An International Summit on Islamic Publishing held in Istanbul backed plans for a shared digital platform for publishers worldwide to exchange data on the industry, publishing rights, potential partners, stakeholders, and training.

The three-day summit, organized by the International Union of Islamic Book Publishers (IUIBP) at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University from 25 to 27 Sept., gathered industry professionals to discuss how books, translations and publishing rights can reach readers across national and linguistic borders.

The conference, which was held alongside the IUIBP's first General Assembly, was supported by Türkiye’s Presidency of Religious Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency.

According to the union, its membership has grown to more than 200 publishers across 68 countries since it was formally established in January.

Prominent participants included Mr. Mohammad Zakir Hossain, founder of Al-Ummah Foundation and editor-in-chief of the multilingual Al-Ummah monthly.

A long-awaited initiative

Commenting on the holding of the event, Zakir Hossain said: “Islamic publishing has long faced a lack of coordination. Valuable books and ideas produced in one part of the world often fail to reach readers in another because of linguistic, commercial, or distribution barriers. The Istanbul summit has taken an important step toward addressing this gap by connecting publishers directly and encouraging them to work together.”

“The hallmark of the summit was its diversity. Publishers from multiple countries were able to share their experiences, understand the challenges facing different markets and identify areas where cooperation can produce tangible results,” Zakir added.

He said: “I think Istanbul has made the beginning. It’s a long-overdue platform for Islamic publishing worldwide. If the efforts that we have made here are sustained, this conference could eventually be remembered not simply as another international gathering, but as an important step toward creating a more connected, professional and globally engaged publishing community.”

The meeting decided to have a series of specialized committees on digital publishing, translation, training, publishing rights, book fairs and industry data. The union plans to build a database of publishers and develop an Islamic Publishing Observatory to produce periodic reports on market trends and challenges.

Besides, the summit discussed joint translation and co-publishing projects, shared pavilions at international book fairs, stronger distribution across borders, and coordinated efforts to combat piracy. It supported the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to in areas of indexing and translation, while calling for respect for authors’ rights and the integrity of published work.

The summit marked a new stage for an initiative that began in Istanbul in 2021, when publishers from 30 countries met to explore closer cooperation. After five years of consultations and organizational work, the IUIBP was formally established this January, with its headquarters in Istanbul and a founding board drawn from publishing communities across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

What is IUIBP?

Established in 2021, the International Union of Islamic Book Publishers (IUIBP) is an international hub of publishing houses, professionals, rights managers, and translators engaged in Islamic book publishing worldwide on a common platform.

The Union is headquartered in Istanbul and has members from all around the world.

It aims to strengthen global cooperation in Islamic publishing, support copyright and translation projects, raise professional standards, and carry the intellectual heritage of Islamic thought to the world.

Founding members of the Union include leading publishing houses from Türkiye, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Jordan, Egypt, the United Kingdom, and many other countries.