Keynote Speakers

Biography of Prof. Dr. Dawood Abdulmalek Yahya AL-Hidabi

Professor of Education at the International Islamic University Malaysia

Director of the International Institute for Muslim Unity (IIMU)

Prof. AL-Hidabi got his first degree in Physics (BSc & Ed) in 1977), Sanaa University, Yemen. He studied his P.G.C.E in teaching Physics, MEd, and PhD (Education) in the UK (1980-1986). He works at Sanaa University (1987-2015). He was the founding president of the University of Science and Technology, Yemen (1994-2007). He published more than 140 papers, supervised more than 150 master and PhD theses and co-authored several textbooks. Currently, he is the Editor-in-Chief of three academic journals. Al-Hidabi is a member of the advisory boards and reviewer for several national, and international journals in education. Prof. AL-Hidabi, became a Professor of Education at IIUM, Malaysia in 2016–now.  He also worked as an Assistant to the Deputy Rector of IIUM for Internationalization. He is the Director of the International Institute for Muslim Unity (IIMU), at the International Islamic University Malaysia.  He is also the Chairman of the Islamic Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of the Federation of Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW) which is hosted by IIUM.  He engaged in consultancy and training for national, and international organizations such as ministries of education and higher education, World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, ISESCO, OIC, IIIT, and others.  His areas of interest are Curriculum and Instruction, Quality and Governance, Integration of Knowledge, Strategic Planning, Higher Education Leadership and Universities’ Auditing and Performance Development.


Biography of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Suhailah Hussein

Dean of the Kulliyyah of Education

International Islamic University Malaysia

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Suhailah Hussein is a teacher educator and holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, a diploma, Master of Education from IIUM, and PhD in Education from the University of Sheffield. She is an Associate Professor of Education at the Department of Social Foundations and Educational Leadership and is currently the Dean of the Kulliyyah of Education, International Islamic University Malaysia. Previously, she held many positions, which include Deputy Director for Student Affairs, Director for Centre of Teaching Thinking, and Deputy Dean for Academic and Internationalisation for the Kulliyyah of Education. Her main research interests are in the field of Islamisation of Knowledge, critical pedagogy, teaching thinking, social foundations, and multicultural education. She has led several research projects on Hikmah pedagogy, social solidarity and multi culturalism. She is a certified trainer for the Centre for Teaching Thinking and actively promotes Critical and Hikmah pedagogy at all levels of education.


Biography of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ssekamanya Siraje Abdallah

Associated Professor of Education at the International Islamic University Malaysia

Deputy director International Institute for Muslim Unity (IIMU)

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ssekamanya Siraje Abdallah began his career as a secondary school teacher in Uganda from 1993 to 1994. After completing his PhD in 2000, he worked as a Senior Research Fellow at ISTAC/IIUM, where he taught postgraduate courses in Islamic thought and also worked as Associate Editor for the now ISI Indexed journal, Al-Shajarah. From 2004 until now, he has been at the Kulliyyah of Education IIUM, starting as an Assistant Professor and later promoted to Associate Professor in 2010. At the Kulliyyah of Education, he has developed and taught a number of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in counselling and educational psychology. These include Islam and Counselling, Counselling from and Islamic Perspective, Career Development, Career Counselling, Cross-Cultural Counselling, Counselling Program Development and Evaluation, Psycho-educational Consultation, and Ethical and Professional Issues in Counselling. He has also worked at Islamic University in Uganda as an Associate Professor of Education and Director of Public Relations, Community Engagement and International Relations. Dr. Ssekamanya is a senior trainer in Hikmah Pedagogy.  He has received research grants, both FRGS and internal university funded, for the assessment of the Islamization program at IIUM, Development of a model of career development and counselling based on the beliefs and experiences of Muslims, Development of an Islamic model of Counselling, and assessing the lived experiences of International students and refugees in Malaysia. He has participated in a number of consultancy projects including the Survey of Malaysian Public Attitudes to Science and Technology, Training of Teachers for International Schools in Sudan, and Development of postgraduate programs for Islamic University in Uganda. He was also an external Assessor for the counselling program at UCSI University and the Master of Educational Psychology at Al-Madinah International University. He has supervised tens of masters and PhD students over the years. He has also worked as an examiner, internally at IIUM, and also as an external examiner for Al-Madinah International University, University Sains Islam Malaysia, and Melbourne University, Australia. He has presented papers at local and  international conferences and written and translated a number of books and book chapters. Dr . Ssekamanya is a founding member of the African Forum of Muslim Councils (AFMC).