Dr Nadirsyah Hosen

Dr Nadirsyah Hosen has been working as a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Monash University since 20 July 2015. Prior to this, Nadir was an Associate Professor at the School of Law, University of Wollongong. He has a Bachelors degree (UIN Syarif Hidayatullah  Jakarta), a Graduate Diploma in Islamic Studies, and Master of Arts with Honours (University of New England), as well as a Master of Laws in Comparative Law (Northern Territory University). He completed his first PhD (Law) at the University of Wollongong and a second PhD (Islamic Law) at the National University of Singapore. He then worked for two years as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at TC. Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland, where he taught 'comparative anti-terrorism law and policy' in the LLM program. In June 2006, he was a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. In June 2008, he was a visiting research fellow at Center for Integrative and Development Studies, the University of the Philippines.

His articles have been published in internationally recognised and refereed journals such as the Nordic Journal of International Law (Lund University), Asia Pacific Law Review (City University of Hong Kong), Australian Journal of Asian Law (University of Melbourne), European Journal of Law Reform (Indiana University), Asia Pacific Journals on Human Rights and the Law (Murdoch University), Journal of Islamic Studies (Oxford University), and Journal of Southeast Asian Studies (Cambridge University).

Nadir is internationally known for his expertise on Shari'a and Indonesian law. He has been invited (and funded) as a speaker for seminars or public lectures in Australia (ANU, University of Melbourne, Griffith University and University of Western Australia) and overseas (National University of Singapore, Leiden University, Brawijaya University and Columbia University). He is the author of Human Rights, Politics and Corruption in Indonesia: A Critical Reflection on the Post Soeharto Era (Republic of Letters Publishing, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 2010); Shari'a and Constitutional Reform in Indonesia (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2007); a co-editor (with Joseph Liow) of Islam in Southeast Asia, 4 volumes, (Routledge, London, 2010); and a co-editor (with Richard Mohr) of Law and Religion in Public Life: The Contemporary Debate (Routledge, London, 2011).

Covid-19 and Islamic Leadership

Since 1998 Indonesia has served as a model for Muslim democracy. One of the reasons for the success of this democratisation is the state’s generally positive position in relation to diversity. Indonesian state policy has never favoured one of the many Islamic constituencies that make Indonesian Islam so diverse. This accommodation has led to high participation by Muslim groups in a vibrant democratic life. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed some problems with this model of inclusiveness. This emergency situation has required uniformity of messaging; broad support for difficult policy steps; and high levels of public trust. Islam is a crucial element of public communication in Indonesia, and it has emerged that this fragmentation of the religious community has not helped Indonesian responses to the pandemic. This presentation will highlight how Muslims make individual reactions to government policy and religious interpretation, and they make themselves, not public and religious institutions, the key authority in their lives during the pandemic.