Joas Wagemakers

Dr. Joas Wagemakers is an Associate Professor of Islamic and Arabic Studies at Utrecht University's Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies within the Faculty of Humanities. He serves as the director of the Netherlands Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies (NISIS), demonstrating his leadership in the field of Islamic studies in the Netherlands.

Wagemakers' research focuses on the intellectual history of contemporary Islam in the modern Arab world, with particular emphasis on political thinking among Islamists. His work consistently utilizes Arabic primary and secondary sources, and he actively translates these materials to make them accessible to broader audiences. He contextualizes ideology within the broader political and socio-economic history in which ideas emerge, transform, and are adopted, often drawing connections to early-Islamic history to explain modern debates.

His scholarly output reveals significant trends in Middle Eastern political Islam, particularly examining Salafism and Salafi ideology, the Muslim Brotherhood, citizenship and rights issues in Saudi Arabia (particularly concerning women and Shiites), and Hamas. Geographically, his research concentrates on Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian territories, though he also analyzes international Jihadi-Salafi discourse. His recent publications demonstrate a growing interest in sectarianism, political fragmentation of Islamist movements following the Arab Spring, and the evolving nature of Salafi thought.

Among his notable recognitions is the British-Kuwaiti Friendship Society Book Prize awarded in 2017, highlighting the significance of his contributions to the field.

Wagemakers actively engages with both academic and public audiences, frequently contributing to Dutch media outlets like Nederlands Dagblad and Trouw, as well as academic journals such as Religions and British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. He has served as editor for ZemZem: Tijdschrift over het Midden-Oosten, Noord-Afrika en islam and has participated in numerous international conferences and workshops on Islamic studies.

As director of NISIS, Wagemakers leads an important national collaboration for Islamic studies in the Netherlands, fostering interdisciplinary research and academic exchange across Dutch universities focused on the Middle East and Islamic world.