Studying Islam and its adherents in Australian universities

Islamic studies is a relatively new yet growing phenomenon in Australian universities. With increased focus on Islam and Muslim in the age of the War on Terror and with the Australian Muslim population fast increasing, Islamic studies is an important intellectual tool to better understand Islam and Muslims as well as the many challenges facing them. This paper investigates recent trends and developments in Islamic studies as an academic discipline in Australian universities. This is an important intellectual task because Islamic studies continues to play a significant role in Australian academia. The data were collected from a literature review and analyzed descriptively. The findings of the study show the intellectual tools developed in Islamic studies can be deployed to build relationships between fragmented Muslim communities and between Muslims and non-Muslims, particularly in multicultural Australia. Islamic studies draws on a variety of fields, making it cross-discipline. As such, it offers a rich and analytic investigation of the world's second largest religion and its multiple expressions. Australian universities offer Islamic studies ranging from undergraduate to postgraduate programs. The topics studied include Islamic philosophy, jurisprudence, education, history and Arabic.