- Renaissance and early modern literature, especially Milton and Shakespeare
- Cultural history
- Reception theory
- Literary translation
Islam's research revolves around the reception of early modern literature and cultural history. He is especially interested in Milton and Shakespeare, and in linking their texts with pertinent global contexts. His research touches on several disciplines including visual art, cultural studies, music, politics, sociology, and theology.
Islam's book Milton in the Arab-Muslim World (2016) won the Milton Society of America’s 'First Book Award'. Milton in Translation (2017) won the Milton Society of America’s 'Irene Samuel Memorial Award'. He has also authored Shakespeare and Terrorism (2021) and Digital Milton (2018).
Islam has curated exhibitions at prestigious venues. Stories of Sacrifice (2016-18) at the British Muslim Heritage Centre, visited by over 50,000 people, won numerous awards, and its findings were monumental, the Discovery Channel reporting that "Issa more than doubled the previously estimated figure of [Muslim WW1] soldiers after trawling through thousands of personal letters, historic archives, regimental diaries and census reports”. Its research informed the diversity and inclusion strategies of the British Armed Forces and Greater Manchester Police, and is used by schoolteachers nationally. His other exhibitions include Shakespeare in South Asia (2017) and Ageless Cleopatra (2018), both at Shakespeare’s Birthplace.
Books
Alexandria: The City that Changed the World (London: Hodder & Stoughton, forthcoming 2023).
Milton Across Borders and Media (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2023). [ed. with Angelica Duran]
Shakespeare and Terrorism (New York: Routledge, 2021).
Digital Milton (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018); paperback 2019. [ed. with David Currell]
Milton in Translation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017). [ed. with Angelica Duran and Jonathan Olson]. Winner of the Milton Society of America's Irene Samuel Memorial Award.
Milton in the Arab-Muslim World (New York: Routledge, 2016); paperback 2018. Winner of the Milton Society of America's Outstanding First Book Award.
Journal Articles
“Researching Milton in Egypt: Politics, Portraiture, and Pasta”, Milton Studies 63.1 (2021).
“Rethinking Islamophobia: From Renaissance to World War One to the Radical Right”, Oxford Islamic Studies Online 3.1 (Spring 2020). [with Imran Awan]
"'Certainly the Muslim is the very devil incarnation': Islamophobia and The Merchant of Venice”, The Muslim World, 108.3 (July 2018), 367-386. [with Imran Awan]
“Milton’s Satan and the struggle for power”, Times Literary Supplement (November 2017).
“Transforming Milton’s Paradise Lost into Arabic”, SEL Studies in English Literature1500-1900, 55.1 (Winter 2015), 197-214.
“Milton’s Areopagitica in the Arab World Today”, English Studies, 96.1 (February 2015), 82-101.
“Fragmentation, Censorship and an Islamic Journal: A History of the Translations of Milton into Arabic”, Milton Quarterly, 46.4 (December 2012), 219–32. Winner of the Michael K. O’Rourke PhD Best Publication Award (2013).
Book Chapters
“Antony and Cleopatra in Arabic”, in Forgotten Treasures: The World’s First Great Shakespeare Library, eds. Ewan Fernie and Tom Epps (Birmingham: History West Midlands, 2022).
"How literature shapes history”, in What is History, Now?, eds. Helen Carr and Suzannah Lipscomb (London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2021).
“When Shakespeare travelled with me”, in Instant Expert: 100 of the best ideas from New Generation Thinkers (London: Penguin / BBC Audio, 2021).
“Rebel Angels: Milton, Epstein’s Lucifer,and the Kashmiri Sitter”, in Global Milton and Visual Art, eds. Angelica Duran and Mario Murgia (London: Lexington Books, 2021). [with Matthew Geary]
“Milton’s Areopagitica in the Arab World Today”, in Reading Milton through Islam, eds. David Currell and François-Xavier Gleyzon (New York: Routledge, 2018).
“‘Milton! Thou Shouldst Be Living in These Media’”, in Digital Milton, eds. David Currell and Islam Issa (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). [with David Currell]
“The Online Revolution: Milton and the Internet in the Middle East”, in Digital Milton, eds. David Currell and Islam Issa (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018).
“Paradise Lost in Arabic: Images, Style, and Technique”, in Milton in Translation, eds. Angelica Duran, Islam Issa and Jonathan Olson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).
“From ‘Cambalu’ to ‘El Dorado’” (with Angelica Duran), in Milton in Translation, eds. Angelica Duran, Islam Issa and Jonathan Olson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017). [with Angelica Duran]
“Milton’s Global Impact: the Arabic-Speaking World”, in A New Companion to Milton, ed. Thomas Corns (Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, 2016).
“Our Relationship with the Nile Today: A Consideration Through Romantic Poetry”, in Translation and Cultural Identity, ed. Mahmud Didamuny (Cairo: Hemmat Lashin Center for Culture & Creativity, 2014).
Exhibitions
Sole Researcher and Curator: "Stories of Sacrifice" – the first exhibition devoted to the Muslim contribution to World War One, British Muslim Heritage Centre, Manchester (January 2016 – January 2018). Winner of the Times Higher Education Awards 'Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences'; the Muslim News Awards 'Excellence in Community Relations Prize'; the Manchester Culture Awards ‘Highly Commended Exhibition’. Exhibition tour includes: Greater Manchester Police HQ; Manchester Central Library. VIP visitors include: HRH Charles, Prince of Wales; General Sir Nick Carter (Chief of UK Army); Sadiq Khan (Mayor of London).
Content Curator and Academic Advisor: "Shakespeare in South Asia", Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon (May 2017 – September 2018). Exhibition tour includes: Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Sole Researcher and Curator: "Ageless Cleopatra", Shakespeare Centre/Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (April 2018).
Selected Magazine/Newspaper Articles
“Why Arab Muslims love Paradise Lost – and their leaders hate it”, The Guardian (September 2017).
“12 things you didn’t know about Paradise Lost”, The New Statesman (October 2017).
Selected Book Reviews
Review of Islamophobia and the Novel, Peter Morey (Columbia University Press, 2018). Modern Philology 118.2 (November 2020).
Review of Revolution for Dummies: Laughing through the Arab Spring, Bassem Youssef (Harper Collins, 2017), Times Higher Education,“What are you reading?”(March 2018).
Review of The Secret Life: Three True Stories of the Digital Age, Andrew O’Hagan (Picador, 2017), Times Higher Education,“What are you reading?”(January 2018).
Review of Shakespeare for Freedom, Ewan Fernie (Cambridge University Press, 2017) and China and Islam, Matthew Erie (Cambridge University Press, 2016). Times Higher Education, “Books of the Year 2017” (December 2017).
Islam has represented the British Foreign Office and British Council at numerous events worldwide
He is Advocacy and Engagement Consultant to Birmingham City Council's major Shakespeare project "Everything to Everybody”.
Islam has offered consultancy to:
- BBC Arts (Poetry Season)
- BBC Drama (Arabic translation and pronunciation)
- BBC Radio 3 (Words and Music)
- Birmingham City Council
- Birmingham Museums Trust
- British Muslim Heritage Centre
- Library of Birmingham
- Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
- Shakespeare Institute
