Research Projects

Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery grant application (submitted March 2009 for 2010 round):

‘Terrible Ideas: Mapping Extremist Belief Systems’

This project concentrates on the relatively under-studied middle ground of belief systems and the central role of ideas, assumptions, perceptions, and knowledge in both the acceptance and rejection of extremist violence among Muslims. This project’s central aims are to:

1. Identify the ideas, assumptions, perceptions, and knowledge within Islamic belief systems that most highly correlate with both the use and rejection of extremist violence;
2. Map these ideas, assumptions, perceptions, and knowledge to contribute towards the development of a predictive capability in the monitoring of Islamic groups; and
3. Test the prevalence of the ideas, assumptions, perceptions, and knowledge within Islamic belief systems that most highly correlate with both the use of and opposition to extremist violence among Muslim communities in Australia.

Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery grant application with Dr Benjamin Isakhan and Dr Mohamad Abdalla (to submitted March 2010 for 2011 round):

‘What Australian Muslims Really Think’

This project seeks to address two fundamental questions: What do Australia’s Muslims really think? Where and how do their attitudes and beliefs differ to majority non-Muslim Australians? In order to address and answer these questions, the central aims of the project are:

1. To conduct the largest ever nation-wide survey of Australia’s Muslims and to measure the actual attitudes and beliefs expressed by this complex and diverse group of people on a number of key issues.
2. To conduct the largest ever nation-wide series of in-depth interviews with key figures and representatives of Australia’s Muslim communities.
3. To compare and contrast the attitudes and beliefs expressed in the above surveys and interviews with a parallel nation-wide survey of non-Muslim Australians.

Forthcoming book:

Islam and Contemporary Civilisation: Evolving Ideas and Transforming Responses

This book examines the most pertinent issues concerning Islam and Muslims in the contemporary context. It is designed to provide readers with a comprehensive foundation in the field of Islamic studies as a basis for the more complex issues and debates addressed by the book. This foundational material includes the basics of Islamic beliefs and practice; an overview of Islamic history;  the sacred scriptures of Islam;  origins and developments of Islam theology, philosophy and politics; and
Islamic legal thought.

The book then proceeds to discuss contemporary development in contemporary perspectives on the interpretation and application of Islamic textual sources; Islamic thought and the challenges to the dominance of pre-modern norms; issues of gender equality, human rights and humanitarian law; issues of mass media, including the representation of Muslims, media in the Muslim world and an Islamic theory of mass media; jihad, militancy, and the potential for rethinking classical notions concerning the use of force; the Question of Palestine as a case study of an neo-Islamic approach to conflict resolution; the struggle for democracy in the Muslims world and the role of the West in hindering and help the process; and future directions for Islam-West relations with a particular focus on Islam in Western countries such as Australia.

Islam and Contemporary Civilisation is ideal for readers seeking a comprehensive but straight-forward overview of the Islamic religion, texts, history and law as well as a sophisticated insight into the most pertinent contemporary issues in the field of Islamic studies. Negotiations regarding the publication of the book are currently taking place with Melbourne University Press.