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Personal History

I completed my Bachelor of Islamic Theology – a five-year program and equivalent to undergraduate and master degree – at the University of Ankara in 1982. I undertook various ecclesiastical roles for ten years for the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Turkey. Subsequent to attaining my Australian permanent-resident status, I completed Master of Theology at the University of Sydney in 1996. I continued my postgraduate studies in United States and attained Doctor of Ministry at Boston University in 2007. My doctoral research was about Tibb Nabawi – Medicine of the Prophet – from the earliest to modern period.

While I was in Boston, I was cofounder and the director of the Boston Dialogue Foundation, which is a community based organization dedicated to fostering interfaith and intercultural dialogue between Muslims and greater Boston community. I also worked as pastoral care consultant for Muslim patients in Harvard Medical School's hospitals. After ten years in the United States, I returned to Australia in 2007. I currently work as a lecturer in the Centre for Studies in Religion and Theology at Monash University.

Current Research

My current research is about "Memories of early Muslim immigrants in Australia." I am also a consultant to Australian Intercultural Society and working on a research about how dialogue can be promoted between Muslims and non-Muslims.

Major Publications

Major Publications
Salih Yucel, Iman-i Kamil, Mature Faith by Mustafa Kemal Bin Omer al-Erzurumi Translated to modern Turkish from classical Ottoman scripture.

Non-refereed Articles
The necessity for dialogue, Fountain Magazine January-March 2007.
Islam and Muslims in America before Columbus, Fountain Magazine, issue 58, April-June 2007.
Ramadan and its social dimension, Today's Zaman, September 2, 2008.

Refereed Presentations
Correlation between religion and Muslim family in Australia, Religion and Governing the Family Conference, Monash University, August 14, 2008.

Non-refereed Presentations
Muslims and Dialogue in Massachusetts, Harvard Divinity School, November 30, 2006.
Controversy about the Danish Cartoons, March 13, 2006, Americans for Informed Democracy, Fletcher School, Tufts University, Somerville, MA, USA.
What does it mean to be Muslim in America? November 24, 2005, Department of Religion, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
Muslim Leadership in America, November 8, 2005 Experimental College, Tufts University, Somerville, MA, USA.
Dialogue: the Way of Civilization, May 17, 2005, Keynote speech at UNH commencement, NH, USA.
Dialogue with People of the Book, May 24, 2005, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL, USA.
Islam and Turkish Muslimness, February 25, 2005, Balfour Center for Multicultural Affairs, Providence College, RI, USA.
Peace and War in the Qur'an, Sufi Club for Interfaith Dialogue, March 3, 2003, Princeton University, NJ, USA.
Sufism and Inner Peace, Rumi Club, February 19, 2003, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
Prophet Muhammed and Humanity, Bloomington Muslim Dialogue Group, Indiana, May 16, 2003 University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN, USA.
Peace and War in the Qur'an, Sufi Club for Interfaith Dialogue, March 3, 2003, Princeton University, NJ, USA.
Tolerance in Islam, November 24, 2004, Worchester Polytechnic Institute, MA, USA.
Why Interfaith Dialogue, Cornell Society for Islamic Spirituality, November 20, 2002, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.

Areas of Research & Supervision

• Memories of early Muslim immigrants in Australia after Second World War
• Islamic thought in the modern world and contemporary Islamic movements
• Interfaith and intercultural activities between Muslims and non-Muslims
• Advisor, Islamic studies and interfaith education, Charles Stuart University

Teaching

HSY1200 - Histories of God
HSY2/3275 - Islam: Principles, Civilization and Influence
HSY2/3765 - Mystics, authority and society
HSY4260 - Medieval Dialogues: Mysticism, Reason and Society
RLT2/3470 - The Religious Quest: Judaism, Christianity and Islam
RLT4040/RLM4/5040 - Islamic thought in the modern world

Islam and Muslims in America, ten week seminar, Regis College, Wayland, MA, US, spring 2007.