We are a young organisation, peopled by young researchers who are passionate about the world they live in, and the subjects they work on. This is evident in the research methodology we use, mixed method approach – qualitative and quantitative: on ground focus group discussions, supported by fieldwork combined with measurable data.

We work together with communities, who lead and educate us on on-the-ground realities that may not be apparent to the world at large. At the end of the day, the work we do is based on communities, and supports their resilience as they navigate through their daily lives.

Patron

TYT TUN DATO’ SERI UTAMA AHMAD FUZI ABDUL RAZAK

Tun Dato’ Seri has been with IMAN from the beginning. Previously the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia, he is passionate on issues concerning Southeast Asia and Malaysia in particular. He was recently appointed the 8th Governor of Penang on 1st May 2021.

The Directors

DINA ZAMAN
CO-FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR
[email protected]

Dina Zaman has always been fascinated by identity. As a third culture kid being bounced from country to country, school to another, the tropics to temperate climate, she found how people identified themselves a great curiosity. It was only in 2004 when she joined Malaysiakini.com that she finally put her observations to paper, which then became a book, I Am Muslim.

Today, she no longer writes for the Malaysian media as she left to found IMAN Research. Instead, she discusses religion in public life, and contributes to the CVE sector. She is fascinated how faith is political, sociological and emotional, and how it impacts lives. She has published three books, one of which is fiction, and hopes to have a new book out in November 2021.

 

BADRUL HISHAM ISMAIL
CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMES
[email protected]

Badrul has more than ten years of experience in research, program and project management of various sectors in both local and international. The key sectors Badrul specializes in are political conflict, media, and urban development. Badrul’s area of interest is in democracy and the intersection between conflict, urban development, and globalization, and how they are expressed ‘on the ground’ at the community level.

 

ALTAF DEVIYATI
CO-FOUNDER & NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
[email protected]

Altaf has always been passionate and committed on issues pertaining sustainable communities. She has more than 15 years of experience in the field of social policy and development, especially in designing, evaluating and initiating public and social policy programmes. Prior to IMAN Research, she was a Social Policy Specialist with UNICEF, Senior Manager with PEMANDU of the Prime Minister’s Department (Malaysia) and Project Manager with UNDP. A strong believer in diversity and social inclusion, Altaf has worked in Malaysia, Indonesia and Rwanda.

The Associates

DR MAHADIR AHMAD
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
The National University of Malaysia (UKM)

Dr Mahadir has a bachelor degree in psychology from UMS and master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from UKM. He obtained his Post-graduate Diploma (Research Methods in Psychology) and PhD (Clinical Health Psychology) from the College of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom. His research interests include psychological intervention for stressful medical procedures, body & mind interaction, psycho-oncology, psychological medicine and parental stress in special children. He practices psychological assessment and intervention at Health Psychology Clinic, UKM. He developed psychological intervention modules for trauma in torture victims and parental stress management. He also conducted community mental health screening.

 

DR SITI IRMA FADHILAH BINTI ISMAIL
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, EPIDEMIOLOGY & POPULATION HEALTH
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)

As an academician and practitioner who is involved in service provision in the public and private health sectors, Dr Irma’s areas of interest include mental health literacy, behaviour change, psychological intervention and psycho-social support; for victims of torture, people living in conflict areas, and vulnerable communities during crisis. Dr Irma is currently looking at resilience as a basis for countering violent extremism among youths, conducting empathy training at community levels, and understanding the relationships between the adversity of migration, mental health, wellbeing and public health challenges.

 

DR TAN KIT-AUN
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY, PSYCHOMETRICS
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)

Dr. Tan Kit-Aun is a senior lecturer at the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). He obtained his PhD from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His research interests are defined by three lines of work. The first line focuses on scale development and validation of normative beliefs about violent extremism (NBVE) measures for use in Malaysian youths. The second line addresses the etiology of NBVE with a focus on the Dark Tetrad traits. The third line examines the use of cognitive behavioral modification strategies for the management of NBVE. Some of his previous awards include the Outstanding Reviewer Award from Personality and Individual Differences and the UPM Excellent Service Award (2015–2019).

 

DR MOHD AL ADIB SAMURI
ISLAMIC LAW AND SOCIETY
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)

Dr Mohd Al Adib is an associate professor at the Centre for Islamic Law, Faculty of Islamic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Having received his legal training at UKM, he presently teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses in comparative law subjects. Samuri has developed his research interests in Islamic law and society, Islam and human rights (particularly freedom of religion and minority group’s religious rights), and children’s rights. He has been involved in many research projects throughout his career, some of which he was the principal investigator.

 

DR FAIZAL MUSA (FAISAL TEHRANI)
SOCIOLOGY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIASPORA STUDIES
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)

Faisal Tehrani is an essayist and novelist in Malaysia. Faisal has won numerous literary prizes and awards, including the National Art Award (Anugerah Seni Negara) in 2006. Faisal is often deemed as a controversial author for experimenting various forms and proposing alternative discourses in his works. Seven of Faisal’s books had been banned by the previous Malaysian government and frequently targeted by religious extremists. Meanwhile ASEAN Literary Festival’s official page, in 2017, named him as ‘one of Malaysia’s and Southeast Asia’s important writers’. As an academic, Faisal or Mohd Faizal Musa is a Visiting Fellow at ISEAS-Yusuf Ishak, Singapore and Associate Fellow at Weatherhead Center, Harvard University, United States of America. Most of his works centre around human rights, Muslim trendsetters and alternative discourses.

 

DR AMJAD RABI
SOCIAL SECURITY ECONOMIST

Dr Amjad has vast experience across many countries at different stages of development and has recently been working as an independent consultant providing advisory services to national governments on reform of individual social security schemes as well as overall national systems. Dr Amjad has also provided coaching services and individualized learning to social security specialists across many countries. Prior to this, Dr Amjad also served in senior positions in the United Nations’ country offices in Malaysia, Nepal, Zimbabwe, Egypt, and Argentina and Headquarter offices in New York and Geneva.

Dr Amjad is a visiting expert at the University of Malaya’s Social Wellbeing Center, Malaysia, and has taught both graduate and undergraduate courses at Balsillie School of International Affairs, Canada, and Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, Canada, and Nottingham University, Malaysia campus.

 

LUTFI HAKIM
TUKANG CHERITA

Lutfi is a communications professional who has developed and executed communications campaigns on human rights, and inclusive financial education over traditional and social media. He has worked in the public and private sectors as well as in INGOs based in Southeast Asia.

He previously served as the press secretary to the Malaysian Finance Minister.

 

NADIA LUKMAN
RESEARCHER
[email protected]

Determined to be an academician, Nadia has been with IMAN since 2019. She obtained her Master degree from Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI) in 2020 by doing research on national identity in multicultural society. Her current interest is in memory, identity and diaspora.

 

ASRIN UTONG
PROGRAM EXECUTIVE (SABAH CHAPTER)
[email protected]

With over 5 years of experience working in the refugee, migrant and stateless communities in Sabah, Asrin operates several advocacy organizations involving stateless children, community development and engagement with various stakeholders throughout Malaysia. Asrin is also an author of books published by Gerak Budaya, namely Muda & Derhaka (compilation of articles and political/social essays).