Comparative Islamic Studies

Comparative Islamic Studies aims to advance research on Islam through comparative methods, especially of two kinds: between Islam and other religions, and between religious and non-religious disciplines and factors.

Regarding the first kind of comparison, CIS extends the scope of comparisons of Islam and Islamic Scripture from the traditional focus on Judaism and Christianity to include religions of Antiquity, Africa, South- and South East Asia, China, Oceania, Europe and the Americas, as well as contemporary new religious movements, spirituality and the various types of esotericism.

Regarding the second kind, the Journal seeks studies, which compare by focusing on the interaction between religious and non-religious scholarly and scientific disciplines, and factors of various kinds. In addition to contributing to the study of Islam, the approach could inspire new ways of conceptualising and writing the histories of relations between religious and non-religious disciplines and methodologies. In this way, such comparisons might contribute also to the history and theory of science (See also Author’s Guidelines).

The approach implies a view of religions as complex phenomena reflecting a wide range of factors in the study of human intellectual and social life. Such factors constitute connections and points of comparison between different religions and disciplines at different places and times, spanning pre-modern and modern history of religions. Papers coming from any of these disciplines might deal with, inter alia, the designated factors:

Philosophy: Ontology, metaphysics, epistemology, logic, hermeneutics, ethics, myth
Theology: Cosmology, theology, doctrine, dogma, epistemology, logic, ethics, myth, ritual
Comparative Religion: Generic categories & theories for the comparative study of religion, the history of the modern western discipline ‘Comparative Religion’
Scripture & Literature studies: Hermeneutics, genre, canon, manuscripts
Language & Linguistics: Language, theory of language, translation, literacy, communication
Law: Hermeneutics, sources, theories & practice of law, branches of law, justice
History: Theory, methods & branches of history, archives, sources, historiography, ‘origins’
Archaeology: Theory & usage of material remains
Political science: Political theory, statehood, government, administration, military, taxation, deliberation, institutions, IR, nation & nationalism
Sociology: Institutions, movements, classes, gender, labour relations, social categories & their theories
Economics: Macro & micro-economics, economic theory
Psychology: Experience, mental states, cognition, dreams
Art history: Forms & theories of art, artistic expression, architecture, fashion
Education: Theory & method of education, institutions, authorities & sources, knowledge transmission, literacy
Media studies: Forms & theories of mediated communication
Natural sciences: Theories, discoveries, challenges, adaptation, accommodation

Frequency & Publication Details
June and December
ISSN:1740-7125 (print)
ISSN:1743-1638 (online)

Religion Library Collections
Islamic Studies (Core Journal)
Selected articles are included in other collections as designated below: