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CALL FOR PAPERSTHE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC SOCIAL SCIENCES (AJISS)SPECIAL ISSUE: Applying Wasatiyyah (Moderation) in Contemporary Muslim SocietiesGUEST EDITORSProf. Ahmad Yousif • Prof. Abdulaziz Sachedina • Dr. Ermin SinanovicReligious tolerance and mutual respect among members of different religious communities is vital intoday’s global context. Citizens must learn to develop em- pathy by recognizing and understandingthe religious and cultural “other” living among them. This tolerance, an imperative in today’smultifaith and multicultural societies, also calls for intrafaith tolerance and respect withinMuslim communi- ties. Can the Qur’anic concept of ummatan wasata become the source of overallwasatiyyah (moderation and equilibrium) promoted by Islam from its very early days? The classicalnotion of wasatiyyah can serve as a critical religious instrument to both further and maintainsocial cohesion founded upon the twin principles of justice and peaceful coexistence. From Islam’searly days, this notion has been of paramount importance to many Muslim thinkers. Contemporarysocial scientists, intellectuals, policymakers, and religious leaders who are aware of minorityreligious groups’ increasing calls for greater political autonomy and participation in shapingtheir own destiny are once again demanding lasting solutions to discrimination and mutualdehumanization of the “other” in our midst.This special issue invites scholars to reflect upon and respond to the notion of mutual respect andacceptance in order to provide a “stepping stone” for further study and research on applyingwasatiyyah and to reflect upon the ongoing accomplishments and challenges, particularly in Muslimsocieties. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC SOCIAL SCIENCES INVITES•  Social sciences and humanities-based research papers reflecting on all aspects of applyingwasatiyyah in contemporary Muslim societies.•  Book reviews related to the theme.•  Shorter reflection pieces of 2,000-3,000 words. SUGGESTED TOPICS•  Theoretical papers examining the successes/failures of applying wasatiyyahin contemporary societies.•  Historical studies of underlying structural forces in contemporary applications of wasatiyyah.•  Case studies, qualitative interviews, and oral histories of key people or organizations on theapplication of wasatiyyah in the Muslim world.•  The impact of political institutions, media, religious authorities, women’s groups, and youth onpromoting moderation.•  Critical studies of the work of scholars who seek to apply wasatiyyah in their societies.•  The authority of modern ulama in promoting/resisting religious moderation.•  In-depth explorations of the Muslim world’s prevalent political systems, their power structures,and their ability to promote/oppose religious moderation.•  Muslim responses to specific issues: democracy, pluralism and tolerance; freedom of religionand conscience, women’s rights and equality of all citizens; legal and economic reforms in thecontext of the modern nation-state.•  Experience of Muslims living as minorities in majority non-Muslim or ma- jority sectariansituations and their take on wasatiyyah.•  The role of Muslim educational institutions, intellectuals, secular nationalism or modernizationin reinforcing wasatiyyah in contemporary societies.Regular research papers should be 7,000-10,000 words. All submissions must conform to AJISSguidelines: be original, unpublished research; double-spaced and single-sided; and conform to theChicago Style. HOW TO CONTRIBUTE•  Send a brief note of intent to contribute immediately.•  Send the completed paper by January 15, 2015 as an attachment in MS- Word, with a 250-wordabstract and a short bio, simultaneously todirector.wasatiyyah@iium.edu.my; asachedi@gmu.edu; erminsinanovic@gmail.com;zibrahim@fullerton.eduSubmission Deadline: January 15, 2015 Decision Date: March 16, 2015 Publication Date: July 2015The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences (AJISS) is a double blind peer- reviewed andinterdisciplinary journal published by the International Institute of Islamic Thought. AJISSpublishes a wide variety of peer-reviewed scholarly re- search on all facets of Islam and theMuslim world: politics, history, economic philosophy, metaphysics, psychology, religious law, andIslamic thought, employ- ing both empirical and theoretical analysis. AJISS aims to provide a forumfor high-quality original research and critical dialogue and discussion, advancing both applicationof social sciences to the study of Islam and the Muslim world and an analysis of the socialsciences. In addition, AJISS includes insightful reviews of published books of interest to oursubscribers, as well as forum articles and conference reports.----------------------------------------