover)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110669800

"Transregional and regional elites of various backgrounds were essential for the integration of diverse regions into the early Islamic Empire, from Central Asia to North Africa. This volume is an important contribution to the conceptualization of the largest empire of Late Antiquity. While previous studies used Iraq as the paradigm for the entire empire, this volume looks at diverse regions instead. After a theoretical introduction to the concept of ‘elites’ in an early Islamic context, the papers focus on elite structures and networks within selected regions of the Empire (Transoxiana, Khurāsān, Armenia, Fārs, Iraq, al-Jazīra, Syria, Egypt, and Ifrīqiya). The papers analyze elite groups across social, religious, geographical, and professional boundaries.

Although each region appears unique at first glance, based on their heterogeneous surviving sources, its physical geography, and its indigenous population and elites, the studies show that they shared certain patterns of governance and interaction, and that this was an important factor for the success of the largest empire of Late Antiquity" 

The contents of the book can be seen here

Open Access E-Book: Arabic translation of : Remote Capture: Digitising Documentary Heritage in Challenging Locations

Edited by: Jody Butterworth, Andrew Pearson, Patrick Sutherland and Adam Farquhar.
Published by: Open Book Publishers (Cambridge, UK)

© 2021. Arabic Translation by Nouran Ibrahim Abdelraouf.

ISBN Digital ebook (epub): 9781783744763
ISBN Digital ebook (mobi): 9781783744770
DOI: 10.11647/OBP.0138

 "In 2020, EAP received a generous grant from the Barakat Trust to translate Remote Capture: Digitising Documentary Heritage in Challenging Locations into Arabic as part of outreach within the Middle East and North Africa regions. Nouran Ibrahim Abdelraouf did all the hard work of translating the book and now that it is available online via the EAP website, we thought it would be the right time to ask her a few questions that we could share on our blog."

English original : https://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/747#resources

Open Access E-Book: The Hajj and Europe in the Age of Empire

The Hajj and Europe in the Age of Empire

Editor: Umar Ryad
Leiden, The Netherlands : Brill, [2014]

Series: Leiden Studies in Islam and Society, Volume: 5

"The present volume focuses on the political perceptions of the Hajj, its global religious appeal to Muslims, and the European struggle for influence and supremacy in the Muslim world in the age of pre-colonial and colonial empires. In the late fifteenth century and early sixteenth century, a pivotal change in seafaring occurred, through which western Europeans played important roles in politics, trade, and culture. Viewing this age of empires through the lens of the Hajj puts it into a different perspective, by focusing on how increasing European dominance of the globe in pre-colonial and colonial times was entangled with Muslim religious action, mobility, and agency. The study of Europe’s connections with the Hajj therefore tests the hypothesis that the concept of agency is not limited to isolated parts of the globe. By adopting the “tools of empires,” the Hajj, in itself a global activity, would become part of global and trans-cultural history."

With contributions by: Aldo D’Agostini; Josep Lluís Mateo Dieste; Ulrike Freitag; Mahmood Kooria; Michael Christopher Low; Adam Mestyan; Umar Ryad; John Slight and Bogusław R. Zagórski.
E-Book (PDF)
ISBN: 9789004323353
ISBN: 9789004323346

OA Journal: Y'ALLA A Texan Journal of Middle Eastern Literature

 

"Y’alla

The first issue of Y’alla will go live later this year. In the meantime, please send us your poems, stories, essays, and novel excerpts translated from Persian, Hebrew, Turkish, Arabic or any other language pertaining to the Middle East and North Africa. You can submit your work directly at dena.afrasiabi@austin.utexas.edu. Please email queries and questions."

Website: https://sites.utexas.edu/yalla/

Audio Books in Persian - Iran Seda

Iran Seda provides selection of audio books in Persian. 

Sample categories:   
Novels and short stories
Skills and training
Romance
Science Fiction
Poetry
Juvenile
Historical
Health and fitness
Sport
Music
Classic texts
Translations

The platform is sponsored by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Open Access Bibliography (in German) of Arabic and Islamic Studies by Serdar Aslan

The very gifted and open-minded Islamic Scholar Serdar Aslan - also see the list of his academic publications - has created a very comprehensive bibliography (work in progress) of the whole range of sciences related to Arabic and Islamic Studies.

Content (main topics only - sub-divisions via the links):

Theology and Philosophy

Law and Ethics

Sciences of the Qur'ān

Sciences of the ḥadīṯ

Arabic Language and Linguistics

The Prophet Muhammad

Authors of Islamic Sciences

Past and Present

Orientalism and Islamic Sciences

Codicology

Hat tip to Serdar Aslan for his huge effort to give us a compass through literature related to Islam. My hope is, that he will expand this on Internet resources. I also would like to recommend his personal channel on Facebook, where he regularly posts enlightening quotes from the relevant literature and links to other relevant media.

Open Access Journal: Journal of Medieval and Islamic History

Journal of Medieval and Islamic History (in Arabic حولية التاريخ الإسلامي والوسيط) is an annual peer-reviewed journal .

Published by: Seminar of Medieval and Islamic History, History Dept., Faculty of Arts, Ain Shams University. 

Date: 2000-
Founded by Prof. Rafaat Abdul-Hamid, Prof. Ahmed Abdel-Raziq, and Prof. Tarek M. Muhammad.

Articles in Arabic, English or French, with added t.p. in Arabic.

"It is a scholarly print and open access on-line international journal, which aims to publish peer-reviewed original research-oriented papers and book reviews in the fields of Medieval History, Medieval Slavonic History, Crusades, Byzantine History, Byzantine Egypt, Islamic History, and the relations between East and West. Journal of Medieval and Islamic History encourages and provides a medium for the publication of all original research contributions of significant value in all aspects of Medieval History and Civilization are welcome. It aims to publish research that contributes to the enlargement of historical knowledge or the advancement of scholarly interpretations."

See: Alphabetical List of Open Access Journals in Middle Eastern Studies

OA Journal: Athens Journal of Mediterranean Studies

"The Athens Journal of Mediterranean Studies (AJMS) is an Open Access quarterly double blind peer reviewed journal and considers papers from all areas of Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, Business and Law, Urban Planning, Architecture and Environmental Sciences. The Journal encourages the submission of policy papers and small case or country studies. Many of the papers published in this journal have been presented at the various conferences sponsored by the Center for European & Mediterranean Affairs (CEMA) of the Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER). All papers are subject to ATINER’s Publication Ethical Policy and Statement. A journal publication might take from a minimum of six months up to one year to appear."

2021
Volume 7, Issue 4, October 2021 (to be uploaded by 30 September 2021)
Volume 7, Issue 3, July 2021 (to be uploaded by 30 June 2021)
Volume 7, Issue 2, April 2021 (to be uploaded by 31 March 2021)
Volume 7, Issue 1, January 2021

2020
Volume 6, Issue 4, October 2020
Volume 6, Issue 3, July 2020
Volume 6, Issue 2, April 2020
Volume 6, Issue 1, January 2020

2019
Volume 5, Issue 4, October 2019
Volume 5, Issue 3, July 2019
Volume 5, Issue 2, April 2019
Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2019

2018
Volume 4, Issue 4, October 2018
Volume 4, Issue 3, July 2018
Volume 4, Issue 2, April 2018
Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2018

2017
Volume 3, Issue 4, October 2017
Volume 3, Issue 3, July 2017
Volume 3, Issue 2, April 2017
Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2017

2016
Volume 2, Issue 4, October 2016
Volume 2, Issue 3, July 2016
Volume 2, Issue 2, April 2016
Volume 2, Issue 1, January 2016

2015
Volume 1, Issue 4, October 2015
Volume 1, Issue 3, July 2015
Volume 1, Issue 2, April 2015
Volume 1, Issue 1, January 2015

See: Alphabetical List of Open Access Journals in Middle Eastern Studies

OA Resource: Kanaan (Gaza, Palestine)

"Nisma al-Sallaq, a local architect and a passionate advocate for the Palestinian enclave’s cultural history, set out to change that. Along with a growing team, al-Sallaq, 27, set up Gaza’s first digital archive of historical buildings and heritage sites when she launched a multi-dimensional platform called Kanaan in 2019. With a website, mobile application and Instagram page, the project provides visitors with information in text and video format in English and Arabic, and offers a virtual tour of Gaza’s centuries-old cultural history. Named after the Canaanites who first settled Gaza thousands of years ago, Kanaan has so far documented 311 historical buildings and 76 archaeological sites on the Strip." (Source: al Jazeera.)

Kanaan in English & Arabic. 

OA Resource: Islamic Manuscript Conservation

 

"The Curriculum project:

The Curriculum Model, a collaborative project innitiated by Mandana Barkeshli, Paul Hepworth, and Karin Scheper, was developed to fill a void: Islamic manuscripts constitute a repository of enormous cultural and intellectual value and number in the millions; yet currently there are no educational programs which focus on their specific conservation issues.

Conservators of Islamic manuscripts currently face significant obstacles in order to get proper training. For many would-be conservators in Africa and Asia, educational opportunities may be limited whereas programs in North America and Europe are largely directed towards the conservation of western manuscripts. To address the need for an articulated and directed approach to Islamic manuscript conservation a curriculum model with this particular focus has been written for a two-year program of education. An extended introduction to the curriculum model can be found here.

The program, including a bibliography, can be downloaded here.

Development of the curriculum model was supported by the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) and The Islamic Manuscript Association (TIMA)."

Website: https://www.islamicmanuscriptconservation.org/index.html.