If you are in any way involved in the academic study of Islam, the acronym ISIM is no stranger. This International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World, based in The Netherlands, has served as a welcome resource for information on Islam, especially in contemporary contexts. The free journal (ISIM Review), available online and in print, has been one of the most diverse, interesting, informative and accessible forums on Islam. The institute itself has sponsored conferences, workshops and fellows. Yet, if you click on to the main website today, here is what you see:

ISIM to be closed as per 1 January 2009

The International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) will be closed as per 1 January 2009, due to the lack of adequate funding. ISIM was set up ten years ago by the universities of Leiden, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Nijmegen, and the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The objective of the institute has been to carry out innovative research into the social, political, cultural and intellectual trends and movements in present-day Muslim communities and societies worldwide.

As testified by the February 2008 international peer-review committee that was appointed at the request of the Dutch Ministry of Education, ISIM has been an excellently performing, internationally leading institute in its field. It has been pioneering in interdisciplinary research of contemporary Muslim communities and societies, and in combining scholarship and societal cooperation.

Given the extraordinary importance of promoting better understanding of Muslim communities, especially in Europe, the lack of support for such a successful outreach and research institution boggles the mind. We need more ISIMs, not no ISIM at all.

For those interested in saving ISIM, the following help is asked:

Dear colleagues and friends of ISIM,

We are contacting you because we consider you in one way or another as part of the ISIM network, be it as former ISIM fellow, co-organizer or participant in our conferences, contributor to the ISIM review, or as someone having indicated an interest in ISIM’s activities.

As you may have already heard, ISIM will be closed on 1 January 2009 due to lack of funding (the institute was previously funded by the Ministry of Education and four Dutch Universities), see www.isim.nl). We are requesting colleagues and friends in our network to sign the attached petition, in the hope that we can persuade the Minister of Education to make ISIM’s survival possible. We would appreciate very much if you read this petition and, if you agree with the text, send us a message in support of the petition, including your name, institutional affiliation, the nature of your relations with ISIM, and perhaps a few lines of comment.

Please forward this message to friends and colleagues whom you know to be part of the larger ISIM network.

The petition with the signatures and comments will be sent to the Minister of Education. We would also welcome very much any other suggestions you might have for the rescue of ISIM.

We suggest your message have the following form:

“I endorse the petition to the Dutch Minister of Education to save ISIM.”

Please sign with your name (incl. title), institutional affiliation, and the nature of your relationship with ISIM. A brief comment (your opinion on ISIM, or on why it needs saving) will be appreciated and added to your signature under the petition.

Please send your message to isim2009@gmail.com

Thank you,

Irfan Ahmad (ISIM-NWO postdoctoral fellow 2006-08)
Elena Arigita (ISIM postdoctoral fellow 2004-06)
Jeannette Jouili (ISIM postdoctoral fellow 2006-08)
Michiel Leezenberg (ISIM sabbatical fellow 2008)
Martijn de Koning (ISIM-Ethnobarometer project 2006-07, postdoctoral fellow 2008)
Frank Peter (ISIM postdoctoral fellow 2003-05, affiliated fellow 2006-08)