Monthly Archives: January 2021

IQSA 2020 Annual Meeting Survey

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Dear friends of IQSA,

As a learned society, IQSA is committed to understanding its members’ opinions and shaping our academic activities in a way that responds appropriately to them and advances our mission. To that end, we are turning to you for input on our meetings. This *short* (15 question) survey asks you to offer insights on our regular annual meetings.

Please complete the survey as soon as possible and in any case before February 1, 2021. The survey is to be filled out by active IQSA members only. If your membership is not active, please renew it ASAP at members.iqsaweb.org.

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE SURVEY

If any of the questions are not applicable to you, please leave them blank. Need help? Email contactus@iqsaweb.org for support.

Thank you for helping to further our organization and its mission by being part of the IQSA community!

Best,
IQSA Executive Office
contactus@iqsaweb.org

Copyright © 2021 International Qur’anic Studies Association, All rights reserved.

Welcoming IQSA’s New Executive Director: Hythem Sidky

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On behalf of the IQSA board of directors, it is a great pleasure to announce that Dr. Hythem Sidky has been appointed as the International Qur’anic Studies Association’s new Executive Director. He will succeed Dr. Emran El-Badawi, who co-founded IQSA and has been Executive Director since its inception.

hsidky-select-portraits-squareHythem combines expertise in the sciences with a specialization in Qurʾānic manuscripts and reading traditions. He holds an M.S. in applied mathematics and Ph.D. in biomolecular engineering from the University of Notre Dame. Hythem’s dual background allows him to bring together traditional philology and mathematical analysis to study the dynamics and evolution of the Qurʾān in early Islam. He has worked on the stemmatics of Qurʾānic manuscripts, reconstruction of regional oral traditions, and continues to investigate applications of stylometry to the Qurʾān.

In his new role as Executive Director, Hythem will work directly with the Board of Directors and standing committees to lead the organization through these challenging times. He will continue to maintain the operational strength of the organization while increasing its digital presence and reach. Hythem will be responsible for managing the organization’s conferences, meetings, and other operational needs. He will also serve as Treasurer and oversee fundraising and other financial matters. Suggestions, inquiries, or questions concerning IQSA’s operations can be sent to execdirector@iqsaweb.org.

Please join us in welcoming Hythem to his new role as Executive Director. The board of directors is committed to working with Hythem to ensure his successful leadership and the growth of IQSA as it enters its next chapter.

With warm regards,

Holger Zellentin
IQSA Chair of the Board

New Publication: Structural Dividers in the Qur’an, Routledge 2021

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IQSA is happy to announce the publication of a new edited volume, Structural Dividers in the Qur’an, edited by Marianna Klar. This volume contains essays by a number of eminent Qur’an scholars from the IQSA community. 

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Publisher’s Overview: This volume showcases a wide range of contemporary approaches to the identification of literary structures within Qur’anic surahs. Recent academic studies of the Qur’an have taken an increasing interest in the concept of the surah as a unity and, with it, the division of complete surahs into consecutive sections or parts.

Part One presents a series of case studies focussing on individual Qur’anic surahs. Nevin Reda analyzes the structure of Sūrat Āl ʿImrān (Q 3), Holger Zellentin looks at competing structures within Sūrat al-ʿAlaq (Q 96), and A.H. Mathias Zahniser provides an exploration of the ring structures that open Sūrat Maryam (Q 19). Part Two then focusses on three discrete aspects of the text. Nora K. Schmid assesses the changing structural function of oaths, Marianna Klar evaluates how rhythm, rhyme, and morphological parallelisms combine in order to produce texture and cohesion, while Salwa El-Awa considers the structural impact of connectives and other discourse markers with specific reference to Sūrat Ṭāhā (Q 20). The final section of the volume juxtaposes contrasting attitudes to the discernment of diachronic seams Devin Stewart examines surah-medial oracular oaths, Muhammad Abdel Haleem questions a range of instances where suggestions of disjointedness have historically been raised, and Nicolai Sinai. explores the presence of redactional layers within Sūrat al-Nisāʾ (Q 4) and Sūrat al-Māʾidah (Q 5).

Bringing a combination of different approaches to Qur’an structure into a single book, written by well-established and emerging voices in Qur’anic studies, the work will be an invaluable resource to academics researching Islam, religious studies, and languages and literatures in general.

The complete table of contents can be accessed here. 

Readers interested in purchasing a copy of the book can receive a 20% discount by entering the code FLR40 at checkout at the Routledge website. 

About the editor: Marianna Klar is currently Post-Doctoral Researcher at Oxford University, Senior Research Associate at Pembroke College, Oxford, and Research Associate at the Centre of Islamic Studies, SOAS, University of London. Her publications focus on the Qur’an’s structure, its narratives, and its literary context. She has also worked extensively on tales of the prophets within the medieval Islamic historiographical tradition and on Qur’anic exegesis.　　

*Information adapted from the publisher’s website. 

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2021. All rights reserved.

Review of Qur’anic Research, Vol. 7 no. 1 (2021)

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In the first installment of this year’s the Review of Qur’anic Research (Vol. 7 no.1), Andrew O’Connor (St. Norbert College) reviews Jeffrey Einboden’s The Qur’ān And Kerygma: Biblical Receptions of the Muslim Scripture across a Millennium (Sheffield: Equinox, 2019).

qurankerygmaIn the review, O’Connor writes “An enduring interest in scholarship on the Qurʾān is the text’s engagement with biblical and post-biblical traditions. How does the Qurʾān develop or contest biblical characters, motifs, imagery, and diction? How should scholars characterize the relationship between the Bible and the Qurʾān, and precisely what texts or traditions does the Qurʾān engage with in particular? Does the Qurʾān exhibit an awareness of the text of the Bible itself, or does it reflect engagement with oral traditions? These are important questions in our endeavor to understand the genesis of the Qurʾān, but in his recent book Jeffrey Einboden reminds us that these questions address only part of the Qurʾān’s relationship with post-biblical traditions. Yes, the Qurʾān is shaped by earlier lore, but the text has also, in turn, shaped the inheritance of biblical literature…”

Want to read more? For full access to the Review of Qur’anic Research (RQR), members can log in HERE. Not an IQSA member? Join today to enjoy RQR and additional member benefits!

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2021. All rights reserved.

Call for Papers: MESA’s 55th Annual Meeting, October 28-31, 2021

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MESAThe Middle East Studies Association of North America invites and encourages submissions for its 55th Annual Meeting to be held in the fall of 2021. Submissions by students are more than welcome. 

MESA is a leading international forum for scholarship, intellectual exchange, and pedagogical innovation. Since its founding in 1966, it has been the hub for academic collaboration within the field of Middle East studies. The meeting features panels and roundtables on a wide variety of topics related to the broader Middle East and North Africa from the 600s until the present. Presentations and discussions are complemented by an exciting film festival of documentaries, features, and shorts related to the region, as well as a comprehensive book exhibit featuring the latest publications in the field, in addition to a variety of other events and opportunities related to academic and professional careers in Middle East studies.

Submissions may be in the form of pre-organized panels, pre-organized roundtables, or individual papers (to be formed into panels by the program committee). 

MESA’s purview is primarily the area encompassing Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Israel, Pakistan, and the countries of the Arab World (and their diasporas) from the seventh century to modern times. Other regions, including Spain, Southeastern Europe, China and the former Soviet Union, also are included for the periods in which their territories were parts of the Middle Eastern empires or were under the influence of Middle Eastern civilization. Comparative work is encouraged.

All submissions must be made through the myMESA electronic submission system (https://mesana.org/mymesa/login.php) which opens on Friday, January 8, 2021 and closes on Thursday, February 18, 2021 at midnight Eastern Standard Time. Late submissions will not be considered.

Important Links
* Call for Papers & Submission Instructions: https://mesana.org/annual-meeting/call-for-papers

 Membership is a requirement to submit a proposal. To renew your 2021 membership, login to your myMESA account. To join you will need to create an account in myMESA, complete a profile, and pay the annual dues. Contact Sara Palmer at sara@mesana.org with questions about membership. Preregistration payment is not required until May 15, after the program committee decisions are released. 

Please direct questions about submissions to Kat Teghizadeh at kat@mesana.org. 

Copyright © 2021 International Qur’anic Studies Association, All rights reserved.

Reminder: Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize 2020-21

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rippinAndrew Rippin was the inaugural president of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (2014). He is remembered as “an esteemed colleague, revered mentor, and scholarly inspiration to many members of the IQSA community.”

In honor of Andrew Rippin, the International Qur’anic Studies Association (IQSA) will award a prize to the best paper delivered at the 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting by a graduate student or early career scholar (Ph.D. awarded 2015 or later).

The prize winner will receive $250. In addition, the award committee will provide him/her with detailed feedback and guidance enabling him/her to expand the paper into a scholarly article that qualifies for publication in the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (JIQSA), subject to peer review.

Interested scholars should submit a draft of the paper which they read at the 2020 Annual Meeting; this draft should be no longer than fifteen double-spaced pages (or 3750 words). Submissions should be sent to contactus@iqsaweb.org by January 31, 2021. The prize winner will be announced in March, 2021. The winner should then be prepared to submit a fully revised version of the winning article by April 30, 2021. Publication of the final version is contingent upon review by the award committee and editorial staff of JIQSA.

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2021. All rights reserved.

Happy New Year from IQSA!

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For over seven years the International Qur’anic Studies Association has made fostering Qur’anic scholarship its mission. The Qur’an is an integral part of world literature, and it has shaped and continues to shape the world in which we live.

Despite significant interruptions and changes due to the Covid-19 health crisis, it has still been a fruitful year for the International Qur’anic Studies Association. IQSA has now published four issues of the bilingual, flagship Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (JIQSA 2016-2019), with volume five to be released in spring 2021. The ISIQ Monograph Series is edited by David S. Powers. ISIQ has released the English translation and updated edition of Michael Cuypers’ A Qurʾānic Apocalypse: A Reading of the Thirty-Three Last Sūrahs of the Qurʾān (2018), and Mun`im Sirry (ed.), New Trends in Qur’anic Studies: Text, Context and Interpretation (2019). Our publishing activity also includes the Review of Qur’anic Research (RQR), the world’s only exclusive review source on critical Qur’anic Studies. Finally, our multilingual blog and discussion group links a community of scholars and students across the globe.

IQSAZOOM

Finally, IQSA maintains an impressive conference portfolio. These include eleven major international congresses, across the US and internationally, as well as IQSA’s first virtual Annual Meeting. Given ongoing uncertainty as a result of the pandemic, IQSA’s 2021 conference schedule is still being deliberated. The IQSA board is currently coordinating both with SBL and with the Fondazione per le scienze religiose Giovanni XXIII / Giorgio La Pira library, Palermo, Italy.

IQSA continues to offer six membership tiers:

(1) Student, Contingent Faculty, Global South or Income Below $30,000 $35
(2) Assistant Professor, Junior or Retired Faculty $75
(3) Associate Professor or Midrange Faculty $100
(4) Full Professor, Senior Faculty or Professional Income $100,000+ $125
(5) Lifetime Member $2,000 (one time installment)
(6) Institutional Membership $400

Exceptions: Scholars from the global south and lower income countries unable to pay membership dues for that year have the option of contacting the executive director for a courtesy waiver.

We also warmly welcomes new Lifetime Member, Abdulla Galadari (Khalifa University), and one new institutional member, the University of Tuebingen. IQSA encourages all to renew their membership for 2021 to receive benefits including:

Finally, we offer a warm welcome to our new Executive Director starting 2021, Hythem Sidky. Hythem brings a wealth of energy and expertise to IQSA, which will prove vital as conferences are increasingly convened both virtually and in-person. We are both excited and fortunate to have Hythem’s leadership in the days ahead.

We appreciate your membership!

U.S. taxpayers! Are you still looking to make an end-of-year tax deductible charitable donation? Consider supporting Qur’anic scholarship with a donation to IQSA. We are a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. You can donate to IQSA online by clicking HERE.

You have all made IQSA what it is today—a community of scholars and friends. Please help our community during its time of need. If each of you makes a humble donation it will go a long way to supporting our publishing and programming activity for the coming year(s).

Finally, please do not forget to follow our Blog, Twitter and Facebook accounts, and to join the new private IQSA Discussion Group. As the global health crisis continues to challenge the status quo for the academic community, IQSA is committed to continue building bridges through scholarship to get through the coming year together. We wish you a very Happy Holidays! كل عام وأنتم بخير

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2020. All rights reserved.