Dr Megawati's work is significant when viewed from the broader context of Malay-Islamic thought and civilization as a whole. Through her study of the life and works of 'Abd al-Samad al-Palimbani, she has already succeeded in highlighting the significance of the place and role of Palembang as a centre of Islamic learning in its historical and intellectual relationships with the rest of the Malay world. Her inclusion in this work of a study of Sheikh Dawud al-Fatani, another major Malay scholar, who is a contemporary of 'Abd al-Samad al-Palimbani, but who hailed from another part of the Malay world helps us to better appreciate the significance of the network of religious scholars in the region during the eighteenth century. Pattani in southern Thailand, Sheikh Dawud al-Fatani's birthplace, used to be a major centre of Malay-Islamic learning. Dr Megawati shows that as contemporaneous centres of Malay-Islamic intellectual thought Palembang and Pattani actually shared a common interest and concern with the thoughts of Al-Ghazali and Ibn Arabi. She was thus able to strengthen her thesis that affirms the remarkable depth and breadth of al-Ghazali's influence in the Malay world.
Dr Megawati Moris is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Usuluddin and Comparative Religion at the Faculty of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (KIRKHS), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). She obtained her Diploma in Marketing from the Universiti Teknologi Mara, Shah Alam and her BSc (Finance) and MBA from California State University Fresno in Fresno, California. She also obtained her MA and PhD in Islamic Thought from ISTAC-International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in 1998 and 2007 respectively.
