AAIMS Conference 'The Future of Islam and Humanity: Local and Global Challenges and Opportunities'

Date & time

Tue 14 Sep 2021, 8am – Thu 16 Sep 2021, 5pm

Location

Online via Zoom

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The Australian Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies (AAIMS) is Australia’s leading academic association for scholars engaged in research and the dissemination of knowledge about Islam and Muslim societies. The Association is interdisciplinary and fosters a network of academics based at Australian universities to generate opportunities for joint scholarly research across disciplines and institutions, disseminate research by its members, and promote national and international collaborations.

AAIMS’ third national conference will be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 14-16 September 2021 and will be hosted online at the Australian National University, Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies in Canberra. Current and prospective AAIMS and BRAIS members are warmly encouraged to apply to present their ongoing research in any area of Islamic and Muslim Studies

The central theme of this year’s conference, “The Future of Islam and Humanity: Local and Global Challenges and Opportunities”, is meant to challenge decades-long perceptions of Islam as antithetical to peaceful coexistence and encourage papers that discuss the challenges and opportunities for Islamic and Muslim studies in local and global contexts. Participants are encouraged to consider the significance of the current time-period – by the latter half of this century, Islam is expected to have more followers than any other religion on the planet, surpassing Christianity for the first time in history. A focus on humanity refers to the collectively of human beings but also connotes the qualities of being humane, kind and compassionate, terms that have come to be proclaimed more loudly in the wake of the 2019 Christchurch massacre, COVID-19 pandemic and protests around the world calling for systemic change in support of human rights, equality and a more ethical, fair and just planet and for its inhabitants.

Conference Convenors: A/Prof Halim Rane (Griffith University), A/Prof Zuleyha Keskin (Charles Sturt University) and A/Prof Karima Laachir (ANU).

File attachments:

- AAIMS_2021_Conference_-_Program.pdf (PDF, 695.25 KB)
- AAIMS_Keynote_Address.jpeg (JPEG, 204.62 KB)

The conference welcomes presentations by academics of all levels including early career researchers and PhD students. We will have specific sessions to support participants involved in Higher Degree Research and Early Career Academics (ECRs).

We welcome both individual papers as well as panel submissions relevant to the study of Islam and Muslim societies. Proposals can be submitted for the traditional panel format as well as roundtable discussions all to be conducted in an online format. We also welcome papers and panels that focus on learning and teaching, including language teaching and learning via online formats,

Proposals of up to 300 words should be sent to info@aaims.org.au by 1 June 2021 to be reviewed on an ongoing basis by members of the AAIMS executive and conference sub-committee. Please include relevant affiliation, a 200 word bio and contact information in a single Word Document, along with the abstract. Presentations should be no longer than 15 minutes.

All presenters will be required to be members of AAIMS (or BRAIS) by 31 July 2021. Membership details are available on the AAIMS website via this link. Specific technical information and timings will follow closer to the conference date and will be updated on our conference webpage.

The 2021 AAIMS conference will feature a keynote presentation delivered by Prof. Ibrahim Zein of Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar, who will discuss new research on the Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad, arguably the most ground-breaking research in the field of Islamic Studies today. He will be joined by Ahmed El-Wakil who will discuss his fieldwork and the evidence gathered to date towards the authentication of the Covenants.

The conference will also feature an online roundtable discussion with prominent leaders in the fields of Islamic and Muslim Studies on the state of the fields of Islamic and Muslim Studies from global and national perspectives. This roundtable will provide insight on prominent areas of research today and propose new research directions for the future.

DAY ONE - TUESDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 2021
9:00am - 9:30am	Welcome by Co-convenors	A/Prof Karima Laachir, Australian National University A/Prof Halim Rane, Griffith University A/Prof Zuleyha Keskin, Charles Sturt University
Zoom Registration Link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrd-uqrjoiG9yKNqHprFrqlvX5zxITnf77

9:30am - 11:30am	ECRs: Job Prospects, Networking and Funding	Chair: A/Prof Halim Rane, Griffith University Panellists: Dr Derya Iner, Charles Sturt University A/Prof Sarah Phillips, University of Sydney Dr Patrick Guay, Deakin University Dr Jessie Moritz, Australian National University
Zoom Registration Link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpfu2rrzsjGdIam7U3CXG7bPhoh4wCoMio

12:00pm - 2:00pm	Teaching Islamic Studies: Roundtable Discussion	Chair: A/Prof Karima Laachir, Australian National University Panellists: A/Prof Halim Rane, Griffith University Dr Jan Ali, Western Sydney University Mohamad Ibrahim, Swinburne University A/Prof Zuleyha Keskin, Charles Sturt University Prof Samina Yasmeen, University of Western Australia
Zoom Registration Link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAkdOivrDMoG9zwExZEpWzlJaXZSjX6xK3T

2:30pm - 4:30pm	AAIMS Annual General Meeting	AAIMS Members
Zoom Registration Link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpd-mrrDwiH9EHSHpAkEywBcgjGUHfgkUb

6:00pm - 7:30pm	Public Event (Keynote Presentation) “The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad”	Chair: A/Prof Halim Rane, Griffith University Keynote Speaker: Prof Ibrahim Zein, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar
Zoom Registration Link: https://charlessturt.zoom.us/j/66680238821
DAY TWO – WEDNESDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2021
9:30am - 11:30am	Session 1A: Muslims in Australia	Chair: A/Prof Halim Rane, Griffith University “Muslim Youth in the West: Personal, Social and Religious Issues Muslim Youth Face in the Modern World” A/Prof Mehmet Ozalp, Charles Sturt University “Belief, Practice and Belonging: A Comparative Analysis of Australian converts to Islam and Born Muslims” Paul Mitchell, Griffith University “Islamic Community Processes: Women’s Experiences of Family Dispute” Dr Ghena Krayem and Balawyn Jones, University of Sydney “Contesting institutional norms: Muslim women advocates doing justice from the bottom-up” Faiza El-Higzi, University of Queensland
Zoom Registration Link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcsdu-pqj4sGNUwBGKgQNxLigD0edVxBTni

9:30am - 11:30am	Session 1B: Islam and Political Identity	Chair: A/Prof Karima Laachir, Australian National University “Salafi Political Identity and Local Contexts” Phillip Etches, Australian National University “Embracing Locality for Creating Harmony in Indonesia: Negotiating Islamic Identity and Nationality Among the Muslim Acehnese” Muhammad Johan Nasrul Huda, Western Sydney University “Questioning the Moderation Dichotomy: Understanding Hamas’s Continuing Moderation” Dr Martin Kear, University of Sydney
Zoom Registration Link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIscu2ppjMsGNHEOswoYNRoM9IzlaUFl-uI

12:00pm-1:30pm	Session 2A: Maqasid, Ethics and Law	Chair: A/Prof Halim Rane, Griffith University “A ‘Traditional’ Turn: Shatibi’s Maqasid in Early-Modern Maliki Legal Theory” David Drennan, Charles Sturt University “Analysing Genre of Islamic Philosophical Akhlaq (Ethics) in the Light of ‘Adududdin al-Ijī’s Epistle and its Commentary by Tashkoprizade” Dr Hakan Ҫoruh, Charles Sturt University “The Role of Islamic Privacy Laws on Hudud Laws in Sharia” Souha Korbatieh, Monash University
Zoom Registration Link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIkfuiqqjMpGt3vO2g1eskaY6Dub64AdCcX

12:00pm-1:30pm	Session 2B: Muslim Political Issues and Thought	Chair: Dr Alam Saleh “The Faded Shadow of God on the Eve of the Constitutional Revolution of Iran: A Study of Agnosticism in the Modern Iranian Thought” Behzad Zerehdaran (University of Melbourne) “Authoritarian Religious Populists in Power and Emerging Digital Technologies: The Cases of Turkey, Pakistan and India” Prof Ihsan Yilmaz, Deakin University and Assoc Prof Raja Ali Saleem, Forman Christian College, Pakistan “Rethinking Islamic Politics: God, Enlightenment and the Modern State” Hamza Surbuland, University of Melbourne
Zoom Registration Link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYscuyhpj4uEtOIE28UAq7_aR-5Ou5kOvJE

2:30pm-4:00pm	Session 3A: Rereading Islamic Sources (Quran, Hadith and Sirah)	Chair: Dr Hakan Coruh “Revisiting the Homosexuality Narrative in Islam: The Revisionist Analysis of Colonialism, Quran and Hadith” Aisya Aymanee M. Zaharin, University of Queensland “Future of Sīrah Genre: Reflection on the Fiqh al-Sīrah Works” Dr Suleyman Sertkaya, Charles Sturt University “Ibn ʿUmar’s Interpretation of the Qurʾānic Verse ‘Fight them until Fitnah is no more’ and its Relevance to Modern Day Muslims” Mursal Farman, Australian Catholic University
Zoom Registration Link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvc-qhrTguHdF0TABVejq9en3hoU9uwxJ5

2:30pm-4:00pm	Session 3B: Islamophobia	Chair: Dr Joshua Roose, Deakin University “‘Just Be Comfortable with Yourself and Move on with Your Life’: Australian Muslim Women’s Arguments against the French Burkini Ban” Dr Jennifer E. Cheng, Western Sydney University “Gendered Islamophobia in Australia: Minimisation and Distortion of Hate Crime against Muslim Women in Public and Official Discourse” Salah Alrabie and Dr Mark Briskey, Murdoch University “Muslims' Visibility as an anti-Islamophobia Strategy by Victorian Muslim Community Organisations” Sara Cheikh Husain, Deakin University
Zoom Registration Link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYudO6orDssE9W0qyQgAJJU0ASOwdbVNNd0
DAY THREE – THURSDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2021
9:30am-11:00am	Session 1A: Islam-West Relations in Art and Popular Culture	Chair: Assoc Prof Karima Laachir, Australian National University “Sustaining Counter-Hegemonic Conceptions of Islam: A Study of Popular Dystopian Novels on the Invasion of the West” Susan de Groot Heupner, Griffith University “Muslim Comics: Voices from the Margins” Dr Wajeehah Aayeshah, University of Melbourne “A Call to Connect: ‘Islamic’ Art in Australia and Aotearoa” Dr Sam Bowker, Charles Sturt University Prof Pedram Khosronejad, Western Sydney University
Zoom Registration Link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0pd-6rqzItHNdImCdyjzo_rQdd-hQ_D1lm

9:30am-11:00am	Session 1B: Islam and Muslims in South-East Asia	Chair: Dr Eva Nisa, Australian National University “The Ijazah in Islamic Education in Singapore” Fauzan A. Roslee, National University of Singapore “Indonesia Hajj Funds Management Agency Law: Paradoxical Provisions” Muhammad Hafidz Lidinillah, Western Sydney University “Cultivating possibilities from impossibilities: the future Indonesian Umrah pilgrimage in the era of commodified religiosity” Subkhani Kusuma Dewi, Western Sydney University
Zoom Registration Link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUkde2uqzMqGtEDlYPe5gMSyPU3pRue3ckh

11:30am-1:00pm	Responses to Financial Crises in the Muslim World	Chair: Dr Mhamed Biygautane, University of Melbourne “Resilience of Islamic Equity Markets in Turbulent Times” Dr Maria Jahromi, Australian National University “The Fiscal Transformations of Egypt and Tunisia Post the Arab Spring” Dr Anas Iqtait, Australian National University “Energy transitions, fiscal pressure, and subsidy reform in the Gulf” Dr Jessie Moritz, Australian National University
Zoom Registration Link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEpfuuurT0uGNJRKR5wkcye2Am0iHtIBM1b

2:00pm-3:30pm	Islam and its Others in Contemporary Iran	Chair: Prof Shahram Akbarzadeh, Deakin University “The Instrumental Use of Ethnicity in Contemporary Iran” Dr James Barry, Deakin University “Securitising the Other, Securing the Self: Iran, Friends and Foes amidst Regional Rivalry” Dr Alam Saleh, Australian National University “Faith on the Threshold: Afghan Migration to the Islamic Republic of Iran” Dr Elisabeth Yarbakhsh, Australian National University
Zoom Registration Link: https://anu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIofuqvpjosE90sDrPt1razMLVkFLC_bBuw