Faisol Haji Awang is a Lecturer in Islamic Studies in the Department of Usuluddin, Faculty of Islamic Studies, at Yala Islamic University. He has an MA. in Philosophy from Prince of Songlha University, Pattani, Thailand, and is currently a PhD candidate in Islamic Civilization at the Universiti Sains Malaysia. His research interests include Malay Studies, Islamic Studies, contemporary political issues, especially the case of the Malay Muslims in southern Thailand, and race and ethnicity issues in Southeast Asia.