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About the Journal
Editor:
Ulrika Mårtensson
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Book Review Editor
Martin Riexinger
Aarhus University
Reviewers, please contact the review editor via email in advance to make arrangements to review books. Only after email acceptance should you send books for review to:
Martin Riexinger
Aarhus Universitet
Institut for Kultur og Samfund
Arabisk og Islamstudier
Jens Chr. Skous Vej 3
DK 8000 Aarhus C
Denmark
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. A few examples illustrate this point:
| Disciplines | 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 studies | Theory & method of education, institutions, authorities & sources, knowledge transmission, literacy |
| Media studies | Forms & theories of mediated communication |
| Natural sciences | Theories, discoveries, challenges, adaptation, accommodation |
CIS invites individual articles and guest edited special issues. Special issues may include articles devoted exclusively to non-Islamic materials, as long as all the contributions address a common topic or problem and the non-Islamic materials advance research into Islam.
Published: June and December
ISSN:1740-7125 (print)
ISSN:1743-1638 (online)
