Abdul Karim Abdullah @ Leslie Terebessy joined IAIS in February 2008 as an Assistant Research Fellow. Previously he worked at the University Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) for five years as lecturer, editor, writer, and coordinator of the English program. He holds dual Canadian and Slovak citizenship.

He obtained his MA from the University of Toronto, Canada, in 1999 in political philosophy with a focus on problems presented to morality by moral relativism. In 1986 he earned an M.Ed. at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, with courses in moral and religious education, alternative schools, contemporary critiques of education, and literature. He took his BA (Honors) in 1976 from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, in Political Science with a minor in Economics.

Current Projects include a paper on ‘Monopolies and Innovation’ on monopoly profits (“economic” or “extraordinary” profits) as a form of profiteering, suggesting that anti-monopoly laws need to be incorporated into the shari‘ah.

Publications include:

• (Ed.), Islamic Studies at World Institutions of Higher Learning (Kuala Lumpur: USIM, 2004).
• Second Thoughts: Critical Reflections on Life in the Age of Information Technology (self-published in Canada, 1999).

Articles & Presentations:

• “Causes of the Global Financial Crisis: an Islamic Perspective.” Islam and Civilisational Renewal vol. I No. 3 (2009) pp. 322–336.
• Viewpoint in ICR: “Islamic Responses to the Current Global Financial Crisis.” vol. 1, No. 2, December 2009.
• Workshop Presentation: “Learning Listening Comprehension of Arabic with the Help of an MP3 player.” – USIM, November 2007.
• “Morality in the West: an Islamic Perspective.” in Essays on Islamic Professional Ethics (Kuala Lumpur: Islamic University College of Malaysia, 2004) pp. 103–111.