Archive for June 20th, 2026
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Fons Vitae has just published: KANZ AL-ASRAR: A TREASURE OF MYSTERIES – ‘Mulay al-‘Arabi al-Darqawi and some of his goodly companions as seen through the eyes of a loving disciple’ by Muhammad Buziyan al-Gharisi al-Ma’askari (d. 1271/1854). Translated by Mohamed Fouad Aresmouk & Michael Abdurrahman Fitzgerald. Pages: 266
MULAY AL-ARABI al-Darqawi (ca. 1743 to 1823) was the gifted spiritual master whose teachings inspired a Sufi order and movement that attracted tens of thousands of followers in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and beyond. Among those who were able to visit the Shaykh in his remote zawiya in the mountains of northeast Morocco was a young man named Muhammad Buziyan al-Gharisi, who arrived with a caravan in 1803 from his native Algerian town of Maʻaskar.
The resulting work, which he entitled Kanz al-asrar fi munaqib Mawlana al-Arabi al-Darqawi wa ba‘di as·habihi ’l-akhyar (“A Treasure of secrets concerning the lives of Mulay al-Arabi al-Darqawi and some of his goodly disciples”) became a much-quoted reference for many later writings about the order. Purchasing details- Now Available…
2. The Fons Vitae Quranic Commentaries Series
NOW AVAILABLE in PDF & eBook formats: Up until now, these fundamental tafasir texts have remained out of reach for many English speaking Muslims (and non-Muslims). Among the most important sources for understanding the Qur’an are the tafsir works, commentaries on the Qur’an, which help to properly explain and contextualise the Revelation. VIEW ALL COMMENTARIES…
3. AMECYS 2026 Senior Scholar Award
The Association of Middle East Children and Youth Studies invites nominations for the inaugural AMECYS Senior Scholar Award
The Association of Middle East Children and Youth Studies (AMECYS) is a 501 (c) (3) private, non-profit, international membership-based association for scholars with an interest in the study of children and youth in the Middle East, North Africa, Gulf and their diasporic communities. Through interdisciplinary programs, publications, and services, AMECYS promotes innovative scholarship, facilitates global academic exchange, and enhances public understanding about and by Middle Eastern, North African and Gulf children and youth in diverse times and places from any disciplinary and methodological approach.
The AMECYS Senior Scholar Award recognizes an outstanding scholar whose career has advanced the study of children and youth in the Middle East, North Africa, the Gulf, and their diasporic communities. In keeping with AMECYS’s mission, the award honors sustained contributions that strengthen the field through innovative scholarship, interdisciplinary exchange, and the expansion of public understanding about and by children and youth in these regions.
Nominations for the award can be self-made or made by anyone who can speak to the credentials of the senior scholar, given they meet the following criteria:
- Open to senior scholars (e.g., associate/full professor or equivalent, including independent scholars).
- Nominees may come from any disciplinary or methodological approach.
- The nominee’s record must demonstrate sustained engagement with children and youth studies in MENA/Gulf and/or diasporic contexts.
- Nominee must be an AMECYS member at the time the nomination is made.
Selection Criteria
Nominees will be evaluated on the following:
- Substantial Scholarly Contribution–A significant body of work that has shaped knowledge and debate on children and youth in the Middle East, North Africa, the Gulf, and/or diasporic communities; evidence of impact (e.g., influence on the scholarship, teaching, methods, or research agendas of others).
- Innovation and Interdisciplinarity–Scholarship that is conceptually, methodologically, ethnographically or archivally innovative; work that advances interdisciplinary dialogue and helps build children and youth studies as a shared scholarly space across fields.
- Global Academic Exchange and Field-Building–Contributions that facilitate scholarly exchange across regions, institutions, and disciplines such as conference programming, collaborative network development, center/institute leadership, editorial leadership, academic association and other organizational leadership, or other forms of infrastructure-building.
- Mentorship and Support for Emerging Scholars–Demonstrated commitment to mentorship, especially toward graduate students and early-career scholars; concrete evidence may include teaching, advising, mentoring collaborative projects, co-publication, sponsorship, and community-building that expands participation in the field.
- Public Understanding and Engagement–Work that enhances public understanding about and by Middle Eastern, North African, and Gulf children and youth, whether through public scholarship, community partnerships, policy work, educational programming, and/or media engagement.
What nominators should send appended as one pdf:
- 1 Nomination letter– mapping the nominee’s contributions based on the criteria
- 1 Supporting recommendation – mapping the nominee’s contributions based on criteria
- A comprehensive CV
- Optional: up to 2 representative items (e.g., article, chapter, public essay, project link) that demonstrate contributions.
The winner of the AMECYS Award will receive $300 and a certificate of award. In the event of co-winners, prize money will be divided evenly among the winners. Honorable mentions also receive a certificate of award. Winners will be announced during the 59th MESA Annual Meeting in Boston. The results will also be posted on the AMECYS website and in other publications as deemed appropriate by AMECYS.
Nominations must be received by September 1, 2026 and be sent to the chair of the Awards Committee, Dylan.Baun@uah.edu
Reviewers
- Dylan Baun, Department of History, University of Alabama in Huntsville
- Heidi Morrison, Department of History, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse
3.Hilary Falb Kalisman, Endowed Professor of Israel/Palestine Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder
For any questions, can email Dylan.Baun@uah.edu
To learn more about AMECYS, visit www.amecys.org
To become an AMECYS member, visit https://www.amecys.org/membership
URL
4. Celebrating 1,000 Years of Avicenna’s al-Shifaʾ
The year 2027 marks 1,000 years since Avicenna completed al‑Shifāʾ(The Cure), his encyclopedic summa of philosophy and the sciences. The Avicenna Study Group (ASG, https://avicenna-study-group.org/) sees this milestone as reason for celebration and a timely opportunity to highlight the The Cure’scontinuing relevance, engage wider audiences, and stimulate new research.
We would be delighted if you and your institution would consider hosting an event in 2027. This could take the form of a multi‑day conference or symposium, a one‑day workshop or roundtable, a lecture series or reading group, an exhibition or manuscript showcase, a public talk, an online or hybrid event, or even a small, focused meeting with, for example, three speakers.
The ASG will support organizers with promotion and listing on a global calendar, coordination with other hosts and potential partners, shared visual assets and suggested messaging, and an option to publish outcomes in our peer‑reviewed series Avicenniana: Publications of the Avicenna Study Group (https://www.degruyterbrill.com/serial/pasg-b/html).
If you are interested, please send a brief expression of interest by 01 August 2026 – a short note outlining your initial idea for the event (format, prospective date(s) and location, and intended audience). We will then follow up with an organizer pack, clarify details with you, and add your event to the global calendar. If you would like more information about the 2027 commemoration activities or encounter any issues in planning your own, please do not hesitate to contact the ASG (https://avicenna-study-group.org/contact).
Contact Information
Shahrzad Irannejad
Avicenna Study Group Communications Officer
Contact Email
contact@avicenna-study-group.org
URL
https://avicenna-study-group.org/
5. CfP: 10th meeting of the International Society for Arabic Papyrology (ISAP) in Leiden, 22–25 March 2027
The International Society for Arabic Papyrology (ISAP) invites submissions for its tenth congress, to be held in Leiden from 22 to 25 March 2027.
The congress aims to bring together scholars wording on (Arabic, Coptic, Greek, Pahlavi, …) papyri and related documentary sources from the Islamic period (6th-16th centuries CE) to foster dialogue between philology, papyrology, and historical research. The tenth ISAP congress will be dedicated to showing how papyrological materials can be used to illuminate broader historical questions and debates in Islamicate history.
For updated information on the congress, see the congress website.
Paper Proposals (20 minutes)
We invite proposals for 20-minute papers that engage directly with papyrological (and related documentary) sources for historial inquiry in Islamicate history. Contributions should clearly demonstrate how such sources illuminate our understanding of historical processes, structures, or experiences across the Islamicate world from the sixth to sixteenth centuries CE.
We welcome papers addressing themes such as, but not limited to, administration, economy, law, religion, social history, and material culture.
It will also be possible to present collaborative (co-presented) papers, in which one presenter focuses on the edition and philological aspects of a text, and the other discusses its historical and historiographical significance.
Short Presentations: Editions In Progress (10 minutes)
The programme will also include a dedicated session for the presentation of text editions or parts of editions. These 10-minute presentations are designed as a forum for discussion and feedback on ongoing work, including new texts, re-editions, or methological issues.
Submissions Guidelines
- Proposals should be approximately 300 words (for both full papers and short presentations).
- Please include your name, affiliation, and contact details.
- Fo co-presented papers, please indicate clearly the roles of each contributor.
- Please send your proposal by the deadline to: p.m.sijpesteijn@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
Deadline And Notification
- Submission deadline: 1 September 2026
- Notification of acceptance: 15 September 2026
Please note that there will be limited number of grants available to support the participation of scholars whose institutions provide no or insufficiant financial support. Information on how to apply for a grant will be provided after a paper has been accepted.
Jelle Bruning and Petra Sijpesteijn
Contact Information
Dr Jelle Bruning
Contact Email
URL
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/humanities/institute-for-area-studies/arab…
6. Islamic Art, Games/XR & GLAM – Digital Lab Days Edinburgh, 2-3 July 2026
The Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & Collections annual Digital Lab Days event will take place in Edinburgh on 2–3 July 2026. The event brings together scholars, curators, developers, educators, and heritage professionals working across Islamic art & architecture, history, video games/immersive media, and GLAM. The programme is designed to foster conversation across Islamic art, games/entertainment/XR, and GLAM sectors and to share new approaches to research, representation, and public engagement.
Speakers and workshops will engage with topics including:
- Digital tools for Islamic architectural heritage
- Al-Andalus in Arabic television
- Game design as art historical methodology
- Self-Orientalism in games and popular media
- Art and MENA representation in contemporary digital media
This event is particularly relevant to scholars and practitioners in:
- Islamic history and art history
- Medieval and Middle East studies
- Digital Humanities
- Museum/Heritage studies
- Games, Entertainment, & Creative Industries
- Game Studies
Contact Email
URL
https://www.digitallabivcc.com/digital-days-islamic-art-games-xr-glam-edinburgh…
7. New book in open access: Philip Bockholt, Türkische Übersetzungen aus dem Arabischen und Persischen. Akteure, Adaption und Rezeption in der Frühen Neuzeit[Empires in Translation, vol. 1], Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, 2026
In the monograph “Türkische Übersetzungen aus dem Arabischen und Persischen”—the first volume of the series “Empires in Translation: Intersections of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish in the Eastern Mediterranean”—Philip Bockholt demonstrates that early‑modern Ottoman elites deliberately commissioned Turkish renderings of Arabic and Persian historiographical and advisory texts in order to appropriate the established Islamic scholarly tradition and thereby embed themselves within it. Treating translation as a cultural practice rather than a purely linguistic operation, the study maps the network of translators, patrons, and readers; it documents multiple recensions of the same work and analyses marginalia, colophons, and decorative elements that reveal the production and circulation contexts. By foregrounding the trilingual Ottoman scholarly world (elsine‑i s̱elās̱e—Arabic, Persian, Turkish), the research shows how translation functioned as an instrument of patronage, self‑positioning and imperial consolidation. Consequently, the monograph fills a significant lacuna in Ottoman intellectual history and underscores translation’s central role in early‑modern empire formation.
Contact Information
Prof. Dr. Philip Bockholt
Juniorprofessor für Geschichte des turko-persischen Raumes
Institut für Arabistik und Islamwissenschaft
Schlaunstr. 2
Raum 359
48143 Münster
Germany
Contact Email
philip.bockholt@uni-muenster.de
URL
https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783112219751/html?fbclid=I…
8. Racializing the Ummah
Muslim Humanitarians beyond Black, Brown, and White
Rhea Rahman
https://mngbookshop.co.uk/9781517920272/racializing-the-ummah/
20% Discount code*: LSMNGUPS26
*Valid until 11:59 BST, 30st December 2026. Discount only applies to the MNG website
9. The Islamic College
Qur’anic Arabic Certificate-Starting in June
Designed as a foundation for students wishing to pursue further studies in Islamic disciplines — or simply to gain proficiency in classical Arabic — this programme focuses on the language of the Qur’an and the classical scholarly tradition, rather than the Modern Standard Arabic used in contemporary contexts. No prior knowledge of Arabic is required..
The complete course is divided into three parts, each comprising 12 sessions held twice per week.
Modules offered: Part 1 – Reading, Writing & Morphology
Entry requirement: No prior knowledge of Arabic required
Duration: 12 weeks per part (36 weeks for all three parts)
Fees: £ 125 for Reading & Writing, £125 for Morphology, or £200 for both modules
Location: In-person and online
Part 1 start date: 30th June 2026
Part 1 — Reading and Writing & Morphology. An introduction to Arabic script and word patterns, exploring how Arabic words are formed and change.
Part 2 — Listening and Speaking and Syntax. A focus on correct sentence construction alongside the development of listening and reading skills.
Part 3 — Qur’anic Recitation & Analytical Grammar. Applied reading of Qur’anic texts with deeper engagement in grammatical analysis.
The instalment plan for the full fee is also available.
Questions? Contact The Islamic College at admissions@islamic-college.ac.uk
- June 20, 2026
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment