Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize Winner 2026-27

Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize Winner 2026-27

The International QurÊŸanic Studies Association is delighted to announce that the tenth annual Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize (open to papers delivered by early career scholars at the 2026 Annual Meeting) has been awarded to Mohammed A. Atbuosh for the paper “Notes on the Sacred Marriage in Ancient South Arabia and the Islamic MutÊża-Marriage.”

The winner of the Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize receives a cash award. In addition, an expanded and edited version of the winning paper will appear in the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association.

Professor Andrew Rippin (1950–2016)
Professor Andrew Rippin (1950–2016)

This award is given in honor of Professor Andrew Rippin (1950–2016), a leading scholar of the Qurʟān and inaugural president of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (2014). Prof. Rippin is remembered as “an esteemed colleague, revered mentor, and scholarly inspiration to many members of the IQSA community.”

An abstract of the award-winning paper follows:

This paper proposes an alternative interpretation for the Sabaic Hapax term tfáčŻ based on a lexical and historical comparations. The Islamic traditions about the pre-Islamic Mecca provide a context that might better clarify the meaning of both terms, tfáčŻ and its Qurʟānic equivalent tafaáčŻ, as a sexual act, or a state of sexual impurity. The fertility qualities of the pre-Islamic pilgrimage align with understanding of tafaáčŻ meaning as such, a meaning that can be extended to Sabaic, by a comparison with a prophetic tradition which semantically parallels the Sabaic expression. This study seeks to develop a complementary understanding between the Ancient South Arabian texts and the Qurʟān, using an interdisciplinary approach, involving pre-Islamic reports, biblical parallels, and Islamic traditions.

Mohammed Atbuosh

Mohammed Atbuosh is an independent researcher working on Ancient South Arabian studies and Yemeni folklore, with contributions that include anthropological investigations, lexicographical surveys, and publishing newly discovered inscriptions. Atbuosh is a visiting researcher at Jena University, Germany (April–May 2025) and editor in the Digital Archive for the Study of Pre-Islamic Arabian Inscriptions.

 

Call for Submissions: Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize 2026-27

Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize

IQSA 2026 Annual Meeting

$500 AWARD   |   GRADUATE STUDENTS & EARLY CAREER SCHOLARS |   JIQSA ELIGIBILITY

The International Qur’anic Studies Association (IQSA) invites submissions for the Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize, awarded to the best paper delivered at IQSA’s 2026 Annual Meeting by a graduate student or early career scholar (Ph.D. awarded in 2021 or later).

The prize honors Andrew Rippin, inaugural president of the learned society.

What the Winner Receives

$500, plus detailed feedback and guidance from the award committee to help develop the paper into a scholarly article suitable for submission to the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (JIQSA), subject to peer review.

Submission Requirements

Scholars should submit a draft of the paper they presented at the 2026 Annual Meeting in Vienna.

Length: No more than 15 double-spaced pages (or 3,750 words, including bibliography)

Footnotes: Limited or no footnotes are acceptable. The submission does not need to be journal-ready.

Please do not submit: Presentation slides

SUBMISSION DEADLINE

October 14, 2026

Email submissions to
contactus@iqsaweb.org

The prize winner will be announced at the end of October. The winner should then be prepared to submit a fully revised version of the winning article to JIQSA by January 31, 2027. The prize winner commits to submitting the paper to JIQSA. Publication of the final version is contingent upon review by the award committee and editorial staff of JIQSA.

Questions? Email contactus@iqsaweb.org.

We look forward to receiving your submissions!

Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize Winner 2025-26

Professor Andrew Rippin (1950–2016)
Professor Andrew Rippin (1950–2016)

The International QurÊŸanic Studies Association is delighted to announce that the ninth annual Andrew
Rippin Best Paper Prize (open to papers delivered by early career scholars at the 2025 Annual Meetings)
has been awarded to Salma Albezreh for her paper: “Who But You Can Save Us? Allāh’s Theological
Position in Ancestral Arabian Religion and Its Relevance for Understanding the Qurʟānic Opponents.”
The winner of the Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize receives a cash award. In addition, an expanded and
edited version of the winning paper qualifies for publication in the Journal of the International Qur’anic
Studies Association.

This award is given in honor of Professor Andrew Rippin (1950–2016), a leading scholar of the Qurʟān
and inaugural president of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (2014). Prof. Rippin is
remembered as “an esteemed colleague, revered mentor, and scholarly inspiration to many members of
the IQSA community.”

An abstract of the award-winning paper follows:
This paper presents two previously unpublished Safaitic inscriptions documented during the 2025 season of the Badia Epigraphic Survey, directed by Ahmad Al-Jallad. Found in the basalt desert of northeastern Jordan, these texts shed new light on the religious landscape of pre-Islamic North Arabia. While the Safaitic corpus has yielded invaluable evidence for local cults and pantheons, direct textual evidence for the specific cultic status assigned to Allāh has remained limited. Building on Al-Jallad (2025) and others, the inscriptions presented here provide new data for reconstructing the function and position attributed to Allāh in ancestral Arabian religion. These texts contain formulaic prayers and invocations in which Allāh is explicitly invoked as a guide and as a final recourse within a graduated hierarchy of supernatural help, specifically during long-distance travel and in times of environmental distress. 

These findings are particularly relevant for contextualizing the Qurʟānic text. The Qurʟān frequently engages in a polemical discourse with its interlocutors, contrasting polytheistic practice with a singular, monotheistic devotion to Allāh. A key rhetorical strategy, exemplified in verses like Q 29:65, is to accuse the Meccan mushrikĆ«n of appealing to Allāh exclusively when facing danger at sea, but reverting to their polytheistic practices once delivered to safety. The newly discovered Safaitic inscriptions provide a tangible, pre-Qurʟānic epigraphic backdrop for this very discourse. They demonstrate that the practice of invoking Allāh in opposition to other deities in moments of desperation, especially during perilous journeys, was indeed a feature of ancestral Arabian religion. This paper presents the two inscriptions, analyzes their linguistic and religious significance, and discusses how they refine our understanding of the historical realities behind the Qurʟānic polemic.

Salma Albezreh

Salma Albezreh is a master’s student and incoming Melton Fellow in the Department of Near Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures at The Ohio State University, where she previously earned her B.A. in History and Islamic Studies as a Stamps Eminence Fellow. Her research interests include the QurÊŸan, pre-Islamic and early Islamic epigraphy, ancestral Arabian religion, and the religious developments of Late Antiquity and early Islam.

Thank you to all who entered papers for the Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize! We look forward to your presentations and papers following this year’s Annual Meeting in Vienna (July 8-11, 2026).

Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize Deadline

The International Qur’anic Studies Association (IQSA) will award a prize to the best paper from IQSA’s 2025 Annual Meeting by a graduate student or early career scholar (Ph.D. awarded 2020 or later), in honor of Andrew Rippin, inaugural president of the learned society. The prize winner will receive $500. In addition, the award committee will provide him/her with detailed feedback and guidance enabling him/her to expand the paper into a scholarly article that qualifies for publication in the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (JIQSA), subject to peer review.

Interested scholars should submit a draft of the paper which they read at the most current Annual Meeting (2025, in Los Angeles); this draft should be no longer than fifteen double-spaced pages (or 3750 words including bibliography). The award committee does not expect at this stage a “journal-ready” version (and so limited footnotes, or no footnotes, are acceptable). Please do not submit slides. Submissions should be emailed to contactus@iqsaweb.org by February 14, 2026. The prize winner will be announced at the end of February. The winner should then be prepared to submit a fully revised version of the winning article to JIQSA by May 31, 2026 (the prize winner of the “Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize” commits to submitting the paper to JIQSA). Publication of the final version is contingent upon review by the award committee and editorial staff of JIQSA.

Questions? Email contactus@iqsaweb.org. We look forward to receiving your submissions!

Professor Andrew Rippin (1950–2016)

Professor Andrew Rippin (1950–2016)

Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize 2025-26

The International Qur’anic Studies Association (IQSA) will award a prize to the best paper from IQSA’s 2025 Annual Meeting by a graduate student or early career scholar (Ph.D. awarded 2020 or later), in honor of Andrew Rippin, inaugural president of the learned society. The prize winner will receive $500. In addition, the award committee will provide him/her with detailed feedback and guidance enabling him/her to expand the paper into a scholarly article that qualifies for publication in the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (JIQSA), subject to peer review.

Interested scholars should submit a draft of the paper which they read at the most current Annual Meeting (2025, in Los Angeles); this draft should be no longer than fifteen double-spaced pages (or 3750 words including bibliography). The award committee does not expect at this stage a “journal-ready” version (and so limited footnotes, or no footnotes, are acceptable). Please do not submit slides. Submissions should be emailed to contactus@iqsaweb.org by February 14, 2026. The prize winner will be announced at the end of February. The winner should then be prepared to submit a fully revised version of the winning article to JIQSA by May 31, 2026 (the prize winner of the “Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize” commits to submitting the paper to JIQSA). Publication of the final version is contingent upon review by the award committee and editorial staff of JIQSA.

Questions? Email contactus@iqsaweb.org. We look forward to receiving your submissions!

Warm Regards,
The Andrew Rippin Prize Committee 

JIQSA Volume 6 (2021) Now Available!

JIQSAv6_front cover

IQSA is thrilled to announce that the sixth volume of the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (founding editors: Michael Pregill and Vanessa De Gifis) has now been published online, with print copies due to ship soon (see also https://lockwoodonlinejournals.com/index.php/jiqsa).

The issue’s contents include:

  1. Sinai, Nicolai. Obituary: Alan Jones (1933–2021). JIQSA 6 (2021): 5-7.
  2. Shnizer, Aliza. Obituary: Uri Rubin (1944–2021). JIQSA 6 (2021): 8-11.
  3. Lange, Christian.  Obituary: Josef van Ess (1934–2021). JIQSA 6 (2021): 12-15.
  4. Stewart, Devin. Noah’s Boat and Other Missed Opportunities. JIQSA 6 (2021): 17-67.
  5. Lawson, Todd. Response to Devin Stewart’s 2019 IQSA Presidential Address. JIQSA 6 (2021): 69-85.
  6. van Putten, Marijn. Dissimilation of ē to ā in the Qurʟānic Consonantal Text. JIQSA 6 (2021): 87-105.
  7. Al-Jallad, Ahmad and Ali Al-Manaser. The Pre-Islamic Divine Name Êżsy and the Background of the Qurʟānic Jesus. JIQSA 6 (2021): 107-136.
  8. Griffith, Sidney. The Narratives of “the Companions of the Cave,” Moses and His Servant, and DhĆ« ’l-Qarnayn in SĆ«rat al-Kahf. JIQSA 6 (2021): 137-166.
  9. Pregill, Michael. The Two Sons of Adam: Rabbinic Resonances and Scriptural Virtuosity in SĆ«rat al-Māʟidah. JIQSA 6 (2021): 167-224.
  10. Abdel Raziq, Iqbal. IsmÄÊżÄ«l, DhĆ« ’l-Kifl, and IdrÄ«s: A Reading of the Qurʟānic Text and Muslim Exegesis [in Arabic]. JIQSA 6 (2021): 225-253.

Nicolai Sinai and Saqib Hussain (Oxford University), who bore editorial responsibility for the issue, would like to express their gratitude to all authors, peer reviewers, and Lockwood Press.

Member Access

Full online access to the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association is available by signing in to the member portal at iqsaweb.org HERE. Use the top menu to navigate to “JIQSA” and select the desired volume via the drop-down menu. Online access to JIQSA for IQSA members is NOT available via Lockwood Press’ website.

If you experience trouble logging in, please email contactus@iqsaweb.org to reset your password or confirm your membership.

Renew or sign up for IQSA membership HERE for full access to JIQSA, RQR, and more!

Institutional Access

Institutions wishing to subscribe for print and/or online access should fill out the form HERE. Print subscriptions are also available for individual subscribers via THIS FORM.

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2022. All rights reserved.

Member Benefits: IQSA Publications

Did you know that active membership in the International Qur’anic Studies Association comes with research benefits? IQSA members receive full access to periodicals featuring the latest research from experts in the field, including the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (JIQSA) and the Review of Qur’anic ResearchPublications_Denver

The Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (JIQSA) is a peer-reviewed annual journal devoted to the scholarly study of the Qur’an. Its goals are to

  • publish scholarship of high technical quality on the Qur’an, discussing its historical context; its relationship to other religious text traditions; and its literary, material, and cultural reception;
  • cultivate Qur’anic Studies as a growing field with a distinctive identity and focus, while acknowledging relevant linkages to the study of the Bible as well as the Islamic tradition, including tafsÄ«r;
  • facilitate crucial conversations about the state of the field in Qur’anic Studies and the future of the discipline;
  • connect diverse scholarly communities from around the world on issues of common concern in the study of the Qur’an.

IQSA members have online access to all 5 volumes of JIQSA, including presidential addresses and responses from Annual Meetings. Read more about JIQSA, its’ submission process, and subscribe at this link!

In addition, IQSA members reeive access to the Review of Qur’anic Research (RQR), an online companion to the International Qur’anic Studies Association (IQSA). IQSA is committed to the advancement and dissemination of high quality scholarship on the Qur’an and to the facilitation of deeper understandings of the Qur’an through scholarly collaboration. RQR is an online resource that features reviews of cutting-edge scholarship in the field of qur’anic studies and allied fields.

IQSA members have full access to all 7 volumes of RQR, containing over 70 book reviews! Read more and login at this link.

Interested in access to these resources? Become an IQSA member at members.iqsaweb.org and start reading today!

JIQSA Volume 5 (2020) Now Available!

cover_issue_39_en_USIQSA is thrilled to announce that the fifth volume of the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (founding editors: Michael Pregill and Vanessa De Gifis) has now been published online, with print copies due to ship soon (see also https://lockwoodonlinejournals.com/index.php/jiqsa). 

The issue’s contents include:

  • an obituary of the historian F. E. Peters by Reuven Firestone;
  • an exploration of Qur’anic doublets, drawing on studies of doublets in the New Testament, and the implication of such doublets for the history of the Qur’an’s origin and composition, by Gabriel Said Reynolds;
  • a close examination of a Copto-Qur’anic palimpsest by ÉlĂ©onore Cellard and Catherine Louis, inspecting both the Qur’anic upper text and the biblical Coptic lower text, and considering the implications of the palimpsest for early Qur’anic scribal practices;
  • a study of the opening oath and the Prophet’s visions in SĆ«rat al-Najm by Saqib Hussain, in light of pre-Islamic astral concerns in the Qur’anic milieu as recoverable from early Islamic literature and Safaitic inscriptions;
  • an analysis of the regionality of early Qur’an manuscripts by Hythem Sidky, based on a comparison between variants in regional codices as recorded by Muslim scholars and regionality data recoverable from surviving Qur’an manuscripts;
  • and an Arabic article by Nadeen Alsulaimi on the structure of Sūrat al-Insān and on whether it should be classified as Meccan or Medinan.

Editor of Volume 5, Dr. Nicolai Sinai (Oxford University), notes that many thanks are owed for the hard work and commitment that went into the publication of this volume: to all authors for contributing such a rich selection of pioneering research; to our anonymous peer reviewers for making available their expertise and for offering many constructive and learned comments on those submissions that did make it into the issue; to the journal’s associate editor Saqib Hussain (who is still blissfully ignorant of the reviewers of his own submission); and to Billie Jean Collins of Lockwood Press for unfailing professional standards. It is especially gratifying that the issue includes revised and extended versions of two past winners of IQSA’s Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize (namely, the contributions by Cellard/Louis and Hussain).

Member Access

Full online access to the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association is available by signing in to the member portal at iqsaweb.org HERE. Use the top menu to navigate to “JIQSA” and select the desired volume via the drop-down menu. Online access to JIQSA is NOT  available via Lockwood Press’ website.

If you experience trouble logging in, please email contactus@iqsaweb.org to reset your password or confirm your membership.

Renew or sign up for IQSA membership HERE for full access to JIQSA, RQR, and more!

Institutional Access

Institutions wishing to subscribe for print and/or online access should fill out the form HERE. Print subscriptions are also available for individual subscribers via THIS FORM.

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2021. All rights reserved.

JIQSA Volume 5 (2020) Now Available!

IQSA is proud to announce the official release of the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association V.5 2020 (Lockwood Press) edited by Nicolai Sinai (Oxford University). Read the announcement below!

cover_issue_39_en_US

Dear colleagues,

It is my pleasure to announce that the fifth volume of the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (founding editors: Michael Pregill and Vanessa De Gifis) has now been published online, with print copies due to ship soon (see also https://lockwoodonlinejournals.com/index.php/jiqsa). The issue’s contents include:

  • an obituary of the historian F. E. Peters by Reuven Firestone;
  • an exploration of Qur’anic doublets, drawing on studies of doublets in the New Testament, and the implication of such doublets for the history of the Qur’an’s origin and composition, by Gabriel Said Reynolds;
  • a close examination of a Copto-Qur’anic palimpsest by ÉlĂ©onore Cellard and Catherine Louis, inspecting both the Qur’anic upper text and the biblical Coptic lower text, and considering the implications of the palimpsest for early Qur’anic scribal practices;
  • a study of the opening oath and the Prophet’s visions in SĆ«rat al-Najm by Saqib Hussain, in light of pre-Islamic astral concerns in the Qur’anic milieu as recoverable from early Islamic literature and Safaitic inscriptions;
  • an analysis of the regionality of early Qur’an manuscripts by Hythem Sidky, based on a comparison between variants in regional codices as recorded by Muslim scholars and regionality data recoverable from surviving Qur’an manuscripts;
  • and an Arabic article by Nadeen Alsulaimi on the structure of Sūrat al-Insān and on whether it should be classified as Meccan or Medinan.

As in previous years, I owe thanks to many people for getting this issue out: to all authors for contributing such a rich selection of pioneering research; to our anonymous peer reviewers for making available their expertise and for offering many constructive and learned comments on those submissions that did make it into the issue; to the journal’s associate editor Saqib Hussain (who is still blissfully ignorant of the reviewers of his own submission); and to Billie Jean Collins of Lockwood Press for unfailing professional standards. It is especially gratifying that the issue includes revised and extended versions of two past winners of IQSA’s Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize (namely, the contributions by Cellard/Louis and Hussain).

Since access to the journal is a membership benefit, JIQSA 5 is also available through the IQSA membership portal. However, please do consider recommending a subscription to the journal to your libraries, in the interest of making JIQSA available to students and colleagues who are not yet IQSA members.

Best wishes,
Nicolai

———————————————————————————————-
Dr Nicolai Sinai
Editor, Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association
Professor of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford
Fellow of Pembroke College
© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2021. All rights reserved.

Subscribe to JIQSA!

JIQSA Volume 4 (2019) Now Available!

IQSA is proud to announce the official release of the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association V.4 2019 (Lockwood Press) edited by Nicolai Sinai (Oxford University).

JIQSA4_COVER

Volume four is available to IQSA members for FREE online via the member login on members.iqsaweb.org. Non-members can receive access by signing up for membership HERE.

Institutions wishing to subscribe for print and/or online access should fill out the form HERE. To request that your institutional library subscribe to JIQSA, please present this form. Print subscriptions are also available for individual subscribers via THIS FORM.

ISSN 2474-8390 (Print)
2474-8420 (Online)

Subscription Rates:
Print and Online: US$70
Print only: US$40
Online only: US$40

JSTOR
JIQSA is now accessible through the online academic digital library JSTOR. Libraries and other institutions with a subscription to JSTOR can access JIQSA HERE.

Member Access

Full online access to the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association is available by signing in to the member portal at iqsaweb.org HERE. Use the top menu to navigate to “JIQSA” and select the desired volume via the drop-down menu. Online access to JIQSA is NOT  available via Lockwood Press’ website.

If you experience trouble logging in, please email contact@iqsaweb.org to reset your password or confirm your membership.

Renew or sign up for IQSA membership HERE for full access to JIQSA, RQR, and more!

Table of Contents (Vol. 4, 2019)

  1. Farrin, Raymond K. “The Verse Numbering Systems of the Qurʟān: A Statistical and Literary Comparison.” JIQSA 4 (2019): 3-58.
  2. Tlili, Sarra. “Fa’áčŁdaÊż bi-mā tuÊŸmar: A Motif-Based Study of SĆ«rat al-កijr.” JIQSA 4 (2019): 59-84.
  3. Melchert, Christopher. “The Controversy over Reciting the Qurʟān with Tones (al‑qirāʟah bi’l‑alងān).” JIQSA 4 (2019): 85-110.
  4. Christiansen, Johanne Louise. ““Their Prayer at the House Is Nothing but Whistling and Clapping of Hands” (Q al-Anfāl 8:35): Negotiating Processions in the Qurʟān.” JIQSA 4 (2019): 111-140.
  5. Rashwani, Samer. “Review Essay: Al-កākim al-JishumÄ« and the History and Study of MuÊżtazilÄ« Exegesis.” JIQSA 4 (2019): 141-154.

The journal’s website, including additional information and contact details, can be found at http://lockwoodonlinejournals.com/index.php/jiqsa. For more information on theInternational Qur’anic Studies Association, please visit www.iqsaweb.org.

 

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2020. All rights reserved.

New Benefits: IQSA Institutional Membership

The International Qur’anic Studies Association is pleased to announce the addition of new benefits for IQSA’s Institutional Members. Institutions can now provide collective access to the Review of Qur’anic Research in addition to IQSA’s flagship Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association by becoming IQSA institutional members. Access to these resources for institutions is the result of collaboration with IQSA’s affiliate publisher, Lockwood Press.

Institutional Membership is $400 USD annually and includes the following benefits:
– Automatic access/subscription to all paid individual member benefits (JIQSA online, RQR online & Membership database)
– Discounts on Lockwood publications
– One free advertisement annually (program book, JIQSA, online or mailing list)
– Discounted registration for designated individual at IQSA’s Annual Meeting

To enable collective access to IQSA’s resources, institutions must provide IP ranges to Lockwood Press. Institutional partners can register for membership HERE. Questions or concerns? Email contact@iqsaweb.org! We hope you join us soon to start enjoying these new benefits!

 

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2019. All rights reserved.