Edinburgh Companion to Arabic-Derived Scripts

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.

• List of FiguresNotes on ContributorsIntroduction - Sacred Texts in Local Tongues: The Global Reach of Arabic Script in Vernacular TraditionsPart I. South Asia – Arabic Script in the Vernacular Cosmopolis1. Arwi -Tamil Nadu & Sri Lanka: A Unique Blend of Arabic and Tamil TraditionsBachamiya Abdul Hussainmiya2. The Genesis of Urdu Language and Literature in IndiaArshad Islam3. Script, Vernacular, and Colonial Encounters: Arabic Orthography in Precolonial and Colonial MalabarAbbas Panakkal4. Influence of Arabic Script on Pakistani LanguagesRukhsana Iftikhar5. Shahmukhi: Script, Sufism, and Vernacular Narratives as Conduits of Punjabi Cultural IdentityKanchan Chandan6. Maldivian Scripts: History, Arabic–Persian Influences, and RefinementHassan HameedPart II. Southeast Asia and China – The Sacred Scripts, Texts and Contexts7. Al-Ibriz Tafsir and Islam as Rahmatan lil ‘Alamin in the Javanese ContextMuhammad Afdillah & Kamilia Hamidah8. Sinicizing Arabi: The Inner and Outer Dimensions of Sini Arabic Calligraphy in ChinaLee ShanPart III. Central Asia and the Iranian Plateau – Orthography, Adaptation, and Cultural Exchange9. The Arabic Script in Iran: Development and DiversionsMehrdad Shokoohy & Natalie H. Shokoohy10. Script and Speech: Arabic Orthography in the Chagatai LanguageNoushad M. K.11. Migration Routes of Letters: The Transformation of Writing in the Oghuz–Turkmen WorldÖmer SolakPart IV. Africa – The Ajami as Archive and Authority12. Ink Beyond Borders: Arabic Script in Hausa and Yoruba Literary TraditionsIbrahim Suberu13. Sovereignty and Ajami: Sultans of Cabo Delgado in the Nineteenth CenturyLiazzat J. K. Bonate14. Cape Muslims’ Arabic Afrikaans Writing TraditionMuhammed HaronPart V. Europe and the Americas – Diasporas, Memory, and Margins15. The Ottoman Archives as a Reservoir of Arabic Script Heritage Alaeddin Tekin16. Arebica Between Orality and Script: Genre, Function, and Cultural Continuity in Bosnian Aljamiado LiteratureMirza Sarajkić17. Aljamiado and Its Readability in the Modern EraHamid Hussain Kalathingal Thodi18. Arabic, Al-Andalus, and the RenaissanceAmina Hoti19. Footprints of Arabic Script: From Scandinavia to the AmericasSamira Benturki SaidiIndex