Review of Qur’anic Research, Vol. 8 no.4 (2022)

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In the latest installment of the Review of Qur’anic Research (Vol. 8, no.2), Holger Zellentin (University of Tübingen) reviews Simon P. Loynes’ Revelation in the Qur’an: A Semantic Study of the Roots n-z-l and wḥ-y (Leiden: Brilll, 2021).

revIn the review, Zellentin writes “Simon P. Loynes’s monograph, Revelation in the Qur’an, is based on a 2019 PhD dissertation at the University of Edinburgh. In an introduction and six chapters, Loynes argues that the qurʾānic roots n-z-l and w-ḥ-y need to be more carefully distinguished than many translators and commentators tend to do…Loynes’ argument is simple only on the surface, yet the implications of this study for our understanding of the Qurʾān are profound, inviting a careful reconsideration of the Qurʾān’s concept of divine revelation. The volume’s argument is largely compelling, the scholarship flawless, the scope concise, and the presentation impeccable. Some epigraphic and comparative philological considerations, however, are left unexplored, and the study leaves me wanting to learn a bit more about the pagan Arabian as well as the Jewish and Christian context of the Qurʾān’s concepts of Scripture and divine communication…”

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, 2022. All rights reserved.

Funding Opportunities: IQSA Palermo Annual Meeting 2022

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The host of the 2022 IQSA Annual Meeting, FSCIRE (La Pira Library), will offer travel grants up to € 500 to students, PhD students, post-docs, and scholars participating in the conference to cover travel, accommodation and subsistence costs and conference fees. The grants are also accessible to those who would like to attend the meeting as auditors, i.e., without offering a conference paper.

Application period: May 15June 15 2022

Applicants will receive a notification from the FSCIRE (La Pira Library) Secretariat by June 20th. 

HOW TO APPLY 

Applicants must submit to iqsa@fscire.it a curriculum vitae, a motivation letter, and an estimated travel budget to be eligible for the grant. 

Membership fees to IQSA cannot be reimbursed, while the conference fees can be included among the costs covered by the travel grants.

Applicants will receive a notification from the FSCIRE (La Pira Library) Secretariat either in case of acceptance or rejection. If you applied and did not hear back from us, please contact iqsa@fscire.it by the end of June.

The expenditures will be reimbursed by bank transfer after the Conference, provided that a .pdf file including all the receipts of the expenditures is sent to our email address together with the refund module, filled and signed, by September 30th, 2022.

In order to ask for the reimbursement of the expenditures, recipients of the travel grant have to stop by the registration desk to collect in person the refund module from FSCIRE (La Pira Library) staff, during the days of the Conference.

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2022. All rights reserved.

Review of Qur’anic Research, Vol. 8 no. 3 (2022) 

In the latest installment of the Review of Qur’anic Research (Vol. 8, no.3), Devin J. Stewart (Emory University) reviews George Archer, A Place Between Two Places: The Qurʾānic Barzakh (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2017).

placeIn the review, Stewart writes “In A Place between Two Places: The Qurʾānic Barzakh, George Archer addresses the term barzakh and the associated conception of an intermediate state between life and death, or life and the afterlife, in Late Antiquity, the Qurʾān, and early Islamic literature. One way to look at this work is as a response to an interpretive problem presented by the term, which occurs in three qurʾānic passages. In the first two passages, Q al-Nūr 25:53 and al-Raḥmān 55:19–20, barzakh designates a barrier—somewhat mystifying to human observers—between fresh and salt water. That the term indicates a barrier is clear from the fact that the two bodies of water are said to meet but remain separate, constituting one of the many signs of God manifested in the wondrous features of the natural world. The setting in the third passage, Q al-Muʾminūn 23:99–100, is entirely different. Here, barzakh also denotes a barrier; a dead man’s request to be returned to the world to rectify his former deeds is categorically denied, and this is declared impossible on account of the barzakh: “A barzakh stands behind such people until the day when they are resurrected.” The barrier in this case separates the realm of the dead from the realm of the living…”

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, 2022. All rights reserved. 

JIQSA Volume 6 (2021) Now Available!

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IQSA is thrilled to announce that the sixth volume of the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (founding editors: Michael Pregill and Vanessa De Gifis) has now been published online, with print copies due to ship soon (see also https://lockwoodonlinejournals.com/index.php/jiqsa).

The issue’s contents include:

  1. Sinai, Nicolai. Obituary: Alan Jones (1933–2021). JIQSA 6 (2021): 5-7.
  2. Shnizer, Aliza. Obituary: Uri Rubin (1944–2021). JIQSA 6 (2021): 8-11.
  3. Lange, Christian.  Obituary: Josef van Ess (1934–2021). JIQSA 6 (2021): 12-15.
  4. Stewart, Devin. Noah’s Boat and Other Missed Opportunities. JIQSA 6 (2021): 17-67.
  5. Lawson, Todd. Response to Devin Stewart’s 2019 IQSA Presidential Address. JIQSA 6 (2021): 69-85.
  6. van Putten, Marijn. Dissimilation of ē to ā in the Qurʾānic Consonantal Text. JIQSA 6 (2021): 87-105.
  7. Al-Jallad, Ahmad and Ali Al-Manaser. The Pre-Islamic Divine Name ʿsy and the Background of the Qurʾānic Jesus. JIQSA 6 (2021): 107-136.
  8. Griffith, Sidney. The Narratives of “the Companions of the Cave,” Moses and His Servant, and Dhū ’l-Qarnayn in Sūrat al-Kahf. JIQSA 6 (2021): 137-166.
  9. Pregill, Michael. The Two Sons of Adam: Rabbinic Resonances and Scriptural Virtuosity in Sūrat al-Māʾidah. JIQSA 6 (2021): 167-224.
  10. Abdel Raziq, Iqbal. Ismāʿīl, Dhū ’l-Kifl, and Idrīs: A Reading of the Qurʾānic Text and Muslim Exegesis [in Arabic]. JIQSA 6 (2021): 225-253.

Nicolai Sinai and Saqib Hussain (Oxford University), who bore editorial responsibility for the issue, would like to express their gratitude to all authors, peer reviewers, and Lockwood Press.

Member Access

Full online access to the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association is available by signing in to the member portal at iqsaweb.org HERE. Use the top menu to navigate to “JIQSA” and select the desired volume via the drop-down menu. Online access to JIQSA for IQSA members is NOT available via Lockwood Press’ website.

If you experience trouble logging in, please email contactus@iqsaweb.org to reset your password or confirm your membership.

Renew or sign up for IQSA membership HERE for full access to JIQSA, RQR, and more!

Institutional Access

Institutions wishing to subscribe for print and/or online access should fill out the form HERE. Print subscriptions are also available for individual subscribers via THIS FORM.

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2022. All rights reserved.

NEW Review of Qur’anic Research, Vol. 8 no. 2 (2022) 

In the latest installment of the Review of Qur’anic Research (Vol. 8, no.2), Ana Davitashvili (Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen), reviews Joachim Jakob’s Syrisches Christentum und früher Islam: Theologische Reaktionen in syrisch-sprachigen Texten vom 7. bis 9. Jahrhundert (Innsburck: Tyrolia-Verlag, 2021).

jakobIn the review, Davitashvili writes “Joachim Jakob’s book Syrisches Christentum und früher Islam: Theologische Reaktionen in syrisch-sprachigen Texten vom 7. bis 9. Jahrhundert (in English: Syriac Christianity and Early Islam: Theological Reactions in Syriac Written Texts from the Seventh to the Ninth Century) analyzes a wide range of Syriac sources in exploring Christian theological responses to early Islam.   Jakob focuses on the developments of the theological positions of East and West Syrian writers as well as on the connections of the relevant Syriac texts with contemporary Islamic theology. This comprehensive book is essential reading not only for scholars of Syriac Christianity, but also for those interested in interreligious encounters and Christian-Muslim relations more broadly…”

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, 2022. All rights reserved. 

 

Qur’an Tools: A New Free Online Resource

Qur’an Tools, a powerful web platform for the critical study of the Qur’anic text, is now available for free online! Qur’an Tools is a labour of love, the result of thousands of hours of work by a dedicated team led by IQSA members Dr. R. Michael McCoy and Dr. Andrew G. Bannister.

Visit http://quran-tools.com to search passages, view interlinear translations and transliterations, conduct word studies, generate statistics, and more! View instructions on the Getting Started Guide or watch a demonstration video on demand.

Stay tuned for the release of the open source code hosted by Melbourne School of Theology for the opportunity to provide further improvements and modifications!

NEW Review of Qur’anic Research, Vol. 8 no. 1 (2022) 

In the first installment of Volume 8 of IQSA’s Review of Qur’anic Research (2022), Saqib Hussain (University of Oxford) reviews Martin Whittingham’s A History of Muslim Views of the Bible: The First Four Centuries (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021).

Picture1In the review, Hussain writes “In this compact book, Martin Whittingham presents the historical beginnings of Muslim attitudes to the Bible. Billed as the first of two volumes, this installment takes us from the Qurʾān and its position on the scriptures of the “People of the Book” to the turn of the fifth century AH / eleventh century CE, i.e., up to and including the writings of Ibn Ḥazm (d. 456/1064) and some of his contemporaries, whom Whittingham sees as marking a watershed in the way Muslims have viewed and approached the Bible. The planned second volume will continue the story to the present day. While previous studies have focused on key Muslim thinkers or specific aspects of Muslim scholarly use and/or critique of the Bible, the present work ranges far broader in its scope, seeking to present a chronology of evolving attitudes toward the Bible across a wide variety of literary genres. These attitudes are gauged both through explicit statements about the Bible from Muslim scholars, and through what may be implicitly gleaned about such attitudes from the way the Bible is utilized or discussed. The scope of the book is thus both impressive and unique, and Whittingham has produced a work that will surely be required reading for anyone interested in this field…”

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, 2022. All rights reserved. 

 

IQSA Membership for 2022 Now Open!

IQSA Membership for 2022 is open! The International Qur’anic Studies Association (IQSA) is the first learned society dedicated to the study of the Qur’an. We hold conferences around the world and publish cutting-edge research and scholarship. The IQSA community and its partners include scholars, students, publishers, and members of the public.

Membership consists of six categories:

Johanna5(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.

To become a member, click HERE. Fill out the form and pay the membership fees. After completing the form, you will receive log in information; save that information to be able to log in and access member benefits at anytime. Create a profile for the member directory.

To renew or edit your membership, sign in to your member account, click the “Join IQSA” tab, and select “Edit your member profile” at the bottom of the page.

To stay informed, follow IQSA via www.iqsaweb.org, the weekly Blog, Facebook, and Twitter. Also join the IQSA discussion group by following the instructions below:

Join the IQSA Discussion Group

  1. Sign in to Google Groups. Learn how to join if you do not have a Google Account.
  2. In the box at the top, search for “International Qur’anic Studies Association Discussion Group”
  3. Once you have located the IQSA Group, click Join group or Apply to join group.

INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP | $35, $75, $100, $125 USD
Renewal Policy: Annual
Special Benefits:
-Access to the membership directory
-Review of Qur’anic Research
-Professional development opportunities for graduate students and junior scholars, including volunteer, job postings, and employment networking
-Bilingual English-Arabic Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (JIQSA)
-Eligibility for Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize ($250 USD and potential publication in JIQSA)

LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP | $2,000 USD
Renewal Policy: One Time Installment (No Renewals required)
Special Benefits:
– Automatic access/subscription to all paid individual member benefits
– Free online & print subscription to JIQSA
– Discounts on Lockwood publications
– Official Public Recognition

INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP | $400 USD
Renewal Policy: Annual
Special Benefits:
– Annual access to IQSA’s online resources
– One free advertisement annually (program book, JIQSA, online or mailing list)
– One free registration for the IQSA Annual Meeting
-Official Public Recognition

Other member benefits will include:

  • Regular updates
  • A discounted registration/affiliate rate for the Annual Meeting held annually in November
  • Vote/governance
  • Special offers from publishers

If you encounter problems or have questions regarding IQSA membership, please  email contactus@iqsaweb.org.

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2022. All rights reserved.

A Year in Sum: IQSA 2021

Despite continued challenges posed by by the global pandemic, it’s been a fruitful year for the International Qur’anic Studies Association. IQSA held its fourth biennial conference from July 4-11, 2021, hosted by the “Giorgio La Pira” Library (Palermo, Italy) for the first time in a completely virtual format. In addition, IQSA saw another first in its 2021 Hybrid Annual Meeting held in conjunction with the Society of Biblical Literature and American Academy of Religion, bringing together both physical participants in San Antonio, Texas and colleagues signing on virtually for panels, paper presentations, business meetings, and more.

TTST De Gruyter Editor Contributors IQSA

IQSA continued to build upon its publishing portfolio this year, releasing the fifth volume of the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (Lockwood Press, 2020) edited by Nicolai Sinai (Oxford University). 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.

In addition, IQSA welcomed a new Executive Director, Hythem Sidky, following in the steps of former director Emran El-Badawi. With a new Executive Director comes a new vision for expanded membership and outreach for the organization, including an improved and updated website, membership database, and meeting hosting platforms.

IQSA membership for 2021 is still open! Choose from any of the six categories to best fit your level:

(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 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 BlogTwitter and Facebook accounts, and to join the NEW private IQSA Discussion Group. Thanks for your support!

We wish you a very Happy Holidays! كل عام وأنتم بخير

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

Giving Tuesday 2021: Support IQSA’s Global Scholarship

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

  1. Firestone, Reuven. Obituary: F. E. Peters. JIQSA 5 (2020): 3-4.
  2. Reynolds, Gabriel S. The Qurʾānic Doublets: A Preliminary Inquiry. JIQSA 5 (2020): 5-39.
  3. 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.
  4. Hussain, Saqib. The Prophet’s Visions in Sūrat al-Najm. JIQSA 5 (2020): 97-132.
  5. Sidky, Hythem. On the Regionality of Qurʾānic Codices. JIQSA 5 (2020): 133-210. 
  6. 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.