Release of the English Edition (Issue Four) of the Ijtihad Journal for Studies and Training

Release of the English Edition (Issue Four) of the Ijtihad Journal for Studies and Training

The Ijtihad Center for Studies and Training in Belgium is pleased to announce the release of the English edition (Issue Four) of the Ijtihad Journal for Islamic and Arabic Studies in Europe. This issue represents a qualitative milestone in the journal’s trajectory, especially as the project has not yet completed its second year.

Emerging from the European and Western context in which the Ijtihad Center was founded, and in line with the methodological and academic approach we adopt in addressing issues related to Islam in Europe and the West, we have been keen from the outset to work in European languages alongside Arabic—most notably English. Within this framework, one of the journal’s most important objectives is realized today through the publication of a fully independent English-language issue, alongside the Arabic edition. This step broadens the journal’s academic reach and strengthens its presence within the international research landscape.

The new English issue includes an editorial, four peer-reviewed research articles, two book reviews, a translation, in addition to news and activities of the Ijtihad Center for the second half of 2025, as well as a presentation of the most important recent publications on Islam in the West.

Link to the new issue: https://journal-ijtihadcenter.com/inde.../ijias/issue/view/6

Contents of the new issue:

Editorial

Towards Establishing an Internal Paradigm for Islamic Scholarship in Europe

Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Tijani BOULAOUALI

ARTICLES

Ibn Taymiyya as a Hermeneutical Paradigm: Reception and Reactivation of Medieval Islamic Thought in the Jihadist Discourse of Ayman al-Ẓawāhirī

Dr. Mehdi BERRIAH

Mapping Reformist Trajectories in Modern Islamic Thought: Fazlur Rahman’s Islamic Modernism—A Historiographical Analysis of His Intellectual Legacy (1919–1988)

Tamim RAIHAN

Irregular Migration of Moroccan Minors to Spain: A Sociological Study of Religious and Cultural Identity

Dounia SEFIANI

The Mystical Approach of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazzālī and Francis of Assisi: A Comparative Analytical Study of the Foundational Values of Asceticism and Love

Marco AGUS & Dr. Tijani BOULAOUALI

REVIEWS

Review of The Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement: The Truth Will Prevail by Declan Henry

Ken AVONTS

Review of The Identity of Moroccan Migrants and the Question of Cultural Difference in the German Context by Majda Bouazza

Abdelkarim EL GHAZI

TRANSLATIONS

The Jurisprudential Adaptation of Sham Divorce in the European Context

By Dr. Abdelhak EL KOUANI, translated by Chahida BOUHANOU

NEWS & PUBLICATIONS

Ijtihad Center News and Activities

Prepared by Ashraf LAAROUSSI

New Publications on Islam in Europe and the West

Prepared by Dr. Mohammed QAROUQ KIRKESH

We invite researchers to contribute to upcoming issues of the journal by submitting their articles through the journal’s digital platform: https://journal-ijtihadcenter.com/.../about/submissions

Only articles that meet the journal’s approved methodological standards are accepted. Priority is given to specialized studies on Islam and Muslims in Europe and the West, as well as to articles written in foreign languages such as English and French, alongside works addressing other religious, intellectual, social, and educational topics.

Finally, we extend our sincere thanks to all our colleagues and friends—within the Center and the journal, and beyond—for their continuous encouragement and support in advancing this promising academic project.