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Latest Updates
“Holding Marriage Hostage”: Webinar at Harvard Law School (18 February)
On Thursday, 18 February 2021, I will be presenting a Zoom webinar at Harvard Law School’s Program on Law & Society in the Muslim World, entitled “Holding Marriage Hostage: Male Guardianship in Muslim Women’s Marriage Application in Contemporary Malaysia”. The talk will be chaired by Professor Dominik Müller (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany). Date: Thursday, 18 February …
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New Publication in Asian Studies Review
My peer-reviewed article, “Nikah Express: Malay Polygyny and Marriage-Making at the Malaysian-Thai Border”, has just been published in Asian Studies Review. In this article, I show how bureaucratic restrictions to marriage in Malaysia compel many couples to elope to Southern Thailand. As a result, the Malaysian and Thai Islamic authorities must collaborate to streamline the …
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New Publication in Hawwa: Journal of Women of the Middle East & the Islamic World
My peer-reviewed article, entitled “Intimacy Under Surveillance: Illicit Sexuality, Moral Policing, and the State in Contemporary Malaysia”, has just been published in Hawwa: Journal of Women of the Middle East and the Islamic World. Based on long-term observations in two Syariah Courts in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Kota Bharu), the article discusses the ways in …
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Research Themes
Halal Intimacy
The pursuit of love and intimacy “halal” (permissible) in the eyes of God, the state, and Malay adat (culture & traditions).
Cross-Border Marriage
Syariah-compliant elopements across the border to Southern Thailand.
Ethnography of Malaysian Syariah Courts
Marriage, divorce, and inheritance under the Malaysian Islamic Family Law.
Polygyny
n. When a man is married to two or more wives.
Moral Policing
Being intimate within limits: State-led moral surveillance in Malaysia, and the perils of moral transgressions.
The Malaysian Islamic Bureaucracy
The agents behind the nationwide bureaucratization of Islam in Malaysia today.
Love Magic & Sorcery
The politics of the supernatural, and the power struggle for love.
Where I work
Kelantan
From the bustling markets of Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah, to the halls of Kota Bharu’s Syariah Court.
Southern Thailand
Marriage tourism in Hat Yai & Songkhla. And the place for fantastic tom yum.
Kuala Lumpur
The beating heart of Malaysia. A productive site for a comparative fieldwork vis-à-vis Kelantan.
Negeri Sembilan
Up close and personal: The daily life of an anthropologist in a polygamous household.
