The Center for Islamic Sciences (CIS) launched its bi-annual, peer-reviewed journal Islam & Science (JIS) in 2003. The coordinating conjunction “&” in the title was conceived not only as a bridge between Islam and the enterprise of science, but also—and more significantly—as indicative of an essential nexus between the two at several levels in disciplines such as the history and philosophy of science, epistemology, and Qurʾanic hermeneutics. Islam & Science explored, from Islamic perspectives, data and theories originating in various disciplines of modern science. It also explored ways to establish rigorous and productive links with the Islamic intellectual tradition in order to enhance our understanding of God, life, the cosmos and the human condition.
The journal initially focused on the philosophical underpinnings of modern and premodern science. It explored various aspects of Islamic cosmology and theories about the natural world in works of influential scholars, past (Ibn Sina, al-Ghazali, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi) and present (Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Ismaʻil Raji al-Faruqi). Through case studies, questions about essential differences between scientific enterprises of the past and present were explored from a variety of perspectives. The journal also published articles on the Qurʾanic view of the natural world. Islam & Science gradually expanded its range of topics to include all branches of knowledge, including Qurʾanic studies, education, and various aspects of the study of Islam and Muslims in the contemporary world. This led to the journal’s change of title in 2013 to Islamic Sciences. No issue of the journal was published during 2018-2022. The journal resumed its regular publication in Summer 2023 (Volume 16, No. 1) with a special issue on “Engaging Evolution”.
Over the course of first fifteen years of its publication,, JIS published articles on the Muslim encounter with modern technology, bioethics, philosophical and ethical issues related to the environmental crises, the Qurʾan and science, philosophy of education, critical studies on the Western understanding of Islam and its intellectual and spiritual traditions, intellectual history, and a range of other subjects. Shorter reflective articles, published under the rubric “The End Matters”, highlighted contemporary themes or matters of enduring value. Twenty-three editorials (published under the title “Shadhrah”) presented views on a range of contemporary issues.
Sixty-seven book reviews featured critical analysis of scholarly works on a broad range of topics. Over the course of its publication history, 59 authors wrote approximately 2,000 pages of well-researched text, which remains relevant to several fields of contemporary interests in Islam, including issues related to the relationship of Islam and Science, Evolution, environment, Islam in the contemporary world, Islamic intellectual history, and Qurʾanic studies.
International Editorial Advisory Board (2003-2026)
Mustafa Abu Sway, Al-Quds University, Palestine
Talal Asad, Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA
William C. Chittick, State University of New York, USA
Ahmad Dallal, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
Mehdi Golshani, Sharif University of Technology, Iran
Hamza Yusuf Hanson, Zaytuna College, USA
Syed Nomanul Haq, LUMS, Pakistan
Mohammad Hashim Kamali, IAIS, Malaysia
Mustansir Mir, Youngstown State University, USA
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, George Washington University, USA
Hamid Parsania, Baqir al-ʿUlum University, Iran
Roshdi Rashed, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France
Muhammad Suheyl Umar, Iqbal Academy, Pakistan
Past Members of the Editorial Advisory Board
Zafar Ishaq Ansari, (1932-2016) Pakistan
Zafar Ishaq Ansari (27 December 1932 – 24 April 2016) was a prominent Pakistani scholar of Islamic studies, noted for his contributions to Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic law, and intellectual history. Educated at McGill University, he combined rigorous training in both classical Islamic scholarship and modern academic methods, and later served as Director General of the Islamic Research Institute at the International Islamic University Islamabad.
He also played a significant role in academic publishing as editor of the journal Islamic Studies and as a contributor to major scholarly works, including the English rendering of Mawlānā Mawdūdī’s Tafhīm al-Qur’ān.
As a member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Ansari brought a distinguished scholarly perspective grounded in both traditional Islamic sciences and contemporary academic discourse, contributing to the intellectual rigor and credibility of the publication.
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, (1931-2026) Malaysia
Innā liLlāhi wa innā ilayhi rājiʿūn.
The Journal of Islamic Sciences (JIS) mourns the passing of one of the most profound intellectual figures of the contemporary Muslim world, Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas (5 September 1931 – 8 March 2026), who returned to his Lord at the age of 94. A member of the JIS Editorial Advisory Board since its founding in 2003, al-Attas was not only a scholar of rare depth and range, but a thinker who sought to restore the very foundations of knowledge in Islam.
Zafar Ishaq Ansari (27 December 1932 – 24 April 2016) was a prominent Pakistani scholar of Islamic studies, noted for his contributions to Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic law, and intellectual history. Educated at McGill University, he combined rigorous training in both classical Islamic scholarship and modern academic methods, and later served as Director General of the Islamic Research Institute at the International Islamic University Islamabad.
He also played a significant role in academic publishing as editor of the journal Islamic Studies and as a contributor to major scholarly works, including the English rendering of Mawlānā Mawdūdī’s Tafhīm al-Qur’ān.
As a member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Ansari brought a distinguished scholarly perspective grounded in both traditional Islamic sciences and contemporary academic discourse, contributing to the intellectual rigor and credibility of the publication.
Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, (1931-2026) Malaysia
Innā liLlāhi wa innā ilayhi rājiʿūn.
The Journal of Islamic Sciences (JIS) mourns the passing of one of the most profound intellectual figures of the contemporary Muslim world, Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas (5 September 1931 – 8 March 2026), who returned to his Lord at the age of 94. A member of the JIS Editorial Advisory Board since its founding in 2003, al-Attas was not only a scholar of rare depth and range, but a thinker who sought to restore the very foundations of knowledge in Islam.
