Editor: Ulrika Mårtensson, The Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Book Review Editor: Martin Riexinger, Aarhus University

Publisher: Equinox Publishing

Comparative Islamic Studies aims to advance research on Islam through comparative methods, especially of two kinds: between Islam and other religions, and between religious and non-religious disciplines and factors.

Regarding the first kind of comparison, CIS extends the scope of comparisons of Islam and Islamic Scripture from the traditional focus on Judaism and Christianity to include religions of Antiquity, Africa, South- and South East Asia, China, Oceania, Europe and the Americas, as well as contemporary new religious movements, spirituality and the vario us types of esotericism.

Regarding the second kind, the Journal seeks studies, which compare by focusing on the interaction between religious and non-religious scholarly and scientific disciplines, and factors of various kinds. In addition to contributing to the study of Islam, the approach could inspire new ways of conceptualising and writing the histories of relations between religious and non-religious disciplines and methodologies. In this way, such comparisons might contribute also to the history and theory of science (See also Author’s Guidelines).

The approach implies a view of religions as complex phenomena reflecting a wide range of factors in the study of human intellectual and social life. Such factors constitute connections and points of comparison between different religions and disciplines at different places and times, spanning pre-modern and modern history of religions

CIS invites individual articles and guest edited special issues. Special issues may include articles devoted exclusively to non-Islamic materials, as long as all the contributions address a common topic or problem and the non-Islamic materials advance research into Islam.

Reviewers, please contact the review editor via email in advance to make arrangements to review books.

Website: https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/CIS

“Many have the idea that independent Muslim schools are a place where you only read the Koran, and that hurts integration,” Nicolai Kaarsen, a senior economist at Kraka and co-author of the analysis, told Politiken on Tuesday, September 20.

“Politicians and public schools should take stock of this knowledge and perhaps learn something from the Muslim private schools.”

Kaarsen was referring to analysis by the politically independent think-tank Kraka which revealed that students with a non-western background attending Muslim private schools, whose mother tongue is not Danish, are achieving significantly better grades in their 9^th grade exit examinations than their counterparts at Danish public schools.

According to the analysis, the difference between the students’ final examination marks is 1.4 grade points, an average of 4.6 at the public schools and 6.0 at the Muslim private schools.

Students from Denmark’s 20 Muslim private schools also perform better over the long-term.

Over 28 percent of the graduates from Muslim private schools had completed a upper-secondary education three years after 9^th grade, compared to only 21 percent of children with similar backgrounds leaving public schools.

The analysis was based on data from 29,000 immigrants from 17 non-Western countries, with the students completing the 9^th grade between 2007 and 2014. Of these, 1,634 attended a Muslim private school.

Niels Egelund, a school researcher and professor at the DPU at Aarhus University, pointed out that culture of discipline was the main reason behind Muslim private schools’ success.

“There is a fundamental difference in respect and an overall sense of calm,” he said.

“Students look up to teachers as authority figures, and you do not see students acting up and creating disturbances in the classroom.”

Source: aboutislam.net