• Frontier Cities during the Late Ottoman Period: The Case of Beersheba in a Comparative Perspective (Gerda Henkel Stiftung) 

This project examines social processes in the peripheral regions of the Ottoman Empire using the case of Beersheba. Beersheba stands out among Ottoman initiatives on the periphery due to its ambition to use a fully developed city, built from scratch, as an “imperial bridgehead” on the border. By analyzing this unique but hitherto little-researched case, the researchers sought to overcome the empire-centered perspective of previous studies and to better understand the perspectives and contributions of local actors. While Ottoman officials such as Ekrem Bey portrayed Beersheba as a purely Ottoman initiative, most of those involved were Arab Palestinians from urban areas. The case of Beersheba promises to unlock a range of previously underappreciated stories and shed new light on broader themes such as comparisons of empires, nomad-state relations, and border regions as contact zones.

• Philosophy in the Modern Islamic Word

The network “Philosophy in the Islamic World of Modernity” promotes a young field of research in the German-speaking and international scientific landscape. Funded by the DFG (2021-2024), the aim is to develop transdisciplinary perspectives in order to establish research and teaching on a sustainable basis – in constant exchange with the MENA region. Since the mid-19th century, modern, Western-influenced philosophy has been received in the Islamic world, leading to a critical re-reading of classical and post-classical traditions. Intellectuals and activists in the metropolises of the Middle East engaged with the political thought of the Enlightenment, the idea of the nation, and positivist philosophy, often in connection with Islamic traditions. In the 20th century, these debates became professionalized at modern universities. Enlightenment philosophy, liberalism, Marxism, existentialism, hermeneutics, and deconstruction, as well as rationalism, mysticism, and intuitionism became central elements of social and academic discourse in the Islamic world.

• Arabic Music Theory and the Adaption of Ancient Theories

(Subproject of the ERC Advanced Grant project “Ancient Music Beyond Hellenisation,” 2018–2024)

The project was part of the ERC-funded project “Ancient Music Beyond Hellenisation” led by Dr. Stefan Hagel, which investigated the relationships between Hellenistic music and the traditions of the Middle East. In her subproject, Yasemin Gökpınar researched al-Fārābī's “Great Book of Music,” which quotes ancient works and provides comparative material on Greek theory and Arabic, Persian, and Byzantine practice. In addition to al-Fārābī's work, other early sources such as al Kindī's works and the musical treatise of the Iḫwān aṣ-Ṣafāʾ were also included. The research focused on knowledge transfer, terminology, and musicological and historical issues. In addition, a partial edition with translation and a Greek-Arabic glossary of musical terminology are being compiled.

• Bedeutende Probleme und Kontroversen der arabischen Logik und Sprachphilosophie/Major Issues and Controversies of Arabic Logic and Philosophy of Language

The research project combines basic research on Arabic logic and philosophy of language.

• Bedouin Syria

The book takes a fresh look at Bedouin groups and the environment in which they have lived by identifying the factors that shaped their history. We give consideration to the configurations of people, wealth, and power in this region and trace their connections in both space and time. In so doing, we adopt a long-term perspective to gain a more comprehensive picture of the changes in livelihoods, ways of life, social organization, and identity constructions of Bedouin groups, which are in many ways paradigmatic for more general trends in Middle Eastern history.

• (Christian) Arabs and (Russian) Jews: Identity Constructions and Debates on Zionism in the Trans-Ottoman Migration Society of Palestine (1880-1925)

Two case studies examine transregional debates in a society that was increasingly becoming a migration society. Case study 1 (researcher: Alexandra Gerykova, M.A.) examines Hebrew texts that, in mutual observation, outlined the collective identity of Jewish migrants (Ashkenazim and Sephardim), described relations with Arabs and Christians, and observed Christian-Jewish conflicts in Russia from a distance. Case study 2 (researcher: Dr. des. Evelin Dierauff) analyzes Arabic texts by Palestinian Christians and Muslims on Zionist migration and the Jewish collective in Palestine, and thus descriptions by outsiders and their influence on new self-descriptions.

• Lost Cities – the abandoned mud brick settlements of Central Oman: between glorification and neglect

The interdisciplinary research project (Archaeology: Dr. Stephanie Döpper; Goethe University Frankfurt; cultural sociology: PD Dr. Thomas Schmidt-Lux, University of Leipzig; Islamic studies: Dr. Birgit Mershen, Ruhr University Bochum) on the abandoned mud brick settlements of Central Oman aimed to shed light on the social relevance of these settlements. To this end, the material culture, the actors and practices, and the interpretations and codings of the abandoned settlements were examined. The Islamic studies part of the project focused in particular on the cross-settlement analysis of already documented ḥārāt, their settlement structure, their morphology and social structure, and the locally established sociocultural institutions. The findings of this part of the project reveal dynamic processes, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, in the way authorities and private actors deal with the ḥārāt, as well as the efforts of former residents to reclaim their abandoned ancestral quarters as a developing and living cultural heritage and to make use of them as a material resource in the form of tourist facilities.

• Local, Regional and International ‘Borrowing and Lending’ in Social Sciences and Humanities Departments at Egyptian and Lebanese Universities

The project “Local, Regional and International 'Borrowing and Lending' in Social Sciences at Arab Universities”, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, was completed in February 2015. Its results will be published shortly.

• The Presence of the Prophet: Muhammad as Reflected by His Community in Early Modern and Modern Islam

This German-French project has been funded by the French Agence Nationale des Recherches (ANR) and the German Research Foundation (DFG) since 2017. The DFG's funding covers a position for a young scientist (project coordination) at Ruhr University Bochum, as well as the organization of regular workshops and annual conferences to present and discuss research results.

• Gaza during the Late Ottoman Period

Our research is based on primary sources written in Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, Hebrew and various European languages, which are located today in archives in Turkey, Israel, Palestine and Europe. These archives will help serve to reconstruct the political, social, and economic history of the population in the Gaza region, which is a crucial step toward a better understanding of the complex social fabric in Palestine and the Levant, including such varied issues as relationships with the imperial center, rural-urban relationships, migration and demographics, and relationships between the state and the Bedouins.

• Glossarium Græco-Arabicum

A project of the Ruhr University Bochum, Department of Oriental Studies and Islamic Studies, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) from 1994 to 2006.

• Greco-Islamic medicine (ṭibb-i yūnānī, Unani Medicine) and its representation in South Asia

Greco-Islamic medicine, known today as yūnānī ṭibb in Urdu and Hindi and Unani Medicine in English, has a long and eventful history in South Asia. In India today, it is one of the officially recognized forms of medicine, alongside Ayurveda, Siddha, yoga, and homeopathy. It is taught and practiced at various state and private institutions in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and still has a large number of local therapists, some of whom are state-certified.

• Settlement and Society in Pre-Modern Oman

This project compares various types of rural settlements in the Sultanate of Oman across four millennia with a focus on architecture, irrigation and traffic infrastructure and methods of agricultural production. The project studies patterns in the reactions of preindustrial societies on extreme environmental conditions and in decision-making processes leading to sustainable settlements.

• Between Ašʿarīya and Māturīdīya: Abū Šakūr as-Sālimī (4th/11th century) and his Tamhīd fī bayān at-tauḥīd

The research project focuses on the Arabic theological work Tamhīd fī bayān at-tauḥīd (Introduction to the Explanation of the Belief in One God) by abū Šakūr as-Sālimī (4th/11th century).

• Transformational processes in ḥanafi-māturīdī theology of the 6th/12th century: The Kitāb al-Kifāya fī l-hidāya fī ʿilm al-kalām by Nūr ad-Dīn aṣ-Ṣābūnī (d. 580/1184)

This research project focuses on transformation processes as observed in Hanafi-Maturidi theology of the 6th/12th century. Based on the Kitāb al-Kifāya fī l-hidāya fī ʿilm al-kalām, a systematic theological treatise by Nūr ad-Dīn aṣ-Ṣābūnī (d. 580/1184), who worked in Buḫārā, and the reports of the Ash'arite theologian Faḫr ad-Dīn ar-Rāzī (d. 606/1210) on personal encounters with aṣ-Ṣābūnī, we will analyze the changes that Maturidite theology underwent in relation to the teachings of its founder Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī (d. 333/944).