This course concentrates on historical and contemporary issues in Southeast Asian Islam. As a background, students will be presented with a general outline of the history and central teachings of Islam, before studying the process of Islamisation within Southeast Asia. It will examine the ongoing interaction between external Islamic influences and local political and religious traditions, analysing the extent to which this produced thinking and institutions which were distinctive to Southeast Asia. Particular attention will be paid to recent issues such as sharia-isation in Indonesia and Malaysia, gender discourses, militant Islamism and terrorism, liberal Islamic thought and the Islamic insurgencies in southern Thailand, western Burma and the southern Philippines.

Tutorial Participation (10%), Tutorial Presentation and Paper (30%), Essay (30%), Exam (30%).

32 contact hours per Semester.

6 university courses (36 units).

ASIA2162 and AREL2162 Islam: History and Institutions and AREL2815 Trends in Modern Islamic Thought

First year courses in the cultural and political environment of SE Asia.

Esposito, J. L., Islam: The Straight Path, Oxford & New York, Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1998
Greg Fealy and Virginia Hooker (eds), Voices of Islam in Southeast Asia: A Contemporary Sourcebook, Singapore, ISEAS, 2006;
and Peter Riddell,Islam and the Malay-Indonesian World, London, Hurst & Co, 2001.