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Melbourne Asia Review is an initiative of the Asia Institute. Any inquiries about Melbourne Asia Review should be directed to the Managing Editor, Cathy Harper.

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Edition 10, 2022

Islam and inter/intra-religious relations in Asia

INTRODUCTION: Islam and inter/intra-religious relations in Asia

Understanding the past, present, and future of religious relations in Asia hugely important.

  • Professor Abdullah Saeed & Associate Professor Matthew Nelson

Islamic challenges to Pakistan’s transgender rights law

Pakistan broke ground in 2018 with its legislation of a transgender rights law. But how has the situation unfolded since then?

Islamophobia in Singapore and/ vs Western Islamophobia: the state, colonialism, and the Muslim experience

In Singapore there exists a different kind of Islamophobia to that in countries with a Christian cultural heritage.

INTERVIEW: Why there are grounds for optimism in Indonesia, even in an age of global democratic regression

What’s the state of Indonesian democracy after two years of COVID-19? Will the pandemic’s pressures result in a resurgence of Islamist groups?

WEBINAR: Gender and Sexuality in Islamic Politics

This event examines current trends, and current debates, in the study of gender and minority affairs within Muslim contexts.

Sydney’s imams and engagement with the religious ‘other’: sermons after the ‘Lindt Café Siege’

Muslims have taken on an active role to convey that Islam is a religion of peace.

The Muslim and religious ‘Other’: Reflections on early Islam and beyond from the perspective of contemporary scholarship

The relationship between the Religious Self and the Religious Other is an integral part of the dynamic understanding of every religious tradition, Islam included.

What is Islam? The highly contested debate about ‘Islam’ in Bangladeshi politics and culture

‘Islam’ in Bangladesh should be understood as a phenomenon with complex meanings.

Book Review

‘Islam, authoritarianism, and underdevelopment: A global and historical comparison’ by Ahmet Kuru

What happened to the era when Muslims were at the forefront of advancing philosophical and scientific knowledge? Why is the Muslim world suffering at the hands of authoritarian regimes?

Edition 10, June 2022

Islam and inter/intra-religious relations in Asia

The emerging trend of theological inclusivism in contemporary Muslim thought: some key examples

There is an emerging trend among some contemporary Muslim scholars, which rejects the dominant exclusivist positions on theological matters.

When crackdowns and cooptation fail: What constrains religious opposition forces in Bangladesh?

It seems unlikely that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will cultivate a vibrant multi-party democracy in Bangladesh.

Toxic gastronationalism in India

For the current Indian government, communal tensions about cows represent not so much a problem to be grappled with as a political opportunity.

Malaysian ‘matriliny’: past, present and future

Will the thoroughly modern matriliny of Negeri Sembilan produce further new imaginings and new politics?

Many Asian nations are experiencing a revival of religion in public and political life

Religion is returning to public and political life in many Asian countries contrary to predictions about the inevitable decline of religion due to modernisation.

Afghanistan’s laws and legal institutions under the Taliban

For the Taliban, the state's main purpose is not protecting individual rights, but making individuals honor their obligations.

Political Islam(s) in the Pakistani context: inclusionary and exclusionary

In studying the tensions of Imran Khan’s politics, we can learn much about the intellectual currents of political Islam in Pakistan.

Peaceful interreligious relations in Islam derive from covenants and treaties

The Qur’an and covenants of Prophet Muhammad seek to regulate interreligious relations in peace and security.

Interfaith dialogue in Australia: A brief overview of the contributions of Muslim Australians

Through interfaith engagement, Muslim Australians are creating an Islamic ethos that is central to Australia’s multi-religious diversity.

Exclusion, mistrust and coercion: Religious minorities and Islamic nationhood in Pakistan

Mapping theological tolerance of unbelief, heterodoxy and orthodoxy in Pakistan remains the subject of intense political contestation.

How the law in the Maldives paved the way for a Sunni legal tradition

It could be argued that Sunni Islam has been predominantly practised in the Maldives since the earliest written Islamic history.