The International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) conducts and promotes interdisciplinary research on social, political, cultural, and intellectual trends and movements in contemporary Muslim societies and communities. The ISIM was established in 1998 by the University of Amsterdam, Leiden University, Utrecht University, and the Radboud University in response to a need for further research on contemporary developments of great social, political and cultural importance in the Muslim world from social science and humanities perspectives. The ISIM's research approaches are expressly interdisciplinary and comparative, covering a large geographic range, which includes North Africa, the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, South and Southeast Asia, and Muslim communities in the West. Broad in scope, the ISIM brings together all areas of disciplinary expertise in anthropology, sociology, religious studies, political science, and cultural studies.

Special ISIM Chairs have been created at the four participating universities. The chair holders lead the various ISIM research programmes. The ISIM offers a range of fellowships within these research programmes. A highlight of the ISIM calendar is the Annual Lecture. Speakers so far have been Dale Eickelman, Gudrun Krämer, Talal Asad, Barbara Metcalf, Serif Mardin, and Abdulaziz Sachedina. Moreover, in order to further the development of the library collection on the modern Muslim world, the ISIM cooperates with the Leiden University Library in which a special ISIM section has been created.

Among the publications of the ISIM are the ISIM Newsletter and the ISIM Papers Series. The ISIM Newsletter contains articles by researchers from all over the world as well as ISIM and other academic news.The ISIM Papers contain lectures by leading scholars at various ISIM events. In addition to organizing academic meetings, the ISIM has developed an outreach programme of public debates in conjunction with various cultural institutions. A special outreach effort is the Rights at Home project carried out with various partners in the South.