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The Edinburgh Companion to Arabic-Derived ScriptsGlobal Evolution from the Qur'an to the Vernacular

Edited by Abbas Panakkal

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Published 31 March 2027

About this book

Offers new insights into the epistemic frameworks, adaptability and symbolic power of Arabic letters

  • Provides a transnational study of Arabic-derived scripts, including Arwi, Jawi, Persian, Urdu, Ottoman Turkish, African scripts, Aljamiado and Ajami, across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas
  • Investigates the role of Arabic-derived scripts in knowledge production, identity formation and political and social expression, highlighting their materiality, adaptability and enduring symbolic power
  • Employs an interdisciplinary framework integrating sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, intellectual history, anthropology and education to illuminate the interplay between language, writing systems and social power
  • Draws on Qur’anic manuscripts, vernacular texts, pedagogical materials and community archives to analyse how script use shapes knowledge production, epistemic authority and the negotiation of sacred and secular domains

Presents a comprehensive examination of the transnational trajectories of Arabic-derived writing systems. While rooted in the sacred context of the Qur’an, these scripts have been adapted across diverse linguistic, cultural and political landscapes, serving as instruments of knowledge transmission, identity formation and social negotiation. Covering regions from South and Southeast Asia to Central Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas, the volume investigates both canonical and marginalised traditions, including Arwi, Jawi, Aljamiado, Ajami, Persian, Urdu and Ottoman Turkish.

Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches from sociolinguistics, intellectual history, anthropology and education, the book analyses how Arabic-derived scripts have been reshaped through processes of language contact, script adaptation, colonialism, nationalism, pedagogy and cultural memory. This Companion provides a rigorous and globally informed account of the adaptability, materiality and enduring significance of Arabic-derived scripts in both sacred and vernacular contexts.

Table of contents

List of Figures
Notes on Contributors

Introduction - Sacred Texts in Local Tongues: The Global Reach of Arabic Script in Vernacular Traditions

Part I. South Asia – Arabic Script in the Vernacular Cosmopolis
1. Arwi -Tamil Nadu & Sri Lanka: A Unique Blend of Arabic and Tamil Traditions
Bachamiya Abdul Hussainmiya
2. The Genesis of Urdu Language and Literature in India
Arshad Islam
3. Script, Vernacular, and Colonial Encounters: Arabic Orthography in Precolonial and Colonial Malabar
Abbas Panakkal
4. Influence of Arabic Script on Pakistani Languages
Rukhsana Iftikhar
5. Shahmukhi: Script, Sufism, and Vernacular Narratives as Conduits of Punjabi Cultural Identity
Kanchan Chandan
6. Maldivian Scripts: History, Arabic–Persian Influences, and Refinement
Hassan Hameed

Part II. Southeast Asia and China – The Sacred Scripts, Texts and Contexts
7. Al-Ibriz Tafsir and Islam as Rahmatan lil ‘Alamin in the Javanese Context
Muhammad Afdillah & Kamilia Hamidah
8. Sinicizing Arabi: The Inner and Outer Dimensions of Sini Arabic Calligraphy in China
Lee Shan

Part III. Central Asia and the Iranian Plateau – Orthography, Adaptation, and Cultural Exchange
9. The Arabic Script in Iran: Development and Diversions
Mehrdad Shokoohy & Natalie H. Shokoohy
10. Script and Speech: Arabic Orthography in the Chagatai Language
Noushad M. K.
11. Migration Routes of Letters: The Transformation of Writing in the Oghuz–Turkmen World
Ömer Solak

Part IV. Africa – The Ajami as Archive and Authority
12. Ink Beyond Borders: Arabic Script in Hausa and Yoruba Literary Traditions
Ibrahim Suberu
13. Sovereignty and Ajami: Sultans of Cabo Delgado in the Nineteenth Century
Liazzat J. K. Bonate
14. Cape Muslims’ Arabic Afrikaans Writing Tradition
Muhammed Haron

Part V. Europe and the Americas – Diasporas, Memory, and Margins
15. The Ottoman Archives as a Reservoir of Arabic Script Heritage
Alaeddin Tekin
16. Arebica Between Orality and Script: Genre, Function, and Cultural Continuity in Bosnian Aljamiado Literature
Mirza Sarajkić
17. Aljamiado and Its Readability in the Modern Era
Hamid Hussain Kalathingal Thodi
18. Arabic, Al-Andalus, and the Renaissance
Amina Hoti
19. Footprints of Arabic Script: From Scandinavia to the Americas
Samira Benturki Saidi

Index

About the author

Abbas Panakkal

Abbas Panakkal is an Honorary Fellow at the Edward Cadbury Centre, University of Birmingham, UK. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Religious Life and Belief Centre at the University of Surrey, UK. His published works include Hindu Amir of Muslims (Bloomsbury, 2025), Faith, Commerce and Cultural Exchange in the World of Ibn Battuta (editor, Palgrave Macmillan, 2026), Musaliar King (Bloomsbury, 2024), Southeast Asian Islam(editor, Routledge, 2024), Matrilineal, Matriarchal, and Matrifocal Islam (editor, Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), and South Asian Islam (editor, Routledge, 2023). Abbas holds directorial positions at both the Ibn Battuta International Centre of Intercultural Studies and the International Interfaith Initiative. Previously, he was affiliated with the School of History, University of St Andrews, Scotland, and served as a fellow at Griffith University, Australia. His research spans a diverse array of topics, including language, religion, law, indigenization, integration, interreligious engagement, and intercultural cooperation.