Editorial

Abstract

This year AJISS turns twenty-five. In 1983, during a meeting of the Association
of Muslim Social Scientists’ (AMSS) executive board in Plainfield,
Indiana, the pros and cons of establishing a journal were discussed in great
detail and at length. The board members, Dr.Waheed Fakri (president), Dr.
Sulayman S. Nyang (vice president), and Dawood Zwink (treasurer) agreed
that the United States needed a Muslim-led and Muslim-organized scholarly
publication to address important issues at home and abroad. In their
vision, the journal would educate university and college students, as well as
policymakers, with respect to the life and conditions ofMuslims in the social
sciences. In addition, the journal would be a vehicle for articulating and
aggregating Muslim views and understanding of the social sciences.
Another objective was to provide a forum for Muslim scholars, and
especially for those associated with the AMSS, to publish their research.
At the time, it was felt that Muslim scholars engaged in social science
research projects with an Islamic perspective found mainstream scholarly
journals inhospitable. The board thought that the proposed journal would
become – as it has – a forum for cutting-edge research in the social sciences
and the humanities, employing both the standard social science
research methodologies as well as the Islamic theoretical and methodological
perspectives.
Two issues were critical: (1) obtaining the financial resources needed to
sustain the proposed journal and (2) its viability and effectiveness. After the
go-ahead decision had been taken, and in order to establish the journal, the
board members drew upon the intellect and services of AMSS members as
well as friends and sympathizers. With this in mind, Dr. Mumtaz Ahmad, a
respected and activeAMSS member and friend of Dr. Nyang, was proposed
as the journal’s co-editor. Dr. Nyang became the editor-in-chief and Dr.
Ahmad, a former editor of a scholarly journal in Pakistan, became the editor.
Several prominent Muslims were invited to serve on the advisory board
to widen the circle of involvement ...