Series Editor Ramon Harvey introduces our latest Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies series, Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Scripture and Theology.
He deduced that the Library is total and that its shelves register all the possible combinations of the twenty-odd orthographical symbols (a number which, though extremely vast, is not infinite): Everything: the minutely detailed history of the future, the archangels’ autobiographies, the faithful catalogues of the Library, thousands and thousands of false catalogues, the demonstration of the fallacy of those catalogues, the demonstration of the fallacy of the true catalogue, the Gnostic gospel of Basilides, the commentary on that gospel, the commentary on the commentary on that gospel, the true story of your death, the translation of every book in all languages, the interpolations of every book in all books.
Jorge Luis Borges, The Library of Babel
Contemporary academic study of Islam has many dimensions. It is no secret that modern scholarship has been fascinated with foundations, especially the origin and history of the Qur’an and Hadith. In recent years this has been enhanced by exciting new manuscript discoveries and digital tools, revealing that ever more can be said about the form, function and development of the scripture of Islam. Yet, there is another side to contemporary thought, a trend emphasising the search for meaning in the Qur’an and Hadith, their diverse commentary literatures, and the theological systems that have been built upon them. Moreover, just as the study of history is an ongoing process, so is the constructive work of exegesis and theology. This is increasingly practised within the academy by Muslims speaking with a confessional voice alongside those from other theological and philosophical perspectives in dialogue with Islam.
Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Scripture and Theology is a new monograph series that embraces these multiple contemporary approaches to studying the Islamic scriptural sources, their commentary literature, speculative theological discourses, and the points of contact between them. A distinctive feature of the series is an openness to exploring constructive and interdisciplinary approaches of all kinds. Each monograph and collected volume that appears in the series will represent an original and compelling contribution to its subject matter, whether written by an established or new author.
The series is proud of its dynamic editorial advisory board, which provides constructive feedback on book proposals and is comprised of the following scholars: Professor Ulrika Mårtensson, Dr Aisha Musa, Dr Shuruq Naguib, Professor Johanna Pink, Dr Joshua Ralston, Dr Harith Bin Ramli, Dr Sohaib Saeed, and Professor David Vishanoff. High standards are maintained by peer review at both proposal and complete manuscript stage, followed by a final reading and approval by the series editor before publication.
Write for Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Scripture and Theology
Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Scripture and Theology accepts book proposals for monographs and edited collections of essays of around 80–100,000 words in length.
Not sure if your project fits? Read more about what the series publishes.
Ready to submit a proposal? Find our book proposal guidelines.
To discuss your idea or submit your proposal, contact either the series editor Ramon Harvey at rnharvey@hotmail.co.uk or Nicola Ramsey, Publisher for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at nicola.ramsey@eup.ed.ac.uk.
Read Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Scripture and Theology
Books in the series feature distinctive design and typesetting and will be available in print as well as e-book formats. Like all new Edinburgh University Press monographs, they will be available in an affordable paperback format 18 months after hardback publication.
Ramon Harvey is Aziz Foundation Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Ebrahim College. He is the author of The Qur’an and the Just Society (EUP, 2018) and the editor of Edinburgh Studies in Islamic Scripture and Theology.
