A seminar "Southeast Asian Ulama in Global Intellectual Interaction: : Historical Perspectives and Significance in the Present Age" will be held on Wednesday, September 24th, 2014.

2014.08.20

The ulama or Islamic intellectuals have played a vital role in integrating Muslims into the global Islamic community at large, by transmitting and producing knowledge and interacting with each other across cultural and regional boundaries. The past few decades saw the publication of several important works dealing with the ulama in the Malay world, and their networks traversing regions.

Among others, Professor Azyumardi Azra elucidated the intellectual genealogy of the Southeast Asian ulama and their networks in the 17th and 18th centuries, based on contemporary Arabic, Malay and other source material in his book, "The Origins of Islamic Reformism in Southeast Asia, (2004)." This book had a great impact not only on the historical study of Islam and Muslims in Southeast Asia, but also on Islamic intellectual history and the study of transcultural intellectual interactions in general, stimulating interest in the subject and opening up new fields among researchers all over the world, including Japan.

Commemorating the awarding of this year's Fukuoka Prize (Academic Prize) to Professor Azyumardi Azra, we intend to hold a seminar featuring the global intellectual interactions
involving the Southeast Asian ulama and their significance in the present age, and we are happy to invite Professor Azyumardi Azra and two other distinguished Japanese scholars who are experts in this field.

organizersInstitute of Asian Cultures at Sophia Univeristy
Center for Islamic Studies at Sophia University (SIAS)
date and timeSeptmber 24, 2014, 14:00-17:00
titleSoutheast Asian Ulama in Global Intellectual Interaction
: Historical Perspectives and Significance in the Present Age
speakers1)Prof. Azyumardi Azra (Professor of History and
Director of the Graduate School, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University,Jakarta).
"The Significance of Southeast Asia for Global Islamic Studies: Ulama Networks in Historical and Sociological Perspective."Click here for the abstract (PDF)

2)Dr. Shiozaki Yuki (Research Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science)
"Kitab Jawi Study and Exploration of the Global Ulama Network: Succession of the Islamic Intellectual Heritage among the Southeast Asian Ulama."Click here for the abstract (PDF)
Discussant:Dr. Mitsuo Nakamura (Professor Emeritus, Chiba University)
venueRoom 12-202 (2nd Floor, Bldg. #12, Sophia University)
* Access Guide to Yotsuya Campus, Sophia University:
http://www.sophia.ac.jp/eng/info/access/accessguide/access_yotsuya
campus map
languageEnglish
admissionFree admittance. No reservation required. All who are interested are welcome to attend.
If you would like to join the reception after the seminar, please send an email by Sep.19 to
midori-k@sophia.ac.jp
(fee:4000yen, venue: Room 501, Kioizaka Bldg. Sophia Univ.)
speakers profile*Professor Azyumardi Azra
Azyumardi Azra is currently Professor of history and Director of the Graduate School of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, in Jakarta, Indonesia. He was Deputy for Social Welfare at the Office of the Vice-President of the Republic of Indonesia (2007- 2009), and also served as Rector of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (1998-2006). Professor Azyumardi Azra has published 23 books and numerous articles. His English books include The Origins of Islamic Reformism in Southeast Asia, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004 Indonesia, Islam and Democracy, Jakarta & Singapore, ICIP & Equinox, 2006 and Islam in the Indonesian World: An Account of Institutional Development, Bandung: Mizan International, 2007. Besides this he served as contributing editor in the work Islam beyond Conflict: Indonesian Islam and Western Political Theory, London: Ashgate, 2008, and co-editor for The Varieties of Religious Authority: Changes and Challenges in 20th Century Indonesian Islam, Singapore: ISEAS, 2010. As a leading public intellectual, Professor Azyumardi Azra has played a piloting role in international research exchange, development of Islamic education, and inter-faith and inter-civilization dialogues, and he has contributed to Indonesian and international newspapers and magazines on a variety of current issues.
For further details, please visit the following website:
fukuoka-prize.org/en/laureate/prize/acd/azyumaazra.php

*Dr. Yuki Shiozaki
Dr. Yuki Shiozaki is a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). His work concentrates on Islam in Southeast Asia, emphasizing the historical influence from the Middle East in development of Islamic law and fatwas in Southeast Asia. His work also focuses on Islamic movements in Southeast Asia and Muslim minorities in East Asia. His recent publications include Islamic Law for Muslim Minorities (Japanese) Japan Saudi Arabian Association. 2012, "From Mecca to Cairo: Changing Influences on Fatwas in Southeast Asia" in Masooda Bano and Keiko Sakurai eds. Shaping Global Islamic Discourses: The Role of Al-Azhar, Al-Medina, and Al-Mustafa. Edinburgh University Press. 2014 and "The Ulama Network as Conveyor of Islamic World Trends: Connecting Malaysian Politics to the Muslim Ummah through the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS)" in Ken Miichi and Omar Farouk eds. Southeast Asian Muslims in the Era of Globalization. Palgrave Macmillan. 2014.

*Dr. Mitsuo Nakamura
NAKAMURA Mitsuo, Professor Emeritus of Chiba University, received a BA and an MA from Tokyo University and an MA and a PhD from Cornell University. He is a cultural anthropologist with a broad concern on the Islamization process of Southeast Asia, focusing on the impacts of contemporary Islamic social movements in Indonesia. He has engaged in research and education at a number of academic institutions including University of Adelaide, University of Indonesia, Australian National University, and Harvard University. His major publications include: The Crescent Arises Over the Banyan Tree: A Study of the Muhammadiyah Movement in a Central Javanese Town, c. 1910s-2010, (Second/Enlarged Edition, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2012). ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY IN INDONESIA: OBSERVATIONS ON THE 2004 GENERAL AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, (Cambridge, M.A., Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School, Occasional Publications 6, 2005). \"The Radical Traditionalism of the Nahdlatul Ulama in Indonesia: A Personal Account of Its 26th National Congress, June 1979, Semarang,\" TONAN AJIA KENKYU (Southeast Asian Studies), 19:2, (Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, 1981).