The Muslim Societies in South-East Asia (MS-SEA) Research Network is trans-disciplinary initiative that brings together academics and researchers working on any area related to Muslims in the South-east Asian region. There are more than 240 million Muslims who live in South-east Asia. Muslims comprise of about 42 percent of South-east Asians, with Muslim majorities in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. South-east Asian Muslims comprise about 25 percent of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims. The scholarly research on Muslim societies in South-east Asia focuses on a multitude of diverse topics that includes state-society relations; religion and politics; Muslim identities; inter-ethnic and inter-religious interactions; and transnational influences. Yet scholars from the fields of anthropology, cultural studies, history, political science, religious studies, sociology and other disciplines often work in academic silos at a time when understanding the present-day debates and issues require an urgent bridging of these different knowledge domains.

To this objective, the MS-SEA Research Network aims to facilitate scholarly exchanges and collaboration across the disciplinary boundaries on a range of pertinent topics involving Muslims in the South-east Asian region. Through the trans-disciplinary focus and the global-orientation of the research network, we hope to foster new conversations and new knowledge that will lead to a greater understanding of Muslim societies in South-east Asia.

The MS-SEA Research Network is currently coordinated by researchers from the University of Liverpool and the National University of Singapore. We invite all scholars interested in this initiative to join us.