Critical Muslim publishes well-written articles and essays, including analytical reviews and photo essays, as well as shorter reviews of individual books, films, and exhibitions, and works of fiction and poetry. We seek to promote divergent and pluralistic ideas, opinions and visions; and cover all issues of interest to Muslims in a globalised and interconnected world. Each issue is devoted to a single theme; and, we seek articles and essays that explore that theme from various perspectives.
Articles and Essays: Contributions to the magazine are distinguished by the quality of writing and intellectual analysis. We are looking for narratives, arguments, debate, decisive scrutiny, reportage, and thought provoking articles and essays. The recommended length for main articles and essays is 4-6,000 words. We will provide a title for your contribution, cross-heads where we think necessary, and illustrations where appropriate. Footnotes and in-text citation must be avoided. The references should appear at the end of the article, in Chicago-style, with full page references for the quoted material. When giving a web reference, please provide the full URL. References are collected together and appear in the ‘Citations’ section at the end of the book.
For initial inquiry, please contact Robin Yassin-Kassab: qunfuz@googlemail.com
Reviews: We are looking for argumentative, discursive analysis of the book rather than a description of its contents. Questions you might address include – does the author says something new and original and adds to knowledge and debate, or recycles old arguments and stereotypes? Examples and illustrations drawn from the book are often helpful, but not obligatory. Similarly, comparisons with other writers and thinkers and others works can be illuminating. Reviewers may also use the book as a launching point to elaborate their own ideas or explore a particular theme. We are looking for reviews of 2500-3,000 words, but longer are acceptable too if the books(s) or the arguments demand it. Film, television, theatre, and exhibition reviews follow the same approach and style. These need not be based on the themes of the issues.
For initial inquiry, please contact Reviews Editor, Shamim Miah: shamim@cppfs.org
Arts & Letters: We seek unpublished poetry and fiction on themes of interest to readers of the journal, including but not limited to Islam; experiences of Muslim culture; diverse Muslim identities. Work in translation is published in English only. In the case of translations, the translator must obtain permissions from the writer or their estate. Please send up to six poems (no more than six pages) and fiction of between 600 to 3000 words, in the format stated below. Flash fictions are welcome but should be a minimum of 500 words each, and total at least 3000 words. We do not publish microfiction. Poetry should be single-spaced unless double-spacing is a conscious aesthetic choice. Photographs and art work will be published in black and white with short accompanying texts.
For initial inquiry, please contact Poetry and Fiction Editor, Naomi Foyle: enfoyle@gmail.com
Proofs: Authors of articles are sent page proofs for checking before publication. These will normally be sent as Pdf files to your e-mail address. Only essential corrections can be accepted at this stage.
Copyright: It is not necessary for contributors to sign a copyright; the copyright of your contribution belongs to you. But we would request that you do not republish your article or essay for at least a year after it appears in Critical Muslim. We would also appreciate a citation to Critical Muslim, where the article originally appeared.
Style Guide: We use UK English – not American; and UK style dates: 12 February 2023; not February 12, 2021. Our headings are simple, usually limited to two, three or four words; long headings are for esoteric academic journals. No footnotes – under any circumstances. References have to be written up and appear in our Citations sections at the end of the book. We require complete references: author, title, publisher, place of publication, date of publication, quotation page. When someone is mentioned, we need to know who it is. For example: ibn Rushd, the twelfth century Muslim philosopher…Give the full name of the person being discussed for the first time, and then use surname subsequently. No titles before or degrees after – no Dr. Professor or PhDs! Spell out the centuries: fourteenth century, not 14thC. No AD or CE! Also, spell the numbers from one to ten then, then eleven to twenty, then thirty, forty, fifty so on to hundred. Percentages to be written as x percent. Currencies as £/$ figures (£230). No abbreviations eg or ie. Spell out: for example, that is…No asterisk breaks ***** in the articles. We need proper links to paragraphs. The exceptions could be short stories where this is a long-established convention to indicate a change of scene or turn in the story.
Format: Please do not try and design your pages; stick to a simple word processing programme, preferably MS Word. Use Times New Roman, 12pt, double spacing, no headers, no footers and no running heads – just page numbers. Please do not use bold for emphasis, always use italics; or italics for quotations, just place them in quotation marks. Always include a by-line with your submission.
Biography: Please provide three or four lines about yourself, including recent publications and any affiliation.