This new issue of al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā (UW) marks a turning point. UW b e g a n  i n  1 9 8 9  a s  a  n e w s l e t t e r, 
edited by Sam Gellens, a co-founder with 
Richard Bulliet of Middle East Medieval-
ists. Fred Donner, as president of MEM 
(1992-1994), then expanded UW into a 
substantial bulletin, the first issue of which 
appeared in 1992 (4:1). He added new 
features: research articles and reviews of 
books in Arabic and other Middle Eastern 
languages, thus publications about which 
many of us would not have been aware. 
The bulletin has played an invaluable role 
in this sense, and in continuing to provide 
news of developments in the discipline.

O u r  a p p r e c i a t i o n  o f  t h e  w o r k  o f 
P r o f e s s o r  D o n n e r  –  a n d  t h e  m a n y 
contributors to the bulletin – runs deep. 
But the time came to consider anew the 
role, format and content of UW. Following 
much discussion among the editors, board 

members and our MEMbership, we have 
refashioned it into what you find here 
before you: an online, open access, peer-
reviewed journal. Our aim is to make use 
of the best qualities of online publishing: 
the flexibility and timeliness that are a 
hallmark of publications of this kind. We 
also believe that we will provide colleagues 
worldwide – especially those without 
ready access to the best libraries – a means 
by which to keep abreast of trends in our 
respective fields. 

We will continue where the bulletin 
left off: we will produce reviews of new 
publications, written in European and 
Middle Eastern languages alike; short 
“thought pieces” and other brief notices of 
ongoing and forthcoming work; obituaries; 
and as much news of the field as we can 
provide. We urge you, our readers and 
colleagues, to continue sending us material 
of this kind.

Letter from the Editors

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 23 (2015): i-ii

(Photo of Antoine Borrut by Juliette Fradin Photography)



But we will now rely on a peer review 
system in producing original, full-length 
articles. Our aim is attract the best work of 
colleagues from across the globe, drawing 
on new research initiatives across the many 
individual fields that make up Islamic and 
Middle Eastern studies writ large. It is in 
recognition of such work, and, it needs to 
be said, the realities of the tenure system, 
that we are carrying out these changes.

It is also in light of these changes that we 
are very pleased to announce the creation 
of a new UW editorial board. The new 
board consists of colleagues from a variety 
of institutions and scholarly backgrounds. 
Their participation, we believe, will ensure 
high-level contributions and access to a 
global scholarly network.

The content of our new issue represents 
scholarship of this kind. We are delighted 
t o  h ave  t h e  o p p o r t u n i t y  t o  p u b l i s h 
Lawrence Conrad’s article on Ibn Aʿtham 
al-Kufi’s K. al-Futuh, a significant study 
known only to the lucky few that have had 
the opportunity to read it in unpublished 
form. We are grateful to Dr. Conrad for 
agreeing to allow us to bring it to print. 
We are no less pleased to have articles by 
Michael Cook and Christopher Melchert, 
neither of whom requires an introduction; 
their respective contributions here reflect 
the depth of scholarship for which each of 

the two individuals is known. Alongside the 
three principal articles, and an important 
short notice by Bogdan Smarandache, are 
several book reviews, a set of six obituaries 
of colleagues recently deceased, and the 
respective texts of comments by Patricia 
Crone and Steven Humphreys (recipients 
of the MEM Lifetime Achievement Award). 

As a measure of our commitment to 
remaking UW, we would point out that 
this first issue runs to a total of nearly 
250 pages. Our conviction is that al-ʿUṣūr 
al-Wusṭā provides the ideal venue in which 
to publish new and exciting scholarship on 
the history of the medieval Middle East. 
We invite you, our readers and colleagues, 
to participate by contributing your latest 
work.

And one last note: we will continue to 
rely on your financial support. That UW is 
now an open access journal should not be 
understood to mean that it is free: it is not. 
To cover costs of publication and the work 
of our part-time managing editor, among 
other expenses, we ask that you keep your 
membership in Middle East Medievalists 
up to date, and that you consider a gift to 
the MEM general fund. For information on 
membership and the fund, please proceed 
to MEM’s website: 

http://islamichistorycommons.org/mem/ 

Sincerely,

Antoine Borrut and  Matthew S. Gordon
 
 

Letter from the Editors

Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā 23 (2015): ii

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