On Thursday 26 October, the Europa Institute held its fourth ‘Meet the Author’ event.

The premier LUCIS lecture series, running since 2021. Each year, two eminent scholars visit Leiden to deliver landmark lectures in Islamic and Middle East Studies. This forum for presenting and discussing cutting-edge research brings together researchers, students, and other interested participants…

Sharia Incorporated: A Comparative Overview of the Legal Systems of Twelve Muslim Countries in Past and Present

How did people experience Islam on a day-to-day basis in the early centuries of Islam? That's where the papyri come in, says professor of Arabic Petra Sijpesteijn in the fourth video of the Leiden | Islam interview series.

As of 1 January 2020 the Institute of Immigration Law will become part of the Europa Institute of Leiden University.

On 27 and 28 June 2023, an extensive conference was held on the past and future of Europe’s free travel area: the Schengen zone. The Europa Institute, represented by Jorrit Rijpma, joined forces with the Odysseus Network of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Konstanz University, and the Royal Egmont…

This book examines how Muslim communities in the Netherlands perceive and experience extremism, counter-radicalisation policies, and Islamophobia.

Shiʿi Islam

We are very happy to announce that two candidates of the Europa Institute won the Meijers PhD grant of 2018. Both PhD-students will perform highly topical research into different areas of EU law for the coming four years.

‘Islam and Muslims are not something that happened to Europe; they are part of Europe. In fact, Islam is one the biggest constants in European history,’ argues Professor Maurits Berger in the new eight-part Matters of Humanities: History of Islam in Europe podcast series of the Leiden University Faculty…

The Leiden University Shii Studies Initiative (LUSSI) is hosting a two-day online conference on Islam and Evolution.

In the period between the First and the Second World War, many Muslim intellectuals came to Europe. What impact did they have on each other’s, as well as on European thinking, and how were they in turn influenced? Leiden Islam expert Dr Umar Ryad has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant to investigate…

In the Netherlands, various local VVD parties are calling for an asylum stop. Other political parties, Ja21, BBB, PVV and FvD, also see an asylum stop as the solution to the continuing asylum problems. Earlier, an opinion poll showed that a majority (69 per cent) of the Dutch population agrees. Is an…

Guest lecture immigration law by Secretary of State Broekers-Knol On 5 March 2020.

Every year, in the last month of the Islamic calendar, millions of Muslims from around the world come together in Mecca to perform the Hajj, the pilgrimage that all capable Muslims should perform at least once in their lives. In 2013, the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden organised the exhibition…

LUCITH runs a number of initiatives and programmes. Below you will find a list of initiatives and activities by the Centre for Islamic Thought and History.

Facts, Fears and the Future of Islamic Rules on Family Relation in the West

This study describes religion in Java.

This 25th volume in the series 'Islam in Africa', edited by Annachiara Raia, is a pioneering collection of poetry by the outstanding Kenyan poet, intellectual and imam Ustadh Mahmmoud Mau (born 1952) from Lamu island, once an Indian Ocean hub, now on the edge of the nation state.

'In Perspective' is the quarterly publication of the Faculty of Humanities in which we bundle some of our most high-profile stories. In Perspective is printed in limited quantities (currently only available in Dutch), spread amongst relations and partners and offered on coffeetables within our buildings.…

War and terrorism overshadow interest in the pre-Islamic heritage of the Arabic peninsula. The new Leiden Centre for the Study of Ancient Arabia aims to make the general public more aware of the ancient history of this region.

At our regular panel discussions we bring together scholars and other experts to discuss a current topic that captures the interest of the general public as well as academics.

On young Muslims seeking to understand their place and make their way in a transformed world.

Marietje Beemsterboer defended her thesis on 12 June 2018 (in Dutch)

After the advent of Islam in the 7th century C.E., the strategic geographical position of Tarsus (its proximity to the sea and to the mountain pass leading to inland Anatolia) made this town the de facto capital of the thughur, a historical and geographical term created by Muslim geographers qualifying…

Arab Identity and the Rise of Islam

The Rt. Hon. the Lord Mance, Judge at the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom delivered the Europa Lecture on 29th September 2016 in the Grand Auditorium of the Academy Building at Leiden University. The lecture was entitled: “Jurisdiction, judgments and proper law relating to states outside the Brussels…

Heritage Quest is a large-scale citizen science project in the field of archaeology that allows anyone to contribute to scientific research. It is the first large-scale archaeological citizen science project in The Netherlands and one of the few of its kind in the world. As part of the Cultural Heritage…

Punching Back is a detailed ethnographic study that demonstrates that young Muslim women who kickbox develop agentive selves by challenging gender norms, challenging expectations, and living out their religious subjectivities.

Publications from the Project 0100 team members.

To reach a larger audience beyond the academy, a number of activities in the cultural realm have been programmed over the years.

On 8 June, the Europa Institute’s annual Europa Lecture took place at the Telders Auditorium of the Academy Building. Honorary speaker was Tamara Ćapeta, Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Her lecture explored the role of Advocates General at the Court of Justice in its…

The Europa Institute is once again organising the lecture series 'Europa in de Praktijk' (Europe in Practice). Students are offered the unique opportunity to enter into discussions with prominent guest speakers with years of European experience working in a wide range of sectors. Each year, we invite…

On a thursdaymorning our students were guided around a new exhibition in the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo. This exhibition displayed photographs and documents from the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century Western Arabian Peninsula.

On Friday, June 12th, the Europa Institute held its annual PhD Day.

On Tuesday 14 June, the Europa Institute welcomed Martijn Stronks, Assistant Professor at the Amsterdam Centre of Migration and Refugee Law of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, for its third ‘Meet the Author’ event.

This study delivers a comprehensive picture of the causes of radicalization in the Eastern and Southeastern regions of Turkey. It demonstrates how regionally specific factors enable ideologically disparate terrorist groups to recruit and radicalize from the same population.

Earlier this month, the Europa Institute organized an internal discussion on the German PSPP-judgment. For the first time, the German Constitutional Court declared acts of EU institutions as manifestly excessive and thus as ultra vires acts under German constitutional law. During an online debate, various…

On 3 March 2021 Zuzana Vikarská presented some of her work in progress research at the Europa Institute's

À La Découverte de la Hollande dans les années 1760-1770 : Pierre Famin, Emmanuel de Croÿ-Solre, François-César Le Tellier, Jean-Marie Roland de la Platière, Gabriel-François Coyer. Textes réunis et présentés par Madeleine van Strien-Chardonneau, Paris, Société française d’étude du dix-huitième siècle,…

Are you a teacher (history, social studies, religion, philosophy, geography, etc.) and do you have questions about the relationship between citizenship and Islam? Consider joining NIMAR's study trip to Morocco.

General Assembly

Zuzana Vikarská joined the Europa Institute in January 2021 as a visiting researcher within the re:constitution fellowship - a new programme funded by Stiftung Mercator comprising 20 fellows who have their own project. The fellows meet regularly to discuss work in progress and engage in academic mobility…

On 1st July Austria will assume the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. An appropriate occasion to invite former president of Austria Heinz Fischer to deliver the eighth Europa Lecture on Friday 8th June. During the lecture Mr Fischer shared his views on the history of his country…