IJWAS was first published by the Institute for West Asian Studies (IKRAB), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (the National University of Malaysia) in 2009. The Chief Editor was Prof. Mohd Safar Hashim.
Beginning from 2016, the publication of IJWAS is taken over by Department of Arabic Studies & Islamic Civilization, Faculty of Islamic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The Chief Editor was Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kaseh Abu Bakar.
In 2018, the department had been restructured into the Centre for Middle East and Nusantara, Faculty of Islamic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The Chief Editor now is Dr. Firuz-akhtar Lubis.
Now, the centre had been restructured into the Research Centre for Arabic Language and Islamic Civilization, Faculty of Islamic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The Chief Editor now is Assoc. Prof. Zamri Arifin.