Most cited papers in Islamic Studies and History

Islamic Studies and History

What are the most cited papers in Islamic Studies and History?

The most cited paper in Islamic Studies and History is "Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject" (Salwa Ismail, 2006), with 4,088 citations. Next come "Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others" (2,357) and "the romance of resistance: tracing transformations of power through Bedouin women" (2,329).

Published TypeAccessCitations

Showing 50 of 100 papers. Every paper with more than 169 citations is listed.

Most cited papers, sortable by citations and release date
#	Paper
1	Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject Salwa Ismail · American Anthropologist	26 Jul 2006	4,088
2	Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others Lila Abu‐Lughod · American Anthropologist	Sep 2002	2,357
3	the romance of resistance: tracing transformations of power through Bedouin women Lila Abu‐Lughod · American Ethnologist	Feb 1990	2,329
4	Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity Michael Lambek · American Anthropologist	23 May 2005	2,190
5	Feminist Theory, Embodiment, and the Docile Agent: Some Reflections on the Egyptian Islamic Revival Saba Mahmood · Cultural Anthropology Open access	May 2001	1,348
6	The Idea of an Anthropology of Islam Talal Asad · Qui Parle	1996	772
7	Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World Bryan Stanley Turner, Edward W. Said · Sociological Analysis	1981	718
8	Anatomy of the Salafi Movement Quintan Wiktorowicz · Studies in Conflict and Terrorism	May 2006	690
9	Was the Gate of Ijtihad Closed? Wael B. Hallaq · International Journal Middle East Studies	Mar 1984	640
10	Concessions, Repression, and Political Protest in the Iranian Revolution Karen Rasler · American Sociological Review	Feb 1996	616
11	Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: A Political Perspective on Culture and Terrorism Mahmood Mamdani · American Anthropologist	Sep 2002	548
12	Empire of Difference: The Ottomans in Comparative Perspective Karen Barkey	2008	532
13	Islamic Ethics and the Implications for Business Gillian Rice · Journal of Business Ethics	Feb 1999	517
14	Why the Middle East is Economically Underdeveloped: Historical Mechanisms of Institutional Stagnation Timur Kuran · The Journal of Economic Perspectives	Aug 2004	504
15	Mutual Life, Limited: Islamic Banking, Alternative Currencies, Lateral Reason Gregory Starrett · American Anthropologist	29 Nov 2006	484
16	Sexual politics, torture, and secular time Judith Butler · British Journal of Sociology	Mar 2008	479
17	The True Clash of Civilizations Ronald F. Inglehart, Pippa Norris · Foreign Policy	Mar 2003	468
18	Phatic labor, infrastructure, and the question of empowerment in Cairo Julia Elyachar · American Ethnologist	14 Jul 2010	436
19	The Provision of Public Goods under Islamic Law: Origins, Impact, and Limitations of the Waqf System Timur Kuran · Law & Society Review	2001	417
20	Rentier state and Shi'a Islam in the Iranian Revolution Theda R. Skocpol · Theory and Society	May 1982	369
21	Islamic Feminism and Its Discontents: Toward a Resolution of the Debate Valentine M. Moghadam · Signs	Jun 2002	369
22	The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the Sixth to the Eleventh Century Hugh N. Kennedy	1986	369
23	Patriarchy in Transition: Women and the Changing Family in the Middle East Valentine M. Moghadam · Journal of Comparative Family Studies	May 2004	353
24	Being good in Ramadan: ambivalence, fragmentation, and the moral self in the lives of young Egyptians Samuli Schielke · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute	9 Apr 2009	350
25	The Ethics of Listening: Cassette‐SermonAudition in Contemporary Egypt Charles Hirschkind · American Ethnologist	Aug 2001	348
26	The World as Exhibition Timothy F. Mitchell · Comparative Studies in Society and History	Apr 1989	344
27	Capital Formation in the Ottoman Empire Halil İnalcık · The Journal of Economic History	Mar 1969	303
28	State versus Islam: Malay families, women's bodies, and the body politic in Malaysia Aihwa Ong · American Ethnologist	May 1990	297
29	THE METAMORPHOSIS OF THE EGYPTIAN MUSLIM BROTHERS Mona El-Ghobashy · International Journal Middle East Studies Open access	22 Jul 2005	292
30	Women in Muslim Family Law Mounira M. Charrad, John L. Esposito · Sociological Analysis	1982	291
31	Technology and Religious Change: Islam and the Impact of Print FRANCIS P. ROBINSON · Modern Asian Studies	Feb 1993	290
32	Clothing Laws, State, and Society in the Ottoman Empire, 1720–1829 Donald Quataert · International Journal Middle East Studies	Aug 1997	290
33	Islamic Economics and the Islamic Subeconomy Timur Kuran · The Journal of Economic Perspectives	Nov 1995	284
34	Rehearsed Spontaneity and the Conventionality of Ritual: Disciplines of Şalat Saba Mahmood · American Ethnologist	Nov 2001	278
35	Anatomy of Egypt's Militant Islamic Groups: Methodological Note and Preliminary Findings Saad Eddin Ibrahim · International Journal Middle East Studies	Dec 1980	278
36	A Clash of Emotions: The Politics of Humiliation and Political Violence in the Middle East Khaled Fattah, K. M. Fierke · European Journal of International Relations	25 Feb 2009	264
37	The Separation of State and Religion in the Development of Early Islamic Society Ira Marvin Lapidus · International Journal Middle East Studies	Oct 1975	262
38	Rediscovering the “everyday” Muslim Nadia Fadil, Mayanthi L. Fernando · Hau Journal of Ethnographic Theory	Sep 2015	258
39	Parameters and Strategies of Islam–State Interaction in Republican Turkey Ümit Cizre Sakallıoğlu · International Journal Middle East Studies Open access	May 1996	256
40	mass higher education and the religious imagination in contemporary Arab societies Dale F. Eickelman · American Ethnologist	Nov 1992	254
41	Muslims in Western Europe Jørgen S. Nielsen, Jonas Otterbeck	2015	251
42	Iran in transition Goodarz Danaei et al. · The Lancet Open access	28 Apr 2019	250
43	The Rise and Fall of Mogadishu's Islamic Courts Cedric Barnes, Harun Hassan · Journal of Eastern African Studies Open access	Jul 2007	247
44	Islamist Mobilization in Turkey: A Study in Vernacular Politics Quinn Mecham · Political Science Quarterly	2003	246
45	Redefining Hijab: American Muslim Women's Standpoints on Veiling Rachel Anderson Droogsma · Journal of Applied Communication Research	27 Jul 2007	244
46	Hierarchy and Egalitarianism in Islamic Thought Louise Marlow, Manochehr Dorraj · Digest of Middle East Studies	Jul 1997	244
47	Women, work, and Islam in Arab societies Yusuf Munir Sidani · Women in Management Review	Oct 2005	238
48	The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary Abdullah Drury · Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations	11 Mar 2016	237
49	The Transformation of the Ottoman State, 1789-1908 Kemal H. Karpat · International Journal Middle East Studies	Jul 1972	235
50	The Economic Imperatives of Marriage: Emerging Practices and Identities Among Youth in the Middle East Diane Singerman · SSRN Electronic Journal PreprintOpen access	2008	234

Citations are OpenAlex's own counts, from its 2026-09-23 snapshot, so the ranking can differ from Google Scholar or Web of Science. A paper is listed for a field when OpenAlex files it under one of the field's topics; retracted papers and papers whose citation count cannot be traced to citing works are left out, and a preprint and the article it became are shown once. Release dates are OpenAlex's: where a source gave only a month or a year, that is what is shown. How the lists are chosen.