It is an extraordinary honour for UBD to have among its ranks Chair Professor Dr Datuk Osman Bakar who, for the third time, has been ranked among “The world’s 500 Most Influential Muslims” by the publication The Muslim 500.Chair Professor Dr Datuk Osman Bakar is currently the Director of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Centre for Islamic Studies (SOASCIS). He was formally appointed as Director of the Centre only recently in January 2013, just four months after arriving at UBD to take up the position of one of the chair Professors of the university. Chair Professor Dr Datuk Osman Bakar is a remarkable personality with a unique academic career. Having obtained a BSc as well as an MSc degree in Mathematics at the University of London in 1970 and 1971 respectively, he continued with a PhD in the same subject. However, his growing intellectual interest towards philosophy and religion - Islamic Studies, in particular - made him change his PhD topic to meet his new interest in the philosophy of science. This being denied, Chair Professor Dr Datuk Osman Bakar returned to Malaysia where he became a lecturer of Mathematics at the National University of Malaysia. It was only in 1977 that he was given the chance to satisfy his interest in philosophy and religion when he was offered a teaching position in history and the philosophy of science at the University of Malaya. Finally, in 1981, he was given a scholarship to complete a PhD in “Islamic Philosophy of Science” at Temple University Philadelphia after which he went back to Malaysia to become a full Professor at the University of Malaya in 1992. He was the first occupant of the Chair of Philosophy of Science at the University (1992-2000). In 1995, he was appointed the University’s Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic and Research), a post which he held until 2000 when he decided to take up the post of Malaysia Chair of Islam in Southeast Asia at Georgetown University, Washington DC. Chair Professor Dr Datuk Osman Bakar occupied the Georgetown Chair for five years until 2005. “Those 5 years [were] my most prolific times,” Chair Professor Dr Datuk Osman Bakar says, reminiscing about his time there. Since the events of 9/11 happened during this time, his Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding became a very important consultancy for the media; naturally, he received much media attention during this period, especially from print media as well as through interviews with BBC and CNN. He recollects that this was a “crucial period in my career that definitely raised my profile.” Additionally, outside the university, Chair Professor Dr Osman Bakar is highly esteemed and has even served as a consultant for UNESCO. He has also been appointed by the Qatar Foundation to help establish a new college of Islamic Studies and has been honoured for his outstanding academic contributions with two Datukships by Malaysia in 1994 and 2000. Although heavily occupied with his work at UBD, he currently serves as one of five members of an advisory board that is about to issue an Encyclopedia of Islamic Bioethics and is also an advisor to the newly-established College for Buddhist-Muslim Understanding in Bangkok.The professor did not hesitate to accept an invited position at UBD since it offered a variety of new opportunities for him which, he admits, were also a great challenge to him. One example involves the establishment of SOASCIS as decreed by his Majesty The Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of UBD’s Chair ProfessorDr Datuk Osman Bakar ranked among the500 Most Influential Muslims in the world. Brunei Darussalam and Chancellor of UBD in 2010; it was Chair Professor Dr Datuk Osman Bakar’s considerable task to build up a whole new centre almost from scratch. SOASCIS is still a very young centre and was established to fill the gap that remained after the cessation of UBD’s Islamic Studies Institute, in order to serve as a foundation to build up Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University (UNISSA). “Now we are [doing] more than just filling the gap but we are giving a major contribution in helping UBD make its name in the academic field,” he relates. SOASCIS, as Chair Professor Dr Datuk Osman Bakar emphasises, is quite unique. Being a postgraduate centre, it is devoted not only to classical Islam but also to studying Islam within a contemporary context. “If one [asks] where else in the world [would] you find a post-graduate centre [which trains] Masters and PhDs in the field of Islamic studies with a focus on contemporary issues, you will find very few institutions.”Through the devoted efforts of Chair Professor Dr Datuk Osman Bakar, SOASCIS and UBD have received a great deal of international attention. Only in 2013, eight MOUs were signed with renowned universities and research institutions such as Kyoto University, the International Institute of Islamic Thoughts and Civilisation (ISTAC) and the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IKIM), in addition to institutes in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar. In joint efforts with Oxford University, two conferences have been held and recently an academic delegation was received by SOASCIS to conduct a second conference in a series that is held in turns in Kyoto and Brunei Darussalam. Having established a solid foundation, Chair Professor Dr Datuk Osman Bakar will now focus on academic output in terms of academic papers and research. “I am very confident with the progression of SOASCIS which [has received] so many offers for collaboration, for example, the Oxford and Georgetown University [branches] in Qatar. In other words, people know us!” Chair Professor Dr Datuk Osman Bakar says proudly. Being nominated as one of “The world’s 500 Most Influential Muslims” is a great form of recognition of the work and efforts of Chair Professor Dr Datuk Osman Bakar. This is in fact the third time that he has been mentioned which is especially remarkable considering the young age of the publication, with only four editions so far. Issued annually, the publication is a collaboration of the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman (Jordan) and the Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University (USA). The publication names the most influential personalities of about 15 different categories such as politics, academics, sports, and arts. Chair Professor Dr Datuk Osman Bakar has published 18 books and more than 300 articles about the History of Islamic Science, Philosophy of Science and Intercultural Dialogue. His works have been translated into many languages such as Spanish, Chinese, Persian, Turkish, Arabic, and Japanese. All this contributes to his excellent reputation as an academic. “Alhamdullilah! I am very lucky to get recognition of my academic work. Nothing can satisfy an academic better then knowing that your work has been read, cited and recognized,” he says modestly. “I can’t wish for anything more.”5
< Page 4 | Page 6 >