How did the Arabs manage to maintain an empire based on Islamic principles for three hundred years? Arab expert Petra Sijpesteijn and her team will be examining this question over the coming five years, focusing on the correspondence of ordinary people. The research is being funded by an ERC Consolidator…

The NIMAR library receives visiting students and affiliated researchers who are looking for a quiet place to study and work. Besides this, the library provides them with support in finding relevant literature for their research.

South and Southeast Asia, a region that includes India, Indonesia, and seventeen other countries, is one of the world’s most dynamic and diverse areas. Are you interested in speaking one of the region's major languages and understanding its history, culture, and current affairs? Then this is the bachelor's…

The refurbished P.J. Veth Building - the first completed sub-project in the Humanities Campus project - was officially opened in the summer of 2017. The Faculty of Humanities moved in straight away. . The building was meticulously transformed into a modern teaching building with attractive areas for…

This dissertation provides a grammatical description of Ghomara Berber, a Berber language spoken in North-West Morocco by about 10.000 people. The grammar consists of a description of the phonology, the morphology and the syntax. In the appendices a number of texts and a wordlist are included. The data…

In the spring semester, NIMAR offers university and university of applied sciences students two English-taught tracks worth 30 ECTS each. In both tracks, the emphasis is on enhancing language and linguistic skills, yet they also provide an in-depth introduction to Moroccan culture and society.

Leiden University is awarding an honorary doctorate to virologist Marc van Ranst. Van Ranst has been one of the main advisers of the Belgian government during the Covid pandemic. German Arabist Beatrice Gründler will also receive an honorary doctorate for her work in the field of Oriental Manuscript…

Chaider Bamualim defended his thesis on 9 September 2015

The Leiden University Centre for Islamic Thought and History aims to promote the study of Arabic and Islamic thought and history in a number of ways, both online and in person.

The project ‘Between the Holy Land and the World’ proposes a connected history of the Christian communities in the Near East (1900-1948) by means of a study of unpublished Franciscan and Dominican photographic collections.

Arabist and papyrologist Petra Sijpesteijn has received a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council for her research on the early Islamic Empire. The five-year ERC grant will fund the research project

The Genius of Invective is a peerless example of the breadth, depth, and complexity of the Arabic classical literary tradition. It was once one of the most popular works of Arabic literature, read across all regions from Mauritania to India, from Istanbul to Zanzibar. This volume marks the first English–Arabic…

The Leiden | Islam interview series contains short documentary-style videos including interview flashes with leading scholars in the field of Islam and Muslim societies. With this series, LUCIS aims to show the value of unconventional insights related to Islam and Muslim societies, and to relate them…

This NWO-funded VICI project (2025-2030) led by Prof.dr. Petra M. Sijpesteijn examines the place-making processes in the early Islamic Empire.

Welcome to the Leiden University Centre for Islamic Thought and History. The initiatives and projects undertaken here are under the auspices of the Leiden University Centre for Intercultural Philosophy. As a centre, we aim to promote the study of Arabic and Islamic thought and history, in all its different…

Tuesday 19 November 2024

This project explores how Muslim authorities and writers use Russian to transmit Islamic contents, and whether this leads to a specific

How should the Quran be read? The manuscript of this holy book makes different interpretations possible. Researcher Marijn van Putten has been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant of two million euros to explore centuries-old recitations.

During the period 500–1000 CE Egypt was successively part of the Byzantine, Persian and Islamic empires. All kinds of events, developments and processes occurred that would greatly affect its history and that of the eastern Mediterranean in general. This is the first volume to map Egypt's position in…

University Lecturer Ahab Bdaiwi:

LUCIS affiliated members are researchers outside Leiden University who are actively involved in the study of Islam and/or Muslim societies and who regularly participate in LUCIS activities. LUCIS affiliate membership offers possibilities to cooperate with LUCIS as well as network opportunities. Contact…

The Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo is an academic centre providing services for scholars and students from the supporting universities.