Ongoing Research
Research Updates - (September - December 2018)
Professor Mohammad Hashim Kamali is currently finalising his book, ‘Lawful and Harmful in Shariah and the Halal Industry’. His Occasional Paper Series, Actualisation of the Higher Purposes (Maqasid) of Shariah will be published jointly by IAIS Malaysia and IIIT UK, and his Separation of Powers will be published by IAIS Malaysia.
He co-authored with Apnizan Abdullah, PIP No: 5 - Shari’ah Parameters for the Halal Industry in Malaysia, and PIP No: 6 with Mohammad Mahbubi Ali, Shari’ah Non-Compliance in Tawarruq Financing in November 2018.
He published two articles in the ICR: “Classical Islamic Political Thought and Its Contemporary Relevance,” and “Stoning as Punishment of Zina: Is it valid?,” Vol. 9 No: 4 (October 2018) and Vol. 9 No: 3 (July 2018) respectively. Also two of his articles were published in New Straits Times: “Female Genital Mutiliation Forbidden in Islam,” 14 December 2018 and “Was the Public Caning Justified,” 21 September 2018. His article, Tayyibat, Spirituality and Fitrah, was carried in IAIS Bulletin No. 45 (July-August 2018).
Prof Kamali was interviewed by Jenni Ruippo and Monique Kastermans from Wali Media Production Center (WMPC), Finland on 5 November 2018 at IAIS Malaysia.
He gave opening remarks at two IAIS events. One on 1 November 2018 and the other at the “10th Year Anniversary Seminar – The Rise of Smart Society and the Role of Islam in Navigating Civilisational Renewal,” on 13 November.
Professor Kamali presented his paper on “Civilisation and Commerce in Islam: Global Halal Movement with Special Reference to Malaysia”, at Kyoto University International Symposium: Japan-Malaysia Initiatives on New Asian-Islamic Civilisational Paradigm, 10 December 2018 and was a panelist at the RTD: Hadhari Global Network, 12 December 2018, Kyoto.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil has published Islamic Law in Malaysia – Issues, Developments and Challenges (with Mohammad Hashim Kamali), IAIS Malaysia & CLJ Publication, 2018; “Intervention Notes On Majority and Minority in the Context of Freedom of Religion in Malaysia: 50-Year Developments” (with Azril Mohd Amin), Developments in Malaysian Law - Essays Commemorating 50 Years of Legal Education at UiTM (1968-2018), Sweet & Maxwell and Thomson Reuters Asia Sdn Bhd, Subang Jaya, 2018; Democratic Transitions in the Muslim World (with Ali Salman & Mohammad Hashim Kamali), Pelanduk Publications, IAIS Malaysia & Islam & Liberty Network, 2018; “The Role of Islamic Think Tanks in Human Capital Development: IAIS Malaysia’s Experience” (with Ahmad Badri & Wan Naim), The 10th Year & The Road Ahead - IAIS Malaysia Special Anniversary Issue, November 2018; “Preserve Essential Foundations”, NST, 5 September 2018; “The Right to Life and Death in Syariah”, NST, 2 November 2018; and “Is Malaysia a Secular State?”, NST, 28 December 2018. A book dissection on Pelaksanaan Undang-undang Islam di Malaysia – Khayalan Atau Realiti? with Assoc. Prof. Dr Shamrahayu Abd Aziz & Khairul Anwar Ismail, Co-organised by IAIS Malaysia & ABIM, 26 September 2018. He appeared on a programme FIKRAH - Sebat Syarie on TV 1, 26 October 2018 and on a programme Mingguan Wanita (live) on Astro Prima, 8 November 2018. He was invited by SUHAKAM as a moderator for Panel Discussion 1 at the National Seminar on Islam and Human Rights, organized by JAKIM & SUHAKAM, 27 November 2018. He was invited as a presenter on Maqasid al-Shari’ah and VBI for Sustainable Islamic Finance, Kyoto University International Symposium: Japan-Malaysia Initiatives on New Asian-Islamic Civilisational Paradigm, 10-11 December 2018. He was live interviewed over the phone on Abolition of Death Penalty on Astro Awani, 12 November 2018. He was interviewed by Jenni Ruippo and Monique Kastermaus for a TV programme in Finland, 5 November 2018. He appeared on the programme Islam Today, TV1, 15 December 2018.
Alexander Wain recently published an article in the New Straits Times, entitled ‘A Continuity of Prejudice’ (republished in IAIS Bulletin no. 46) and two book reviews, one for Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde and the other for ReOrient: Journal of Critical Muslim Studies. Forthcoming publications include a chapter covering Southeast Asia in the Oxford Handbook of Islamic Archaeology (Oxford University Press) and a translation of the Hikayat Raja Pasai’s conversion narrative with an accompanying commentary in A Sourcebook for Pre-Modern Conversion to Islam (University of California Press). Alexander’s ongoing research projects include two articles for the ICR, one critiquing Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas’s general theory of Islamisation, the other an exploration of Acehnese (Islamic) nationalism. He is also preparing a monograph on the conversion of the Nusantara to Islam, to be published with a major academic publisher.
Mohammad Mahbubi Ali completed a research grant report entitled “Strengthening Islamic Financial System Framework Toward Improving Financial Inclusion in Indonesia,“ for the Central Bank of Indonesia. He also published two articles: “Islamic Finance Promotes Inclusion” in NST (19 Oct 2018), and “Islamic Finance and Financial Inclusion” in IAIS Bulletin no. 46/2018. Currently, he is finalising a working paper for IAIS-UNICEF-IMAN research project, entitled “Exploring the Viability of Corporate Zakat for Child Grant in Malaysia.” His co-authored paper, “Developing Islamic Financial Inclusion Index for Islamic Banks in Indonesia: A Cross-Province Analysis,” was conferred the best paper award at the 4th International Islamic Monetary Economics and Finance Conference, 13-14 Dec 2018 in Surabaya Indonesia.
Ahmad Badri Abdullah has finalised two policy issue papers entitled Malay Traditional and Contemporary Customs from the Shariah Perspectives and ‘Challenges Facing the Halal Vaccine: Issues & Proposed Solutions?’. The first part of his article on ‘The Many Challenges Facing the Jurisprudence of Maqasid’ appeared in the Sept-Oct Bulletin while the second part appeared in the Nov-Dec Bulletin. He also prepared several memorandum as requested by the High Level Committee on Federal Institutions of Islamic Affairs on issues relating to the application of maqasid al-shari’ah in the Malaysian religious institutions as well as on Malay customary practices. He is also finalizing an OPS entitled ‘Artificial Intelligence from The Islamic Perspectives’ with another fellow members in the Islam & Science, Environment and Ethics unit.
Shahino Mah Abdullah contributed articles for the IAIS Bulletin in the previous and current issues entitled, “Intelligent Robot and Legal Rights Issues: An Islamic Perspective” and “Artificial intelligence and the rising ethical issues”, respectively. His article was also published in the newspaper, namely “Artificial intelligence: Ethical Code Needed for AI” (New Strait Times, 30 November 2018). On 17 – 20 October 2018, he attended the International Greentech & Eco Product Exhibition & Conference Malaysia (IGEM) 2018 at KLCC and contributed a brief report on this event for the bulletin. His collaborative work with the University of Malaya in the field of green technology entitled, “UV- ozone treated graphene oxide/ PEDOT:PSS bilayer as a novel hole transport layer in highly efficient and stable organic solar cells”, was published online in the ‘Organic Electronics’ (Elsevier) in December. His submitted article and viewpoints will be published in ICR (Vol. 9, No. 3, 2018), namely, “Revisiting Traditional, Modern, and Islamic Values in Addressing Haze Issues” and “Intelligent Robot and the Legal Rights: An Islamic Perspective”, respectively.
Adha Shaleh has engaged in three core programs: Global Islamic Fintech summit, WIEF Social Enterprise Forum (AKEPT-WIEF) and Corporate Zakat for Universal Child Grant (UNICEF-IAIS-IMAN). He got the privilege to chair a forum on the future direction of higher learning education in Malaysia Hosted by IAIS Malaysia in its 10th year anniversary’s seminar. He has successfully published ‘Experiential Learning in the Digital Age: Why it Matters?’ (Head Foundation Singapore). Adha is drafting the final copy of his policy paper, entitled ‘Disruptive trends in Education (IAIS).
Apnizan Abdullah has completed two policy briefs, entitled, “Why Halal matters in Malaysia should be centralised under the federal jurisdiction: An Appraisal” and “Sadaqah as a social finance instruments in Malaysia: Selected Proposed Models”. Her short article on “Value-Based Intermediation (VBI): the Next Big Shift in Islamic Financial Landscape in Malaysia”, featured in the IAIS Bulletin for July-August 2017 issue was subsequently published (with IAIS’ permission) in the Current Law Journal under the citation of “[2018] 1 LNS(A) cviii”. She has broadened this topic by preparing the first draft of an article under the title of “Value-Based Intermediation (VBI): A maqasidi approach within Islamic banking and finance framework”. She is also in the midst of collecting secondary data for another research works on “Halal vs Halalan Toyyiban: An Analysis of its theoretical and practical dimensions” and “Standardisation of Shariah parameters for halal industry practice for OIC countries: A potential movement or a myth?”.
Tengku Ahmad Hazri completed an occasional paper, ‘The Scope of Syariah Offences under Malaysia’s Constitutional Framework’ and two viewpoints, ‘The Case of the Uyghur Muslims of Xinjiang’ and ‘On Identity Politics’. In addition, his article, ‘On Religious Freedom in Constitutions’ was also published in CLJ Bulletin [2018] 1 LNS(A) cxlii. Hazri also helped in the preparation of the Institute’s Memorandum of Recommendations and presentation materials to the newly established Federal Supreme Committee on Islamic Religious Affairs. He also served as rapporteur at the Round Table Discussion on Syariah Offences (8 October) and helped towards preparing the seminar resolution. Currently he is working on Islam and democracy as part of his wider research on Islam and constitutionalism.
Wan Naim Wan Mansor recently completed a short essay entitled Revisiting Majority-Minority Relations in the Era of New Malaysia to be submitted to a local publisher. He is also currently finalising a Policy Issue Paper (PIP) on Shariah Judiciary (co-authored with Prof Hashim Kamali, TA Hazri, and Ilham Ramli). He has also prepared a memorandum on Shariah law and child conversion, as requested by the newly formed Supreme Committee on Federal Institutions of Islamic Affairs, which is under the authority of the Conference of Rulers. He also attended a three-day intensive workshop on countering violent extremism in Malaysia and SEA, which was jointly conducted by the University of Maryland (USA) and IIUM-ISTAC (Dec 4-6). A report on the workshop is featured in this Bulletin issue. He also attended two other events, the Malaysian Freedom Summit held at the Malaysian Parliament (Dec 1), and a talk on the subject of normalising ties with Israel by a Palestinian scholar (Dec 24)..