- 28 Aug 2014
SALAFISM IN THE MUSLIM WORLD: Contemporary Case Studies in the ME and SEA
Salafism has become a formidable movement throughout the Muslim world. In its contemporary form, it has adopted a literalist, strict and puritanical approach to Islam that has often been exploited by extremist groups, perhaps most notably the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), to advocate the construction of an ‘Islamic polity’ and to take violent action against non-Sunnis as well as non-Muslims.
MEI has convened a panel of experts to discuss the influences and manifestations of the Salafist movement in the Middle East and in South East Asia.
About the Speakers
Syed Farid Alatas is Associate Professor of sociology at the National University of Singapore. He lectured at the University of Malaya in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies prior to joining NUS. His areas of interest are historical sociology, the sociology of social science, the sociology of religion and inter-religious dialogue. Among his recent books is Alternative Discourse in Asian Social Science: Responses to Eurocentrism (Sage, 2006). His latest book published in 2013 is Ibn Khaldun (Makers of Islamic Civilization), Oxford University Press.
Zoltan Pall is an anthropologist specialized on transnational Islamic movements in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. His main research topics include social movement theory, the structure and function of transnational networks, religious authority and sectarianism. His current research in MEI focuses on Salafism in Lebanon and its networking in the Arabian Gulf and Europe. Prior to obtaining his PhD at Utrecht University he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) and a Research Fellow at Utrecht University. He published articles on Salafism in Kuwait and Lebanon, and he is the author of Lebanese Salafis between the Gulf and Europe: Development, Fractionalization and Transnational Networks of Salafism in Lebanon (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press – Forum Publications, 2013).
Event Details
Level 5, Block B (Bukit Timah Campus)
NUS, Faculty of Law
469G Bukit Timah Road Singapore 259776
