The Journal of Muslim Philanthropy & Civil Society (JMPCS), is a bi-annual, peer reviewed, open access journal published by the Center on Muslim Philanthropy in partnership with the IUPUI University Library Center for Digital Scholarship, and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. JMPCS seeks original academic research examining the broad scope of Muslim philanthropy and civil society. This peer reviewed online academic journal will publish research related to Muslim nonprofit, philanthropic and voluntary action. The terms "Muslim" and "philanthropy" are defined broadly to be inclusive of cutting-edge research from across the world and disciplines. JMPCS is intended to shed light on the dynamic practice and understanding of Muslim Philanthropy. We seek to draw articles by researchers from across disciplines (History, Political Science, Religious Studies, Sociology, Public Affairs, Nonprofit Management, Business, Philanthropy etc.) and practitioners throughout the world working in this emerging field.

THE collection of papers in this volume documents the study of Islam in American Universities. Over the last few decades the United States has seen significant growth in the study of Islam and Islamic societies in institutions of higher learning fueled primarily by events including economic relations of the U.S. with Muslim countries, migration of Muslims into the country, conversion of Americans to Islam, U.S. interests in Arab oil resources, involvement of Muslims in the American public square, and the tragic events of 9/11. Although there is increasing recognition that the study of Islam and the role of Muslims is strategically essential in a climate of global integration, multiculturalism, and political turmoil, nevertheless, the state of Islamic Studies in America is far from satisfactory. The issue needs to be addressed, particularly as the need for intelligent debate and understanding is continuously stifled by what some have termed an “Islam industry” run primarily by fly-by journalists, think tank pundits, and cut-and-paste “experts.”

Orientalism has traditionally dominated discourse on the Middle East and thus obscured the human realities of the region. This monograph addresses the inadequacy and validity of existing theoretical perspectives on the Middle East. The critique presented offers Islam as a unifying constant rather than a sporadic phenomenon correlated to the flux of social, political and economic conditions and argues that Islam should be conceptually incorporated into any analysis of the region. The book defines the essence of Islamic civilization and highlights aspects of the colonial encounter as a background for understanding contemporary dynamics. Against a subtle leitmotiv of contrasting imagery, it profiles the Islamic view of the state, the role of the faith as well as that of the community. Useful distinctions are made between the Islamic and Western approaches to the area which should prove illuminating to both the area specialist and the lay reader.

In Peaceful Families, Hammer chronicles and examines the efforts, stories, arguments, and strategies of individuals and organizations doing Muslim anti-domestic violence work in the U.S.

Wael B. Hallaq boldly argues that the "Islamic state," judged by any standard definition of what the modern state represents, is both impossible and inherently self-contradictory. Comparing the legal, political, moral, and constitutional histories of premodern Islam and Euro-America, he finds the adoption and practice of the modern state to be highly problematic for modern Muslims. He also critiques more expansively modernity's moral predicament, which renders impossible any project resting solely on ethical foundations. The modern state not only suffers from serious legal, political, and constitutional issues, Hallaq argues, but also, by its very nature, fashions a subject inconsistent with what it means to be, or to live as, a Muslim. By Islamic standards, the state's technologies of the self are severely lacking in moral substance, and today's Islamic state, as Hallaq shows, has done little to advance an acceptable form of genuine Shari'a governance. The Islamists' constitutional battles in Egypt and Pakistan, the Islamic legal and political failures of the Iranian Revolution, and similar disappointments underscore this fact. Nevertheless, the state remains the favored template of the Islamists and the ulama (Muslim clergymen). Providing Muslims with a path toward realizing the good life, Hallaq turns to the rich moral resources of Islamic history. Along the way, he proves political and other "crises of Islam" are not unique to the Islamic world nor to the Muslim religion. These crises are integral to the modern condition of both East and West, and by acknowledging these parallels, Muslims can engage more productively with their Western counterparts.

The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences (AJISS), established in 1984, is a quarterly, double blind peer-reviewed and interdisciplinary journal, published by the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), and distributed worldwide. The journal showcases a wide variety of scholarly research on all facets of Islam and the Muslim world including subjects such as anthropology, history, philosophy and metaphysics, politics, psychology, religious law, and traditional Islam.

Following a period of rapid political change, both globally and in relation to the Middle East and South Asia, this collection sets new terms of reference for an analysis of the intersections between global, state, non-state and popular actors and their contradictory effects on the politics of gender.The volume charts the shifts in academic discourse and global development practice that shape our understanding of gender both as an object of policy and as a terrain for activism. Nine individual case studies systematically explore how struggles for political control and legitimacy determine both the ways in which dominant gender orders are safeguarded and the diverse forms of resistance against them.

This, the first volume from the Muslims in the American Public Square research project, gives theoretical and demographic portraits of Muslims in the American civil landscape.

Antisemitism from Muslims has become a serious issue in Western Europe, although not often acknowledged as such. Looking for insights into the views and rationales of young Muslims toward Jews, Günther Jikeli and his colleagues interviewed 117 ordinary Muslim men in London (chiefly of South Asian background), Paris (chiefly North African), and Berlin (chiefly Turkish). The researchers sought information about stereotypes of Jews, arguments used to support hostility toward Jews, the role played by the Middle East conflict and Islamist ideology in perceptions of Jews, the possible sources of antisemitic views, and, by contrast, what would motivate Muslims to actively oppose antisemitism. They also learned how the men perceive discrimination and exclusion as well as their own national identification. This study is rich in qualitative data that will mark a significant step along the path toward a better understanding of contemporary antisemitism in Europe.