Fatimah Bint Abdullah received her first degree in Usuluddin and Philosophy from National University in Malaysia (UKM) in 1981. She obtained her Master of Philosophy from St. Andrew University, Scotland in 1991, and her Ph.D. in Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC) from Malaysia in 1998. In 2007, she received a Diploma in Social Sciences from International Islamic University in Malaysia. She had taught at the International Islamic university for more than twenty years. She had also taught at Ahfad University for Women in Sudan in 2011-2012. Currently, she is with the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) and an associate professor at Sabahattin Zaim University at Istanbul, Turkey. She has published several articles and books on various aspects of Islamic thought, including a text-book on Islamic Aqidah for online education program (2001), Issues in Usuluddin (2009) and Islamic Ethics and Character Building (2014).

 Dr. Saib is a Lecturer and a Non-Resident Research Fellow at the Center of Islam and Global Affairs at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University.  Dr. Saib is a Muslim Theologian and an Academic specializing in Islamic Jurisprudence & Tasawwuf. She has earned a PhD in Islamic Studies from the Graduate Theological Foundation and a Masters in Islamic Studies from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies. She began her formal Islamic education 40 years ago in Saudi Arabia where she studied the Islamic sciences for 12 years.  She speaks Classical Quranic Arabic fluently and has worked on the translation of classical Islamic texts. She is a two-time participant and graduate of the Deen Intensive Rihla Program and studied with numerous Muslim scholars and Academics from the West and the East for the last 24 years. Dr. Saib is frequently invited to religious and academic institutions to lecture on varying subjects relating to Islam and comparative theology and actively engaged in interfaith activities in the community. 
Dr. Yasemin Saib is a soulful spirit who is driven by her passion to see tangible God Consciousness fulfilled in humanity.

      Attorney, Certified Fraud Examiner, and Certified Islamic Finance Executive.   Übeyd is a policy advisor for the Islamic Reporting Initiative, where he promotes corporate sustainability and social responsibility (CSR) based on Islamic values. As an Islamic Finance practitioner, he adapted an Islamic Finance platform to be compliant with USA accounting standards, and was recipient of the 2017 Cambridge IFLP Islamic Finance Leadership Award. The first program director to successfully develop a CDL program for a 4-year University in the US, he structured and implemented the commercial driver training program for Amazon.com Prime. He was a Chief Analyst for a Fortune 500 Financial Services company during the Global Financial Crisis, where he identified wrongful foreclosures by Fortune 100 Banks and was promoted to AVP. He co-founded an academic journal focused on Islamic management and business, and is currently a guest researcher at IZU. In addition to holding a doctorate degree in law (Creighton University, USA), he has completed leadership training in Islamic Banking and Finance at Clare College, University of Cambridge (UK), and has certifications in English as a Foreign Language (UK), Policymaking (British Council), and British Empire studies (Exeter University, UK). 

Fadi Zatari is a Research Associate at Centre for Islam and Global Affairs and lecturer in political science and at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, Turkey. In 2006, he gained his BA degree in political science from al-Quds University in Jerusalem. In 2009 he received his first Masters degree in International Studies from the Birzeit University, and in 2013 his second Masters degree in Political Theory from the Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. Beside his native Arabic language, he is fluent in German, English and Turkish.

Mr. Djallel Khechib is an Algerian researcher and author. He graduated from Constantine University-Algeria, the department of Political Sciences and IR (2005-2009). Then, he got his Magister degree from the University of Algiers3 in 2017. He was the valedictorian student during the Bachelor and Magister years. Now, He is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Algiers3, Department of Asian Studies and International Relations.

In 2014, Mr. Khechib got a scholarship of excellence for a short internship at Sakarya University, then he got another grant of excellence from Turkey in 2014 to do a second Master/Research at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies and Muslim world, Marmara University-Istanbul.

Moreover, he is an active author. He published two books entitled:

"The Impact of International System Structure Changes on the Grand Trends of Turkish Foreign Policy: The Struggle for Independent Will in International Inevitable Environment", IDRAK (Perception) Center for Studies and Consultations, Winter 2017, Istanbul-Turkey. (In Arabic)

"The Prospects of Democratic Transition in Russia, a Critical Study for Structures and Challenges", The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, 2015, Doha-Qatar. (In Arabic)

Also, he has three other books under publication, and he published more than 30 research papers, 40 opinion articles, and translated more than 30 academic papers from English into Arabic published in different academic journals and centers of research in Algeria, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Beirut, and the USA.

In December 2018, Mr. Khechib'research won the International Mahathir Mohamed Prize for Intellectual creativity organized by Kuala Lumpur Forum for Thought and Civilization-Malaysia. The research was entitled: "The impact of Islamic movements in the process of democratic transition in Malaysia -The Islamization of Democracy or The Democratization of Islam?"

Besides his academic writings, he participated in numerous international conferences, academic symposiums, training, and youth events in different countries such as Turkey, Russia, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Lebanon.

Mr. Khechib is conducting his research in four languages: Arabic, English, French, and Turkish.

His main fields of Interest are Geopolitics, IR theories, Political Philosophy, The Great Power Politics, the North African Issues, and Algerian Foreign Policy.

Now, he is living in Istanbul and working as a senior research associate at CIGA, The Center for Islam and Global Affairs, affiliated with Istanbul Zaim University-Turkey.

Razia Wadood, from Pakistan, currently affiliated with Center for Islam and Global Affairs as research associate. She is a PhD candidate in Dept. of Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul Sabahhattin Zaim University, (Turkey). She did her Master (2013-2016) and Bachelor (2009-2013) degree from International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan. She served as a researcher, August 2013-Junary 2014; in Institute of Strategic Studies Research and Analysis, National Defense University Islamabad, Pakistan. She also worked as Research Assistant, January-December 2017; with Iqbal International Institute of research and Dialogue, International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan. She taught as visiting faculty member, February 2016- January 2018; in Dept. of Politics and International Relations, International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan. She is also a member of board of trustee of a charity trust “Education for All” in Pakistan. Her main research interest is Institutionalism, Judicial Activism and Civil Military Relations.

Jemal Muhamed Adem is a doctoral student of Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University. He earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science and International Relations in 2013 from Dire-Dawa University in Ethiopia. After working as a graduate assistant at Samara University for two years, Muhamed joined Addis Ababa University, where he obtained his master’s degree in Peace and Security Studies in 2017. Since then, he has served as an instructor in the department of Civics and Ethical Studies at Samara University in Ethiopia where he offered various courses for undergraduate program including International Relations, International Organizations and Law, Peace and Conflict, Research Methods, Federalism and Local Government, Politics of Development, and Civics and Ethics. While studying his PhD, he is also an Associate Researcher at the Centre for Islam and Global Affairs at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University. His research interests include peace and security, conflict management, and democratization, identity politics, and transnational politics in the North-East (Horn) of Africa in broader contexts of the Middle East and international politics.

Muhammad Taimoor Bin Tanveer is a Senior Research Associate at Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), and a PhD candidate at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University. He joined CIGA in October 2018 and assisted in organizing several international conferences and seminars. His areas of interest are Islamophobia in Muslim Majority States, Civil Military Relations, EU enlargement, Turkish Foreign Policy, Politics of Middle East, and South Asia. He regularly contributes to the weekly publication of CIGA, Geopolitical Compass (GPC), covering regional and international developments. He has participated in three international conferences as a panelist i.e. University of California, Berkeley, Uppsala university, Sweden and Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, Istanbul, respectively. Previously, he has done his MPhil in International Relations from National Defence University, Islamabad in 2018. He has also worked as media manager in Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) back in 2015 and as a research assistant at Center for Policy and Media Studies (CPMS). Furthermore, he is also working on a web-based application development, Image-building and Mapping Anti-Muslim Narrative (IMAN), to counter Islamophobia in realm of social media. In addition to it, he is working on a book “Permanent-5 and Quest for Unjust Justice”.

Conference Papers

Tanveer, Muhammad Taimoor Bin. 2019. “Post-9/11 Pakistan-Adoption of the US sponsored Extremism and Racism.” Conference on Racism and Religion, Uppsala University, Sweden, 2019.

Tanveer, Muhammad Taimoor Bin. 2019. “Emergence of Islamophobic bourgeoisies in Pakistan- A State-Owned Policy of Virtual Internment.” 10^th Islamophobia Conference, UC Berkeley, California, 2019.

Tanveer, Muhammad Taimoor Bin. 2020. “War on Terror and Post-9/11 Pakistan-Transformation from Radicalization to Racialization.” Social Sciences Kongress, Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, Istanbul, 2020.

Linda Hyökki received her Master of Arts from the program “Language, Culture and Translation” at the University of Mainz, Germany and has worked as a translator for German, Finnish and English. She is also a certified teacher of German as a Foreign Language with teaching experience at the University of Jordan. Currently she is pursuing her PhD in Civilization Studies at the Ibn Haldun University in Istanbul and works on a thesis about Finnish convert Muslims’ experiences on Islamophobia. She is also a fellow at the Center for Postnormal Policy and Futures Studies and actively teaches in workshops on Futures Studies for the Muslim youth. Along with her native tongue Finnish, she speaks English, German, Swedish and Turkish and is learning Arabic. Her academic interests include Islamophobia Studies, conversion to Islam and identity, critical theory, and qualitative study methods.

Imad Atoui is currently affiliated with Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) as research associate.  In 2011, He gained his undergraduate degree from Ferhat Abbas University, department of History, Algeria. After he has got his first scholarship, he joined Istanbul Commerce University (Turkey) where he secured his Master's Degree in African Studies and International Relations, in 2018. Besides his affiliation with CIGA, he is a PHD student of Political science and International Relation at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, Turkey. His main research interest is Geopolitics of The Mediterranean, North Africa and the Sahel region. Strategy, Geo-strategy, China and the Maghreb countries relationship, Sino-African countries relationship, China in the Sahel, Civil-Military relations in Algeria, State building and politics in North African and Sahel region countries, Conflict resolution in African Sahel Region, political and Security issues in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, and the Sahel, and Algerian Modern history. To see his Articles/Op-eds Click Here.

Maryam Khan is Ph.D fellow at Istanbul Sabahhatin Zaim University. Her major is International Relations. Her area of interest is Islamophobia and European Union. She is also working on Kashmir dispute and Role of major powers in the dispute. Previously, Ms. Maryam Khan worked with US Embassy Pakistan as content writer at Lincoln Corner, she was also visiting lecturer at International Islamic University, she taught Politics of Religion in the Department of Political Science and International Relations. She also served as associate researcher in a Think-tank in Pakistan for 2 years on China research desk. Ms.Maryam is the author of two papers Historical Background of the International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh Unveiling he Truth, Journal of the Punjab University Historical Society, (2018) The University of Punjab Lahore   and Islam and Terrorism – Perceptions and Reality, A study of post 9/11 religiopolitical discourse, Maarif Research Journal, (Accepted 2019), Karachi. She also presented papers on Trans- Identity: A Case of Transgender Identity in Pakistan, International Islamic University Islamabad 2018, “Security Implications of the South China Sea: A Strategic Evaluation” International Security Conference 2018, University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan.

Riyaz ul Khaliq is studying for PhD in the department of Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University (IZU). Besides, he is associated with Centre for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) as Research Associate since March 2018. He graduated as a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Political Science and English Literature from University of Kashmir in 2013. In 2016 spring, he graduated as Masters degree student from the same University in ‘Kashmir and South Asia Studies’. Ever since his college days, Riyaz has been working as a News Reporter for various news publications based in Srinagar where he covered conflict, politics, education, security, human rights and development beats. He is interested in political developments in South Asia with special focus on India-Pakistan, India-Kashmir and Pakistan-Kashmir relations. A News reporter by heart, Riyaz continues to write for Kashmir based newspapers from Istanbul.

Amani Asenwar is a Research Associate at Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA)- Istanbul Zaim University since September 2017. She is a PhD candidate in Politics and International Relations at Istanbul Zaim University. In the 2017-2018 academic year she worked as a lecturer in the same faculty. In 2017, she has received her master’s degree in EU politics and International Relations from European Union institute at Marmara University. Between 2011-2014 she was the regional director of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Middle East office-Amman), she also worked as human rights researcher in the same organisation (2011-2014) as well as UFree Network (2011-2012). She speaks Arabic, English and Turkish. Amani has a book chapter publication on “Distinguishing Israeli settlement products in EU market; political rather economic move” which has been published in the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies’ book: Boycott as a Strategy to Counter Israel's Occupation and Apartheid, 2018.

Yomna Süleyman is a MA student in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University and is an affiliated Research Assistant at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). She holds a teaching assistantship in the Political Science Department, Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, at Cairo University since 2016. Currently she is on leave until the end of the year.  Previously, she served as a researcher at the Egyptian Institute for Political and Strategic Studies, Istanbul, Turkey. Her main research interest focuses on International Relations.

 Shady IBRAHIM is a research assistant in the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA), and he is a master student in political science and international relations student at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University. His thesis, "The Role of Tribal Politics in the Political Geography of the Sinai Peninsula (1967-2019)". He received his Bachelor in Computer Science in 2014. And he has a patent application in the field of artificial intelligence in solving problems in the health sector. 
His case was called "the Marriott Cell," in which some Egyptian and foreign journalists were working on Al-Jazeera network and activists arrested together. After obtaining his freedom in 2015. The impact of political changes in Egypt was evident on his new choices. Ibrahim entered the field of political research and worked in several research centers with projects focusing on understanding the structure, administrative, and legislative os state.
Ibrahim is interesting in the civil-military relation and the field of the security sector reform (SSR\SSG) in Egypt, and the Egyptian national security, such as the Nile River and the Sinai conflict file. 
He was one of the founders of the students' union in Egypt after the 2011 revolution, and he succeeded in winning the Student Union presidency for two consecutive periods. His administration of the student union at Ain Shams University.

Omar Fili is a Research Assistant at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA). He is currently pursuing his bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University (IZU). Omar studied at Al-azhar throughout his educational life before moving to Turkey. Besides, he took a diploma in Arabic calligraphy from Egypt. Omar speaks Arabic, English, Albanian. He is interested in Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) political history, political theory and Islamic history.

    Sahar is an undergraduate student of Political Science and International Relations. She completed her O’levels and studied Pre-Medical in high school. She currently interns at CIGA as a research intern. Upon delving into the world of debate, she developed an interest in politics and world affairs. In line with that, she chose her degree and is actively working with student clubs to better facilitate and engage with students on campus with regards to politics. A vocal feminist, a travel enthusiast, and an activist at heart, she dabbles in all sorts of creative outlets and tries to use them as a means of productivity and to create awareness. Her interests range from photography, reading, portrait sketching to perpetual arguing for arguments sake and to keep the wits sharp.