Centre for the Study of the Islamic World

Centre for the Study of the Islamic World
Name	Centre for the Study of the Islamic World
Established	2009
Type	Research institute
Location	London
Director	Dr. Amina al-Habib
Affiliations	School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Centre for the Study of the Islamic World The Centre for the Study of the Islamic World is a research institution dedicated to interdisciplinary study of Islamic history, societies, and cultures. It brings together scholars from fields associated with Oxford University, Cambridge University, Harvard University, Princeton University, and Columbia University to investigate topics spanning the medieval era through contemporary periods. The Centre engages with global archives such as the British Library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Vatican Library, and the Topkapi Palace Museum to inform comparative work on law, literature, and art.

History

Founded in 2009 amid renewed interest following events linked to the Arab Spring and policy debates involving the United Nations, the Centre built on preexisting networks between the School of Oriental and African Studies, the Institute of Ismaili Studies, and the British Academy. Early projects drew on manuscripts from the Dar al-Makhtutat collections in Sana'a, the Suleymaniye Library in Istanbul, and holdings at the Library of Congress. The Centre hosted visiting fellows from the Al-Azhar University, the American University of Beirut, the University of Cairo, and the University of Tehran, and organized symposiums referencing historical frameworks such as the Crusades, the Mongol Empire, and the Ottoman–Safavid Wars. Over time, it expanded collaborations with museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and archives such as the National Archives (UK).

Mission and Objectives

The Centre's mission aligns scholarly inquiry with public engagement, stressing ties to institutions like the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Getty Research Institute, and the Tate Modern. Objectives include preserving manuscript traditions exemplified by the Timurid manuscripts, advancing study of jurisprudence in lineages traceable to the Maliki school, the Hanafi school, and the Shafi'i school, and fostering comparative analysis with traditions evident in the Byzantine Empire and Sasanian Empire. The Centre aims to contribute to policy discussions involving bodies such as the European Union and the Council of Europe while maintaining scholarly standards compatible with the Royal Historical Society and the British Academy.

Research Programs and Projects

Research programs address themes spanning premodern philology, modern political movements, and transnational networks. Projects have included digitization of papyri related to the Fatimid Caliphate, codicological surveys of the Umayyad Caliphate period, and ethnographic fieldwork in regions affected by the Iran–Iraq War and the Syrian Civil War. Other programs examine literary trajectories connecting the Persianate world, the Andalusian Caliphate, and the Mughal Empire, and legal-historical studies engaging with texts from the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid dynasty. Comparative religion projects have linked Sufi orders such as the Qadiriyya and Naqshbandiyya with movements documented in archives like the British Library Oriental Manuscripts.

Teaching and Academic Programs

The Centre offers postgraduate supervision jointly with departments at University College London, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Manchester, and provides certificate courses drawing on curricula from the Institute of Historical Research and the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences. Courses cover classical authors including al-Ghazali, Ibn Khaldun, Rumi, Ibn Sina, and Al-Farabi alongside modern figures like T.E. Lawrence (in context), Sayyid Qutb, Muhammad Iqbal, and Fatema Mernissi. Student exchanges have been arranged with the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the University of Istanbul, and the Centre administers fellowships patterned after awards from the Leverhulme Trust, the Wellcome Trust, and the Ford Foundation.

Publications and Conferences

The Centre publishes working papers, monographs, and edited volumes in partnership with presses such as Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Routledge, and Brill. It convenes annual conferences that have featured keynote speakers from institutions including the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, the École pratique des hautes études, and the Institute for Advanced Study. Conference themes have ranged from manuscript traditions of the Mamluk Sultanate to contemporary diasporas involving communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Morocco, and Algeria. The Centre maintains an open-access repository and collaborates on special issues with journals like the Journal of Islamic Studies and the International Journal of Middle East Studies.

Collaborations and Partnerships

Strategic partnerships span universities, cultural institutions, and policy centers: King's College London, the Royal Asiatic Society, the Middle East Institute, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the Wilson Center. Memory and heritage projects have linked the Centre with the Getty Conservation Institute and the World Monuments Fund, while language initiatives partner with the British Council and the Goethe-Institut for Arabic, Persian, and Turkish pedagogy. Fieldwork collaborations include municipal archives in Cairo, community projects with the Muslim Council of Britain, and archival sharing agreements with the National Library of Israel and the Library of Congress.

Governance and Funding

Governance is conducted through a board drawing members from the British Academy, the Royal Society of Arts, and leading university departments such as Oriental Studies, University of Oxford and Middle Eastern Studies, Columbia University. Funding sources include grants and endowments from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the European Research Council, philanthropic foundations like the Carnegie Corporation, and project support from governmental bodies including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Financial oversight follows practices recommended by the Charity Commission for England and Wales and audit standards used by institutions such as the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Category:Research institutes Category:Islamic studies