Resources

Resource Persons / Speakers

Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Wijaya Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Awang Abdul Aziz bin Pehin Udana Khatib Dato Seri Paduka Hj Awang Umar is a former Minister in His Majesty’s Government. He was a member of the first post-Independence Brunei Cabinet in 1984 in which he served as the Minister of Education and Health. For most of his ministerial service until 2005 he held the education portfolio, except for a two-year period as Minister of Communications. Among several other appointments, he was also a Chairman of the Brunei Investment Agency, and is currently a member of the Brunei Privy Council, the Brunei Islamic Religious Council and the Council of Royal Succession. Currently, he is also a Senior Fellow at SOASCIS, Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

Dr Tariq Ramadan is Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at the Oxford University (Oriental Institute, St Antony's College) and also teaches at the Oxford Faculty of Theology.  He is Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Islamic Studies, (Qatar) and the University of Malaysia, Perlis; Senior Research Fellow at Doshisha University (Kyoto, Japan) and Director of the Research Centre of Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE) (Doha, Qatar).He holds an MA in Philosophy and French literature and PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Geneva.  In Cairo, Egypt he received one-on-one intensive training in classical Islamic scholarship from Al-Azhar University scholars (ijazat in seven disciplines).  Through his writings and lectures Tariq has contributed to the debate on the issues of Muslims in the West and Islamic revival in the Muslim world. He is active at academic and grassroots levels lecturing extensively throughout the world on theology, ethics, social justice, ecology and interfaith as well intercultural dialogue.  He is President of the European think tank, European Muslim Network (EMN) in Brussels.
His latest books areThe Arab Awakening: Islam and the New Middle East (Penguin, April 2012); The Quest for Meaning, Developing a Philosophy of Pluralism(Penguin,2010); What I believe(Oxford University Press, USA, 2009); and Radical Reform, Islamic Ethics and Liberation (Oxford University Press, USA, 2008).  Website: http://www.tariqramadan.com

Professor Dr Omar Hasan Kasule Sr, MBChB(MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard) is a physician epidemiologist who graduated from Harvard University. He is currently a Professor of Bioethics at the Faculty of Medicine King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh and Chairman of the Ethics Committee and the Institutional Research Review Board. He taught courses on medicine and ethics from an Islamic perspective at the International University of Malaysia (1997-2005) and the University of Brunei (2005-2009). He speaks at many conferences and has a website Islamic Medicine Resources www.omarkasule-tib.blogspot.com. He is considered a pioneer of the integration of Islamic values in medicine.

Datuk Dr Osman Bakar is currently Chair Professor and Director of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Centre of Islamic Studies (SOASCIS) at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. He was formerly Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) of University of Malaya, Malaysia Chair of Southeast Asian Islam at the Prince Talal al-Waleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, Washington DC and Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO), International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies, Malaysia (IAIS). An Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Malaya, Dr Bakar also founded the University’s Center for Civilizational Dialogue (1996). He is an author of 18 books and more than 300 articles on various aspects of Islamic thought and civilization, particularly Islamic science and philosophy and Islam in Southeast Asia. In 2009 and 2012 he was named among the 500 most influential Muslims in the world. In 1994 he was made a Dato’ by HH the Sultan of Pahang and in 2000 a Datuk by the Malaysian King. He may be contacted at osman.bakar@ubd.edu.bn or obbakar@yahoo.com.

Professor Dr Azhar Arsyad is currently Head of the Council of Professors, Alauddin State Islamic University (UIN) in Makassar, Indonesia. A former Rector of the University, he obtained his MA in linguistics from the State University of New York (1985) and PhD from State Islamic University (UIN) Syahid, Ciputat (1999). Prior to his appointment as Rector in 2002 he served as the Dean of Faculty of Education from 1997 to 2002. He became a full professor in 2003. Dr Azhar has presented papers at numerous national and international conferences in various parts of the world, including Europe and the United States. He has also participated in many professional visits, including as a member of Indonesian governmental delegations, to different institutions and organizations in the Muslim world.

Dr Mohd Aslam Mohd Haneef is currently a Professor of Economics at the International Islamic University, Malaysia (IIUM). He obtained his PhD from the University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom (1994). Specializing in the areas of philosophy of economics, Islam and economic development, Islamic economics education, and globalization and economies of OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) countries, Dr Aslam has written several books and journal articles on various aspects of contemporary Islamic economic thought and Islamic banking and finance. His published books include Studies in Islamic Economics in the 21st Century: Shari’ah Foundations, Theory and Institution (IIUM, 2005); Studies in Islamic Banking and Finance: Theory and Practice (IIUM, 2005); and A Critical Survey of Islamization of Knowledge (IIUM, 2009).

Dr Mulyadhi Kartanegara, currently an Associate Professor at SOASCIS, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, obtained his PhD from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization, the University of Chicago (1996). He specializes in Islamic philosophy and mysticism of which he was a former Professor at the Faculty of Usuluddin and the Postgraduate School, State Islamic University (UIN), Jakarta. He has written many books on various aspects of Islamic philosophy, science, and mysticism. A translator of several well-known English works on Islam into the Indonesian Malay, Dr Mulyadhi is the Editor-in-Chief of two major translations into Indonesian Malay of classical Muslim philosophical works, namely the Rasa’il of Ikhwan al-Safa’ and Kitab al-Shifa’ of Ibn Sina.

Dr Yusny Saby is a Professor of Islamic Thought at the Faculty of Education and Graduate School, State Institute of Islamic Religious Studies (IAIN) Ar-Raniri, Banda Aceh, Indonesia. He was Dean of the Graduate School (2000-2004) prior to his appointment as the Rector of the Institute (2005-2009). He obtained his PhD from Temple University, Philadelphia, USA.Following the tsunami and the end of the civil war in Aceh, Dr Yusni was appointed a member of the Council of Supervisory Agency for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Aceh-Nias (2005-2009) and Head of the Executing Body of Peace Reintegration of Aceh

Professor Dr Macapado A. Muslim is the Chancellor of Mindanao State University (MSU) as well as the University’s President at General Santos. He has served as the Chancellor of MSU General Santos for 11 years andis concurrently a member of MSU Board of Regents. A native of Marawi City he is a graduate of MSU at Marawi. He obtained his Master’s degree in Public Administration from the College of Public Administration, the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon in 1980. A member of the Maranao ethnic group, Professor Macapadohas also obtained a Master of Arts degree in political science from the University of Hawaii. He earned his doctorate in political science from the same University.

Dr Sukree Langputeh, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Fatoni University, Southern Thailandis currently a Visiting Professor at Southeast Asian Studies, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.  He is conducting research on Oversea Chinese Muslims in Southeast Asia for the National Key Research Academy of Oversea Chinese Studies, Jinan University.  An intellectual-activist and one of the leading young Muslim scholars of Thailand, Dr Sukree was the Founding Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Yala Islamic University. He was actively involved in the 2010 peacebuilding process in the Southern Thai conflict as well as producing an appropriate model of governance in multi-ethnic communities of Southern Thailand. He has written many articles and presented many papers at both national and international seminars and conferences.

Dr Albakri Ahmad is the Dean of MUIS Academy, the training arm of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS). He is also the Senior Director for Capacity Building in MUIS. Prior to his current appointment, he served in several divisions, including Religious Education, Office of the Mufti, Research and Corporate Development. He is also MUIS’ representative to the Working Committee on Racial and Religious Harmony. He graduated with a PhD in Cybernetics from Liverpool University in UK, and has represented MUIS in many international seminars and conferences, and delivered papers on Singapore Muslims’ experience at the AMED and ASEM meetings in Singapore, Egypt and Holland.

Pg. Dr Norhazlin Pg. Haji Muhammad is currently the Deputy Director of SOASCIS, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. She graduated with a Bachelor Degree of Education majoring in Islamic Studies and minoring in Malay Linguistic from Universiti Brunei Darussalam and obtained a Master of Education in Islamic Education from the International Islamic University of Malaysia in 2003. In 2010 she was awarded a PhD degree in Islamic Studies from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. She specializes in Islamic Philosophy of Education, Islamic Curriculum, Pedagogy of Teaching Islamic Education, School-Based Assessment for Learning and System of Education in Brunei Darussalam. Her research interests include comparative study between Islamic and Western philosophies of education, study on traditional and contemporary Muslim scholars’ model of thoughts, Muslim and Western patterns of education, Brunei Law and Islamic Law, Child Protection in Islamic perspective and Waqf in Brunei Darussalam. Currently, she is also a Research Fellow at Oxford Centre of Islamic Studies, Oxford University, UK. She can be reached at norhazlin.muhammad@ubd.edu.bn.

Dr Nusyirwan Effendi is a Professor of Economic Anthropology at Universitas Andalas (UNAND), Padang, Indonesia. He is also the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of the University. He obtained his Drs. Degree from the University of Indonesia, Jakarta (1989) and a PhD from Bielefeld University, Germany (1999). He became a full Professor in 2008.

Dr Mohammad Emnis Anwar is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Teacher and Education Science, Djuanda University (UNIDA), Bogor, Indonesia and since 2006 the CEO of the Centre for Practical Education Foundation (Yayasan Pusat Pendidikan Amali Indonesia), the University’s arm that runs its Tawhidic Bogor Campus. His first degree is in Islamic studies from Islamic University, Madina al-Munawwara and his Master’s from Punjab University, Pakistan (1996). He obtained his PhD from Ibn Khaldun University, Bogor (2013).

Dr Iik Ariffin Mansurnoor is an Associate Professor jointly attached to SOASCIS and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), Universiti Brunei Darussalam. A lecturer in history, he was formerly a Deputy Dean of FASS.