The Islamic Texts Society (ITS) is a peer-reviewed, British publishing house which concentrates on academic and general titles on Islam.“Islamic Publishing Is Poised for Growth”, by Marcia Z. Nelson, Publishers Weekly, vol. 246, issue 46, 11/13/2000. It is registered as an educational charity in the UK.
History The Islamic Texts Society was founded in Cambridge, United Kingdom, in 1981,See Matheson Trust/Publishers. by a group of scholars including Aisha Gray Henry.See bio entry at The Muslim 500: The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims.Bio chapter in Women of Sufism: A Hidden Treasure, Shambhala, 2003, 254–256. Since its inception, ITS has worked in collaboration with scholars including Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, David Burrell, Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Martin Lings, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Eric Ormsby, and Timothy Winter (Abdal Hakim Murad).David B. Burrell, Questing for Understanding: Persons, Places, Passions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2012, p.68.
Imprints The ITS also had an imprint, Quinta Essentia, focused on symbolism, the arts, and universal spirituality. This has since been transferred to the American publisher Fons Vitae.Mention of QE in the profile of Gray Henry at Circle of One.
Notable publications The Islamic Texts Society has published over sixty titles, including the bestsellingRanked “#1 in Islamic Studies” and “#17 in Religious History of Islam” by Amazon UK as of August 2019. biography by Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, and key works on Hadith studies, Islamic jurisprudence and Sufism. The long-term aim of the Islamic Texts Society is to provide a comprehensive English library on Islam and its various disciplines.
One project of the ITS is the “Ghazali Series”, aiming to publish in English works of Muhammad Abu Hamid al-Ghazali. Two of its volumes won the British Book Design and Production Award (best general paperback) in 1991 and 1993.Cover calligraphy by Tom Perkins.
Another ITS project is the “Fundamental Rights and Liberties in Islam Series”, which includes several studies by Mohammad Hashim Kamali.List of Kamali titles at ConstitutionNet.
See also List of publishers
References Elma Ruth Harder, “Reclaiming the Islamic Intellectual Tradition”, Center for Islam and Science. Also available from Brill’s Index Islamicus.
“Books on Islam for the West”, a 1993 article in the New Straits Times.
Review of Medicine of the Prophet, by A. H. L. Holdijk , Al-Ahram Weekly, 11–17 May 2000.
External links Islamic Texts Society official website A partial list of books published by ITS Full Catalogue Publisher page at IPG. Publisher page at Open Library. WorldCat entry ITS Facebook page