Dear Friends of IQSA,
For over eight 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. IQSA is mindful of its members, partners, and friends during this difficult time, and we want to reach out to those among you who can afford to support IQSA when the organization needs it most at a time when our operational costs remain high despite cutting back on operations themselves. By giving to IQSA as you are able, you are promoting high quality scholarship and building bridges across the globe, which in turn has positive ripple effects on high quality education, journalism, publishing and public engagement.
IQSA is the only non-profit learned society exclusively dedicated to convening regular Qur’an conferences in North America and in Muslim majority countries around the world, as well as to publishing rigorous cutting edge scholarship on the Qur’an. Within seven short years IQSA has convened eleven major conferences. These have included large scale conferences throughout major US cities, Carthage, Palermo, Tunisia and Jogjakarta, Indonesia, as well as co-sponsored panels in Berlin, Germany and St. Andrews, Scotland. IQSA conferences showcase cutting edge research on manuscripts, historical documents, and high tech digital resources, as well as debate critical issues including methodology, hermeneutics and gender. This is possible because IQSA members include the very best scholars in the field.
The fifth issue of the bilingual Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (JIQSA) was released this year, and IQSA’s publications in the Studies in the Qur’ān series are available from ISD. For your convenience we have included a TOC for the latest issue of JIQSA along with direct links to access the publications!
JIQSA Volume 5 (2020)
Cover, Copyright, and Table of Contents
- Firestone, Reuven. Obituary: F. E. Peters. JIQSA 5 (2020): 3-4.
- Reynolds, Gabriel S. The Qurʾānic Doublets: A Preliminary Inquiry. JIQSA 5 (2020): 5-39.
- Cellard, Éléonore and Louis, Catherine. From Coptic to Arabic: A New Palimpsest and the Early Transmission History of the Qurʾān. JIQSA 5 (2020): 41-96.
- Hussain, Saqib. The Prophet’s Visions in Sūrat al-Najm. JIQSA 5 (2020): 97-132.
- Sidky, Hythem. On the Regionality of Qurʾānic Codices. JIQSA 5 (2020): 133-210.
- Alsulaimi, Nadeen. Sūrat al-Insān, Meccan or Medinan? A Thematic and Rhetorical Reading of Sūrat al-Insān (Q 76) in Parallel with Sūrat al-Qiyāmah (Q 75). JIQSA 5 (2020): 211-238.
In addition to receiving free access to JIQSA, IQSA members can also access the Review of Qur’an Research (RQR), the exclusive member directory (including world renowned Qur’an specialists), and PhD students and recent graduates gain valuable professional development experience. Lifetime and Institutional members carry additional member benefits. IQSA also rewards junior scholars and international academics with the opportunity to learn from colleagues around the world and publish their research. By giving, you help IQSA keep membership dues low and you reward those members of our community who need it most.
It goes without saying that the current restrictions in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic has made our task — especially critical scholarship and building bridges — more important than ever. As academics, professionals and philanthropists we have a duty to support the Humanities and Social Sciences across the globe. This also means we have the opportunity to bring about a much more intellectual discussion of the Qur’an when the public needs it most.
IQSA was founded by a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, and is now funded through the generous support of its members, partners and friends. Please take time this #GivingTuesday to DONATE NOW to further IQSA’s mission across the globe.
Most gratefully,
Hythem Sidky, Executive Director
International Qur’anic Studies Association
https://www.iqsaweb.org | contactus@iqsaweb.org
© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2021. All rights reserved.
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The 
Solomon and the Ant, using the Bible as a dialogue partner, examines stories from the Qur’an, their drama, characters, and meaning. Although some qur’anic stories have close biblical parallels, here Penchansky examines stories without biblical precursors. Qur’anic narratives in dialogue with biblical texts enhance understanding. Penchansky chooses biblical stories that address similar questions about the nature of God and God’s interaction with people.
Dr. David Penchansky is Professor Emeritus from the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he taught for 29 years. While earning a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Vanderbilt University (1988) he taught in Missouri and Kentucky. Then took a position in the Theology Department at the University of St. Thomas in 1989. He has written about the Bible, and now also the Qur’an from the perspective of a literary critic, attending to characterization, plot, theme, and especially gaps and fissures in a text, omissions and ambiguities. He approaches the Qur’an as a sympathetic outsider, respectful though critical.