Buddhism and Islam

Buddhist-Muslim relations are usually seen as inherently confrontational. This book challenges the view of Buddhism and Islam as fundamentally irreconcilable by exploring the diverse ways representatives of the two traditions have engaged each other in Southeast Asia—the global frontstage of contemporary Buddhist-Muslim relations—and Japan—a Buddhist-majority country whose ‘Islam policy’ played a significant role in its surge to global power status. It investigates the processes through which mutual perceptions and discourses have developed in response to shifting socio-political circumstances and via the intellectual interventions of leading personalities.

Kieko Obuse, DPhil (University of Oxford), was formerly a Lecturer at Mahidol University, and is currently affiliated with the Kobe City University of Foreign Studies and McGill University. She co-edited The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of the Middle East (2022) and is the book review editor of the Journal of Religion in Japan.