Bangladesh has a long history of Christian missionary activities lasting around 500 years. The dramatic rise of Christianity every year and the popularity of Christian missionary activities in Bangladesh are causing tension in society as Muslims perceive the phenomenon as a threat to the understanding and practice of their religion and culture. Thus, this research aims to study the historical background of the Christian mission in Khulna Division, identifying the significant areas of activity that Christian missionaries apply for conversion. Similarly, the research investigates how Muslim du’at and Hindu priests in Khulna have responded to Christian missionary activities. The research adopted a qualitative method that incorporates extensive textual analysis. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. Interviews were carried out with Muslim du’at and Hindu religious leaders. The secondary data were sourced mainly from relevant books, documents, articles, theses, dissertations, seminar and conference papers, journals, reliable websites, newspapers, and social media. Two different methods were utilized for the data analysis, namely descriptive and analytical techniques. The findings of the research revealed that there are five key factors influencing religious conversion: socio-economic factors; psychological and emotional appeals; education and interfaith dialogue; government policies and support from the legal infrastructure; and misinformation about religious texts. In addition to that, this research analysed the attitudes of Hindu religious leaders towards Hindu conversion to Christianity. Likewise, the research discovered the strategies to contain Muslim conversion to Christianity as follows: da'wah, which includes training programs for Muslim du’at, producing and distributing da’wah literature, promoting knowledge of comparative religion, expanding discussions on Islam’s superiority; educational initiatives; social awareness about missionary activities; community outreach programs; and service-oriented programs. The researcher concluded that Muslim du’at and scholars should take proactive measures in propagating Islam as a whole. In addition, practising Muslims should promote social development projects such as education, medical services, poverty alleviation, relief and rehabilitation, and other measures that will prevent Muslims from being enticed by Christian missionary propaganda in this regard.

This thesis examines the Muslim online response to Macron’s 2020 speech on Islam in a bid to deconstruct the Islamophobic discourse prevalent in Western mainstream media. In October 2020, French President Macron made an incendiary speech where he claimed Islam was a religion ‘in crisis’. The global media subsequently portrayed Muslims as reacting to Macron’s speech in a violent fashion, with many media outlets streaming video clips of violent protests by Muslims in Africa and the Indian subcontinent, amongst other places. This study charts an original methodology to the study of Muslim global opinion by incorporating big data analysis within an Islamic civilizational framework. Macron’s 2020 speech is placed into the historical background of France’s complicated relation with the Muslim world. This is followed by an analysis of major mainstream news outlets and how they portrayed the ummatic backlash against Macron. This will be supplemented by a multilingual big data analysis of selected Muslim responses and a topography of global Muslim opinion. By contrasting the thematics that the Western Media associate with Muslim response, and the actual data of Muslim respondants, it will be demonstrated how radically different both presentations are. This research aims to show how greater accuracy in detailing the ummatic discourse can deconstruct stereotypes about the Muslim world in the media. This research can contribute to a more robust dialogue and debate between the Muslim world and the Western world. Also, the novel methodology used will support an increased awareness on the importance of using big data on issues traditionally discussed within Islamic studies.

The study seeks to investigate the effectiveness of the Islamic Moral System Module (IMSM) on undergraduate students at Balkh University, Afghanistan, from 2017 until 2020. The module introduced by the Ministry of Higher Education aims to train the young generation of Afghans in nation-building for the future of Afghanistan. The module inculcates the mainstream values of the Afghan people rooted in moderation, diversity and mutual respect, and peaceful coexistence. However, the main problem with the IMSM is that the module has been implemented in Afghan universities for a long time, and an assessment is needed to see the effectiveness of the program given the fact that it has never been reviewed since then. The study employs a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods and data collection is from 650 Balkh University lecturers and students. The survey results showed that most respondents agreed that the module positively impacts the spiritual, intellectual, academic, social, and behavioural aspects of their life. However, the respondents also suggest improvements on the module, particularly its contents to suit the current needs, and the physical aspects such as layout and presentation to make it more reader-friendly and understandable.