Past Grants
ARC Discovery Grant - "Islamic Law in Contemporary Indonesia", 2002-2004
Professor Tim Lindsey, Professor M.B. Hooker
Law is at the heart of Islam and the absence of a distinction between religion and law creates inherent tension between Islamic law (syariah) and the modern nation state. As the Indonesian state struggles to redefine itself post-Soeharto, syariah's role has again become contested. Modern scholarship has, however, ignored contemporary Indonesian Islamic law. Working with leading Indonesian Muslim scholars this project will investigate Islamic legal institutions, substantive law and jurisdiction, surveying lawyers, judges and litigants. It will build bridges between Western, Indonesian and Middle-Eastern Islamic jurisprudence to expand Australian understandings of Indonesian Islam at a critical moment in bilateral relations.
Large Collaborative Grant from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Canada - "Cross Cultural Dispute Resolution", 2003-2007
Dr Sarah Biddulph, University of British Columbia, Canada and other partner institutions
The Asia Pacific Dispute Resolution Project is based in the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The Project involves a network of colleagues from UBC and from partner institutions in North America and Asia. This Project supports research, analysis and policy proposals on cross-cultural dispute resolution in the areas of trade and human rights, with particular attention to Canada, China and Japan. The human rights team, headed by Dr Sarah Biddulph, has a particular focus on health, housing and labour.
ARC Discovery Grant - "Islamic Law in Contemporary Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei: The Anglo-Malay Madhhab", 2005-2007
Professor Tim Lindsey
Islam is a fundamentally legalistic religion: law and religion are largely inseparable. In the last decade radical Islamic interpretations of sharî'ah (Islamic law) in SE Asia have led to increasingly militant responses to modernity and the secular state, that have come to threaten Australians. Through a detailed examination of legal theory, current intellectual debates, legal institutions and substantive law in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, the project offers a more complete understanding of Islam and law in the archipelago to Australia's North. It will update current knowledge but will also build bridges with Muslim scholars and lawyers in the region.
Collier Charitable Fund Grant - "Revealing Islam to a New Generation", 2008
Professor Tim Lindsey (with Kelly McDermott and Kathryn Taylor)
The aim of this project is to produce Islamic school resources that will enable teachers with no prior knowledge of Islam to transmit knowledge of Islam to Australian students in Years 7 and 8. This resource will be distributed to schools on CD and will also be made available online via an interactive website. The resources will provide students with a solid understanding of the nature of Islam in an Australian context, with a particular emphasis on Australia’s close association with Southeast Asia.