Halim Rane is an Australian academic and associate professor at Griffith University who specializes in Islamic Studies. [1] In 2015 he was named "Australian University Teacher of the Year" by the Australian Department of Education and Training. [2] [3]
Rane has a master's degree in media studies and a bachelor's degree in sociology from the International Islamic University Malaysia, and received his PhD in international relations from Griffith University. [4] He is the author or co-author of several books including Islam and the Australian News Media (Melbourne University Press), Reconstructing Jihad Amid Competing International Norms (Palgrave Macmillan), and Media Framing of the Muslim World (Palgrave Macmillan). [5]
Bassam Tibi, is a German political scientist and Professor of International Relations. He was born in 1944 in Damascus, Syria to an aristocratic family, and moved to Germany in 1962 where he later became a citizen in 1976. He is known for his analysis of international relations and the introduction of Islam to the study of international conflict and of civilization. Tibi is known for introducing the controversial concept of European Leitkultur as well as the concept of Euroislam to discussions about integration of Muslim immigrants to countries in Europe. He is also the founder of Islamology as a social-scientific study of Islam and conflict in post-bipolar politics. Tibi has done research in Asian and African countries. He publishes in English, German and Arabic.
Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian studies.
The International Islamic University Malaysia, also known as IIUM, is a public university in Malaysia. Headquartered in Gombak, Selangor, IIUM has six other campuses all over Malaysia: two medical-centric campuses and a Centre for Foundation Studies in Gambang, Pahang, two city campuses in Kuala Lumpur, and a language and tourism campus in Pagoh, Johor.
Reza Aslan is an Iranian-American scholar of sociology of religion, writer, and television host. A convert to evangelical Christianity from Shia Islam as a youth, Aslan eventually reverted to Islam but continued to write about Christianity. He has written four books on religion: No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in the Age of Globalization, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, and God: A Human History.
Islam in Australia is a minority religious affiliation. According to the 2016 Census in Australia, the combined number of people who self-identified as Muslims in Australia, from all forms of Islam, constituted 604,200 people, or 2.6% of the total Australian population, an increase of over 15% of its previous population share of 2.2% reported in the previous census 5 years earlier.
Al-Ahbash, also known as the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects is a neo-traditionalist Sufi religious movement which was founded in the mid-1980s. The group follow the teachings of Ethiopian scholar Abdullah al-Harari. Due to the group's origins and activity in Lebanon, the Ahbash have been described as the "activist expression of Lebanese Sufism."
Aziza Abdel-Halim AM is an Egyptian-Australian academic, teacher, and founder of the Muslim Women's National Network Australia (MWNNA).
Graham E. Fuller is an American author and political analyst, specializing in Islamist extremism. Formerly vice-chair of the National Intelligence Council, he also served as Station Chief in Kabul for the CIA. A "think piece" that Fuller wrote for the CIA was identified as instrumental in leading to the Iran–Contra affair.
Prof. Shahram Akbarzadeh is based at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. Prior to his commencing his appointment at Deakin University in 2014, he was professor of Middle Eastern politics at the University of Melbourne. Akbarzadeh completed his M.A. in Russian and East European Studies at Birmingham University in 1992 and acquired a PhD at La Trobe University in 1998. He served as the Central and West Asia Councillor for the Asian Studies Association of Australia from 1999 to 2004. His numerous publications include works on Middle East politics, Central Asian politics and the politics of radicalisation among the Muslim community of Australia.
Pamela Geller is an American anti-Muslim, far-right, political activist, blogger and commentator. Geller promoted birther conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama, saying that he was born in Kenya and that he is a Muslim. She has denied genocides where Muslims were victims, such as that of Albanians in Kosovo, Bosnians in Srebrenica, and the Rohingya in Myanmar.
Hossein Askari (economist) is a scholar of economic development in the Middle East and in Islam and the founder of Islamicity Indices, a benchmark to build effective institutions for political, social and economic reform and progress.
The Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) was formed in 2006 during a meeting of more than 80 Sunni imams which had gathered to discuss the crisis created by comments made by Taj El-Din Hilaly. In 2011, they requested that the Darulfatwa-supported Muslim Community Radio Incorporated not have its licence renewed due to ties with Al-Ahbash and because of its promotion of "sectarian fringe views".
Alison Caroline Bashford, is an historian specialising in global history and the history of science. She is Laureate Professor of History at the University of New South Wales. Alison Bashford was previously Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History at the University of Cambridge (2013–2017).
Damien Kingsbury, is an Australian academic specializing in political and security issues in Southeast Asia.
Islamic organisations in Australia include a wide range of groups and associations run and supported by the Islamic community in Australia. Organisations include major community councils, local organisations, mosques and schools. Most Australian Muslims are Sunni, with Shia then Sufi and Ahmadiyya as minorities.
Islamophobia in the media refers to negative coverage of Islam-related topics, Muslims, or Arabs by media outlets in a way that is hostile, untrue, and/or misleading. Islamophobia is defined as "Intense dislike or fear of Islam, especially as a political force; hostility or prejudice towards Muslims", and the study of how and to what extent the media furthers Islamophobia has been the subject of much academic and political discussion.
Mahmoud M. Ayoub was a Lebanese Islamic scholar and professor of religious and inter-faith studies.
Muslim Women's National Network Australia (MWNNA) is an association in Australia which represents a network of progressive Muslim women's organisations and individual Muslim women. MWNNA runs events and projects for Muslim women, and represents their views to media and government organisations.
Hijabophobia is a type of religious and cultural discrimination against Muslim women who wear the hijab. The discrimination has had manifestations in public, working and educational places.