Dr. Mohd Saiful Anwar Mohd Nawawi is an Associate Prof. at the Department Fiqh-Usul and Applied Sciences, Academy of Islamic Studies, Universiti Malaya. His research mainly focuses on Shariah  (Islamic Astronomy (Falak)).He obtained his Bachelor of Shariah, Master of Science and PhD from Universiti Malaya. 

He has led or contributed to national research in Islamic astronomy, specialising in lunar crescent visibility, prayer time calculation, Shariah-compliant frameworks, reinterpretation of marhalah, and Qibla accuracy. Many of these projects, carried out in collaboration with Malaysia’s government agencies and other researchers, have helped shape national policies, laws, and guidelines.

He and his team publish research in Islamic studies journals such as Jurnal Syariah, Jurnal Fiqh, Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law, Jurnal al-Tamaddun, and the Journal of Islamic Marketing. They also publish in scientific journals including New Astronomy, Astronomy and Computing, ICARUS, and Sains Malaysiana. Many of their publications are indexed in Scopus and Web of Science.

He has also contributed to several books, including Python for Islamic Astronomy: Modern Computational Approaches to Hijri Calendar, Qibla, and Prayer Times (CRC Press, Routledge, 2025), among others.

He currently serves as President of the Islamic Astronomers Association (JUFAS), and Deputy President of the Southeast Asia Islamic Astronomy Association,and is an expert panel member for various government agencies.