AAIMS Quarterly
In its mission to become a platform for its members to share research findings and synopsis of other publications, AAIMS has launched the initiative of AAIMS Quarterly. A key purpose of the blog is to become a leading online source of information on Islam and Muslim lives. The geographical coverage of the research and publication is global and covers Australia and beyond. Please click here for the submission guidelines.

Recycled Elites and the Challenge of Governance Reform in the ‘New Malaysia’
LILY ZUBAIDAH RAHIM Malaysia’s Pakatan Haparan (Alliance of Hope, henceforth Harapan) coalition unexpectedly defeated the Barisan National (National Front, henceforth BN) coalition government in the May 2018 general election.

Religion and Happiness
BRYAN TURNER If we ask what makes us happy, one obvious response might be ‘it depends on what you mean by happiness”. In our edited book on Regimes of Happiness (Contreras-Vejar, Jen and Turner, 2019), we approached the problem by talking about ‘regimes of happiness’,...

Fighting Fire with Fire: How to combat Islamic State’s propaganda in cyberspace
ANOOSHE MUSHTAQ It is vital for counter terrorism strategies to fight terrorism on the intellectual and ideological front. Islamic State will continue to wreak havoc on the international community through its war in cyberspace, regardless of the gains we make on the...

The Belt and Road Initiative and China’s Cultural Diplomacy in Pakistan
ZAHID SHAHAB AHMED Since the beginning of bilateral ties in 1950, the China–Pakistan relationship has grown significantly. Known as Pakistan’s “all-weather friend,” bilateral economic cooperation has been advanced by the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)...

Marketing morality in Indonesia’s democracy
VEDI HADIZ AND INAYA RAKHMANI This article is based on the authors’ project ‘Islamic Morality and Challenges to Democracy: A Study of Urban Lower and Middle Class Responses’. Millions of Muslims descended upon Jakarta in December 2016 and joined with large numbers of...

Trump and the Iran-US Relations
SHAHRAM AKBARZADEH US President Donald Trump’s invitation to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani after a week-long exchange of hostile tweets was a surprising turnaround, but Rouhani had no choice but to reject the offer. Since the Trump administration took over,...

What’s in a name? ‘Muslim’ (youth) gangs in Australia
PAM NILAN
In Australia ‘Muslim’ (youth) gangs are said to pose a risk to the public. That claim synthesises media-driven moral panic about young Muslim men in Australia with politically amplified public fear of ‘ethnic’ criminal gangs. Yet the term ‘Muslim’ might not signify anything specifically cultural or religious about ‘gang’ members. Here two examples illustrate the ‘Muslim’ label as chosen, and one example illustrates ascription of ‘Muslim’ by the media and right-wing politicians. Both pertain to the politics of naming.

Julian Millie chats with Shahram Akbarzadeh of AAIMS
Shahram Akbarzadeh caught up with Associate Professor Julian Millie of Monash University for the AAIMS Quarterly. Associate Professor Julian Millie is ARC Future Fellow in the Anthropology program of the Monash Faculty of Arts, and has been studying and researching...

Ethical Values and Maqasid al-Shari‘ah in Meccan Qur’an
HAKAN ÇORUH It should be noted that the affairs of Islam are founded on the following order: Meta-physical principles, akhlaq area, ‘ibadat (Worship), social regulations (law, trading). Moreover, the three principal themes of the Meccan revelations of the Qur’an are...

Research on the Muslim Community in Shepparton, Victoria
IHSAN YILMAZ AND JAMES BARRY Prof Ihsan Yilmaz and Dr James Barry are collaborating on a number of projects, including research on Muslim identity in Australia and on Turkish minorities. In this piece, Prof Yilmaz and Dr Barry showcase their recent research on the...