Rethinking, Thinking About Islam (2026) - Aftab Malik & Simon Longstaff

Perceptions of Islam in the Western world today have been shaped by the actions of terrorists, fear, distortion and ignorance. And as a result, the advanced civilisational legacy produced by Islam has been buried and ignored – not only by the Western world but also by many Muslims themselves.    In conversation with Simon Longstaff, Special envoy Aftab Malik challenges us to radically reframe how we think about Islam, and the resources it offers to support Western civilisation.  This session was recorded at Carriageworks, Sydney in August 2026. Aftab Malik is Australia's first-ever Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia and a UN Alliance of Civilisations expert on global Muslim affairs. He spent nearly a decade in the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, bridging academic insight and policy practice to address hate, misinformation and structural discrimination at a national level. Simon Longstaff is Executive Director of The Ethics Centre. In 2013, he was made an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "distinguished service to the community through the promotion of ethical standards in governance and business, to improving corporate responsibility, and to philosophy." He is also Adjunct Professor of the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW Sydney, a Fellow of CPA Australia, the Royal Society of NSW and the Australian Risk Policy Institute.