Che Zarrina Sa’ari, who graduated from the University of Malaya (Bachelor's and Master's degrees) and Edinburgh University (PhD), is currently the Professor at the Academy of Islamic Studies, University of Malaya, Malaysia, working in the Department of Aqidah and Islamic Thought. She served several times as the Head of the Department of Aqidah and Islamic Thought and as the Deputy Director (Development and Research) at the same Academy, and was the Deputy Dean (Research & Innovation) until March 2025. She was also a visiting scholar at Leiden University (2004) and Edinburgh University (2010). Dr. Che Zarrina’s broad academic and research interests involve Sufism, Islamic Psychospiritual, Islamic Psychotherapy, and Islamic Ethics. She has produced over 400 publications, including books, chapters in books, articles in journals, short articles in mass media, and conference proceedings that were presented nationally and internationally. Dr. Che Zarrina has been invited many times by national as well as international universities to deliver lectures or talks on Islamic Psychospiritual and Psychotherapy. She has also been invited to be a keynote speaker, plenary speaker, or invited speaker in seminars, conferences, and workshops nationally and internationally in her area of expertise. She has presented papers in seminars and conferences and delivered motivational talks as well as religious talks to the public from time to time, and written short articles in magazines and newspapers. Dr. Che Zarrina has produced about 60 master's students and 68 doctorate students in her field. The graduates, national and international, became her successors in the dissemination and enhancement of their expertise and have contributed to the academic world, government, and community, especially in spiritual and mental well-being. In research, she has been awarded more than 130 internal and external research grants, for instance, ERGS, FRGS, MAIS Fatwa Research Grant, IIRG, MRUN, JAKIM Fatwa Research Grant, RACE, USM, JAIS Fatwa Research Grant, GP LPPKN, UMRG Project, and UMRG Programme. The outputs of the research could be seen through the graduation of graduate research assistants, publications, curriculum designs, and reviews for new courses or module improvements. In addition, those outputs have also been utilized to assist government institutions. For example, in developing modules, manuals, guidelines, policies, and fatwas. Furthermore, many of the outputs of Islamic Psychospiritual and Psychotherapy have been applied and carried out publicly by the community and non-governmental associations (NGO). To impart this knowledge to the relevant communities, Dr. Che Zarrina has been invited to facilitate the training of the trainers (ToT) workshops and intervention sessions that are usually organized by the government, such as JAKIM, Malaysian Ministry of Health, Jabatan Perpaduan Negara dan Intergrasi Nasional, state religious councils and departments, non-governmental organizations, and the public. In the professional field, based on her expertise and involvement with the stakeholders, she has gained their trust and has been appointed to one of JAKIM’s prestigious committees as an Expert Panel for Aqidah (PPA) with terms of reference to respond to current issues of `aqidah and school of thought in society and give an initial view on the issuance of a fatwa for Muzakarah Jawatankuasa Fatwa, Majlis Kebangsaan Bagi Hal Ehwal Ugama Islam Malaysia (MKI). She has been involved in various committees and has been appointed as an expert panel, among others in Expert Panel for Programme Standards: Islamic Studies by Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA), Expert Panel of the Field of Aqidah and Sufism, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Top Management Committee for KSKCare Centre JAKIM, and Dini Curriculum Development for Ministry of Education Malaysia. In academic linkage, Dr. Che Zarrina has been involved as an academic advisor for several local universities, journals editor-in-Chief, advisory board member, member of journal editorial boards, postgraduate external examiner, and member of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES). She is the Editor in Chief for AFKAR: Journal of Aqidah & Islamic Thought, indexed in WoS-ESCI and SCOPUS. She has also been appointed Editor in Chief for Qalbu: International Journal of Sufism published by PERTAMA, the advisory board for the Journal of Islamic Theology Pakistan and the Journal of Islamic Research Turkey, and has become a reviewer for WoS and SCOPUS journals. She also contributes to society through her involvement with several national and international non-government organizations (NGO) such as the Islamic Psychospiritual Association Malaysia (IPSA) as Deputy President, Majlis Dakwah Negara, Persatuan Kaunseling Syarie Malaysia, and the International Association of Islamic Psychology. She has obtained several certificates as a certified practitioner, such as Psychological First Aid, Mental Health Coach, and Crisis Intervention and Trauma Counseling. Among her significant contributions to the country is her involvement from the beginning in setting up the KSKCare Centre@MTMZA JAKIM which is a community referral center that provides professional and free services to the community.  Since then, she, who leads the Islamic Psychospiritual Team, has always performed training of the trainers (ToT) managed by JAKIM and others for related persons.

Dr Rohaida Mohd. Saat is an honorary professor at the Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya. She was the former dean at the faculty and before that, she was the Head of Quality Assurance and Accreditation Unit, Quality Management Enhancement Centre (QMEC), University of Malaya.  She received her Bachelor Degree and Master’s degree from Indiana University, USA and PhD degree from Universiti Putra Malaysia. She also holds a certificate in Qualitative Research Methods from The University of Georgia, USA. Her area of specialization and research is in science education, teacher education and qualitative research methodology. She headed several research projects in the area of science education, funded by various agencies. She has authored and co-authored several books, articles and research reports in the area of science education and education in general.  She has also served as Editorial Boards of Eurasia Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, European Journal of STEM Education and Journal of Science and Mathematics in Southeast Asia. She has served the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE) as a MyRA Auditor and on the panel of evaluators for MOHE research grants. She is a trained ISO auditor and the ASEAN University Network Quality Assurance (AUNQA) lead academic programme assessor.

Shalini Nadaswaran holds a PhD in English specializing in African Women's Literature from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (UNSW). Her PhD was supervised by eminent postcolonial expert, Professor Bill Ashcroft, exploring Igbo women writers and contemporary Nigeria. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in English and Master of Arts in English at the English Department, University of Malaya. Her research interest considers the constant evolving representations of women in local and global spaces. She is currently a Senior Lecturer with the English Department, University of Malaya and has worked on a research project which examines cultural formations. She has published in the field of African literature and women’s literature in journals such as African Literature Today, Matatu, Wasafiri and Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature. She has also contributed book chapters to various book projects. She serves as a peer reviewer for a number of journals, two of which are ISI and Scopus cited. While her primary focus falls under the remit of African (Women’s) literature, she also has additional interests in research that explores modern day slavery, literature and injustice, and the figure of the ‘child’ in postcolonial literature. She welcomes research students working on any area in women’s literature, African literature and postcolonial women’s literature to contact her.