Visits by the CEO and the COO of IAIS Malaysia to Universities and Research Institutions in New Zealand and Australia

(July 2009)

Abstract

IAIS Malaysia was invited to attend the colloquium “The Role of the Study of Islam in the Western University”, organised by Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand, during which two main questions were addressed: What relation is there between the study of religion of Islam and the study of those cultures that have shaped and been shaped by that religion? What is the appropriate public role of a scholar of Islam? The answers and the discussion that ensued were meant to assist the University of Otago and Victoria University of New Zealand in jointly establishing a Centre for the Study of Islam and Muslim Cultures (CSIMC), intended to take a lead role on Islam and issues of concern to Muslims in New Zealand.