FAREWELL TO ISDEV’S POST DOCTORAL FELLOWS

Farewell cake Dr Masakaree Ardae (Thailand) and Dr Esharat Hussin Basri (Pakaistan)

The ISDEV fraternity congregated for the Monthly Graduate Supervision at 9:30am on a beautiful Friday, 17 June, 2011 morning. They were there to attentively listen to the talk given by, ISDEV Deputy Director, Dr Fadzila Azni Ahmad on “OBJEKTIF KAJIAN DAN HUBUNGANNYA DENGAN PERNYATAAN MASALAH DAN PERSOALAN KAJIAN” (Research Objectives and its Relations to the Problem Statement and Research Questions).

However this monthly affair for the month of June ends with a sweet tasting bud for all those present. An enormous 2kg farewell cake had been specially ordered for the farewell ceremony that ensued immediately after the supervision. It was time for ISDEV to bid goodbye to Dr. Eshrat Hussin Basri and Dr. Masakaree Ardae.

Dr. Basri gave his parting words to the ISDEV fraternity with a promise that he intends to write a book of his memoirs in Malaysia after spending time in this country for a year. He also hoped that the ukhuwwah developed can be further strengthened and expanded upon his return on 19 June, 2011 to his home country in Pakistan.

Dr Esharat Husin Basri giving his farewell speech

Dr Masakaree Ardae aka Dr Nik Wan Muhammad Syukri

In the meantime Dr. Masakaree Ardae was unfortunately unable to attend the ceremony as he had to attend the funeral of his wife’s maternal aunt in Thailand. However Dr. Ardae whose post doctoral fellowship at ISDEV lasted for two terms will definitely be missed by those who are close and dear to him especially the team at Anjung ISDEV. His tenure as a Post Doctoral Fellow ends on 23 June, 2011.

Goodbye and all the best to Dr. Basri and Dr. Ardae.

Dr Fadzila Azni Ahmad during her lecture

INDUSTRIOUS ISDEV LAST FASTING SEASON: ISDEV POST-DOCTORAL SEMINAR

Dr Miftah delivering his lecture

On Friday 13 August, 2010 at 9:00 am the Meeting Room of C05 was brimming with ISDEV members. They were there to listen to yet another talk by ISDEV Post Doctoral Fellow, Dr Miftahurrohim on “Pengaruh Konflik Pemikiran Imam Abu Hanifah Dan Imam Syafi'i”. He gave a general overview of the succession in intellectual legacy of the four great imams with emphasis and details on the differences held by Imam Abu Hanifah’s concept of “istihsan” and Imam Syafi’i’s negation of the said concept. This is because Imam Syafi’i had devoted one Chapter in his great kitab “Al-Umm” pertaining to the need for the abandonment of “istihsan”.

This ISDEV Post Doctoral Seminar represented the last talk in his series on these two great Imams as his contract as ISDEV Post-Doctoral Fellow ended on 21st August, 2010.

Concentrating on the lecture

ISDEV PROLIFIC POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW DR ABDUL HAMEED KHAN ABBASI BIDS GOODBYE

A farewell cake for Dr Abdul Hameed Khan Abbasi

In a short span of nine months, ISDEV Post Doctoral Fellow Dr Abdul Hameed Khan Abbasi, a resident from the District Muzaffarabad Azad Kashmir, bade goodbye to fellow members of ISDEV as his flight home to Allama Iqbal Open University, Pakistan has been scheduled on 17th June, 2009.

Dr Abdul Fatah delivers his farewell words to Dr Abdul Hameed, witnessed (from left to right) by Ustaz Zul-kifli, Dr Zakaria and Dr Mohamad Zaini

A highly prolific researcher and academician Dr Abbasi, who was awarded the Post Doctoral Fellowship by Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, started his post doctoral at ISDEV on 18th September, 2009. Amongst the activities carried out by Dr Abbasi was his Post Doctoral Research work on “Contemporary Methodologies in Tafseer” under the supervision of Professor Dr. Muhammad Syukri Salleh.

Dr Abdul Hameed receiving one of his certificates of achievement at ISDEV from ISDEV Director Professor Muhammad Syukri Salleh

Regarding the Director of ISDEV as his supervisor, Dr Abdul Hameed mentioned that he was indeed blessed to have the ideal supervisor in the world whom he regarded as a man of wisdom, man of principles and a man of excellent manners. What amazed him was the adaptability of Professor Muhammad Syukri to be a teacher when a teacher is needed, to be a brother and friend when a confidante is needed and a mursyid when guidance is much sought after.

Dr Abdul Hameed Khan Abbasi felt that “ISDEV was like paradise” to him on earth, affirmed that the research atmosphere provided by ISDEV was very ideal indeed. This was further enhanced by a first-rate Masjid Al-Malik Khalid and first-class library facilities. He further supported this assertion by stating that the people at ISDEV were all very lovely, loving and very cooperative indeed.

Besides being fully engaged in his research, within these nine months at ISDEV, Dr Abdul Hameed Khan Abbasi accomplished to produce six research articles in the field of Tafseer and Hadith. Two of these articles have been published whilst the remaining four articles are due for publications in Lahore and India soon.

In addition to these activities, Dr Abdul Hameed also presented a total of 18 seminars on Quranic Arabic which was duly attended by ISDEV members. He also proved to be an attentive and active participant in the seminars organized by ISDEV such as the seminars on Hadith Methodologies and Sciences, Methodologies of Tafseer al-Quran and Reserach Methodology at ISDEV.

Dr Abdul Hameed Khan Abbasi mentioned that he would definitely miss the chillies which were sweet in Malaysia. He deduced that the reasons behind Malaysians being polite and sweet people could be most likely attributable to the consumption of these sweet tasting chillies.

Before parting and flying back to his hometown, Dr Abdul Hameed Khan Abbasi has the following reminders to fellow members of ISDEV as his parting words:-

“Obey Allah, cling strongly to Islamic values, read and follow the Quran, respect others and do not create problems for other people or Allah will create problems for you in this life and in the hereafter. And remember to tawakkal ‘ala Allah!”

Dr Abdul Hameed Khan Abbasi with some of ISDEV members on his last day at USM

DR MASAKAREE ARDAE: ISDEV NEW POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW & NEW LECTURE SERIES ON KITAB UUM AL-BARAHIN

This April 2009, ISDEV new Post-Doctoral Fellow Dr Maskaree Ardee @ Nik Muhammad Syukri Nik Wan (pic.) will hold a discussion on the aspects of ilmu Tauhid based on Kitab Uum al-Barahin. This discussion has been scheduled to be held on every 3rd Tuesdays of the month. Kitab Uum al-Barahin is a scholarly work of Imam al-Sanusi.

Dr Ardee who is from Pattani, Thailand is proficient in the field of Usuluddin. He had obtained the Bachelor of Arts in Usuluddin (Doctrine & Philosophy) from Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt and his Masters degree from College of Islamic Studies (Usuluddin) from Prince of Songkla, University Pattani, Thailand. He was conferred the PhD degree in Islamic Civilisation from the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia with his thesis which reads “Pengaruh dan kesan penulisan al-Imam al-Sanusi terhadap ilmu tauhid di Selatan Thailand”.

Dr Ardee is very articulate in his native Thai language and the Arabic language. However he also speaks fluent Bahasa Malaysia. Dr Ardee’s official appointment as ISDEV post doctoral fellow began on 19 April, 2009 and insya Allah he will be with ISDEV for a year. Ah lan wa sahlan to ISDEV Dr Ardee!

A FAREWELL TO ISDEV FIRST POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW DR MUHAMMAD ABDULLAH

A farewell cake for Dr Muhammad Abdullah

March, 2009 represented a sad time for Dr Muhammad Abdullah, who hails from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It signified the end of his one year tenure as the Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at ISDEV. Dr Muhammad Abdullah commenced his Post Doctoral Research Fellowship on 21 March, 2008 at ISDEV under the supervision of ISDEV Director, Professor Muhammad Syukri Salleh.

Dr Muhammad Abdullah assigned topic was on “Hadith Methodology and Sciences” which has immense importance in the field of Islamic Studies. He shared his findings on the said topic with fellow members of ISDEV through a 10 series of monthly seminar. Amongst the papers presented at the monthly seminars were as follows: ”The necessity of Hadith”, “Collection and Compilation of Hadith”, “Classification of Hadith”, “Introduction to Hadith Literature/Traditionists”, and “Authenticity of Hadith”. These papers will be compiled and there are plans to publish these findings in the near future. InshaAllah with the publication of these papers, access to “Hadith Methodology and Sciences” will be easily accessible to all.

Dr Muhammad Abdullah submitted his writitngs on Hadith Methodology and Sciences to his supervisor-cum-ISDEV Director Professor Muhammad Syukri Salleh

In addition to the above, Dr Abdullah also conducted an introductory research work on the title "The Doubts of Orientalists on the Authenticity of Hadith and Its Impacts on the Movement of Negation of Hadith in the Sub-Continents". It was an infinite work on Hadith scholarship in the Sub-Continent and will take considerable time for its completion.

Besides being a dedicated scholar on his topic of research and an enthusiastic academician, Dr Muhammad Abdullah, who was granted the Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, is also an accomplished poet. He managed to enthrall and emotionally move fellow members of ISDEV with his poetry recital which was passionately recited in the Urdu language.

He will definitely be missed by those who are close and dear to him at ISDEV. To Dr Muhammad Abdullah, “Terima Kasih dan Selamat Jalan”. May we meet again to continue with our cause in increasing our understanding of Islam.

Last memorial photo of some ISDEV members with Dr Abdullah before his departure

ISDEV POST-DOCTORAL FELLOW FROM PAKISTAN

ISDEV is now hosting its third post-doctoral fellow from abroad. The two previous fellows were Dr Lala Kolopaking from Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) and Dr Irsyad Lubis from Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU), both from Indonesia.

Now, beginning 21 March 2008, ISDEV is having Dr Muhammad Abdullah from Department of Islamic Studies, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan. He will be with ISDEV for a duration of one year, until February 2009.

A scholar in Hadith, Dr Abdullah is carrying out a research entitled The Doubts Of Orientalists on Authenticity of Hadith And Its Impact On The Movement of Negation of Hadith In The Sub-Continent.

He is also conducting a Study Series of 12 lectures on Hadith Methodology for Beginners at 3.00 to 4.30 pm on every fourth Tuesday of every month at ISDEV. The Study Series is opened to all.