Muslim Cosmopolitanism: Shattering Myths about Islam in South East Asia

This talk seeks to deconstruct present-day images and stereotypes embedded in the works of "media pundits" and "terrorist experts" that Muslims in Southeast Asia are prone to conflict and violence. Based on my recent book Muslim Cosmopolitanism: Southeast Asian Islam in Comparative Perspective (2017), I will show that cosmopolitan ideals and pluralist tendencies have been employed creatively and adapted carefully by Muslim and non-Muslim individuals, societies and institutions in Southeast Asia to produce the necessary contexts for mutual tolerance and shared respect between and within different groups in society.

Location: Duke West Campus, Perkins Library Room 217

Dr. Khairudin's specialization is in the areas of the Intellectual History, Religious Cosmopolitanism and Social Movements. He is currently the book series editor of the Routledge Series of Islam and Muslims in Southeast Asia. His current research include forthcoming monograph on the reformist thought of an Indonesian scholar, Hamka (Haji Abdul Malik bin Abdul Karim Amrullah), Malay migrants in Australia as well as on Muslim intellectual responses to secularism. His talk will be on Southeast Asian Muslims.