Dr. Ibrahim Abraham
Senior Lecturer, Sociology
Campus
Biography
Ibrahim Abraham is a senior lecturer in Sociology at Federation University, based at Gippsland Campus.
Ibrahim joined Federation in 2023 following appointments at the Australian National University, the University of Helsinki and La Trobe University. From 2018 to 2022, he was the Hans Mol Research Fellow in Religion and the Social Sciences at the ANU, where he also convened the Freilich Project for the Study of Bigotry. Before this, from 2013 to 2018, he was a research fellow at the University of Helsinki, contributing to two Research Council of Finland-funded research projects in South Africa. From 2012 to 2013, he was a research associate at La Trobe's Centre for Dialogue, working with multicultural communities in Melbourne.
A graduate of Monash University and the University of Bristol, Ibrahim is the author of two books and more than forty journal articles and book chapters that focus on the sociology of religion. He has also published extensively on South Africa. In 2024, he was included in the Elsevier/Stanford University global list of the top 2% of researchers by citation in his field.
At Federation, Ibrahim teaches a range of sociology units and is currently completing his third book, a literary sociology of the Lebanese diaspora.
Fields of research
- Religion, society and culture
- Sociology of religion
- Sociology of culture
More about Ibrahim
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of Bristol
- Master of Arts, Monash University
- Bachelor of Laws, Monash University
- Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Monash University
Areas of interest
- Serious leisure
- Sociology of culture
- Sociology of religion
- South Africa
Areas of expertise
Ibrahim has published extensively in sociology, primarily focusing on the sociology of religion. His research explores contemporary Christianity and Islam, with particular attention to their relationships with ethnicity, sexuality, popular culture and leisure, as well as broader questions of social change in contemporary South Africa.
Grants
- ‘Increase Awareness of Africa in ANU and Canberra’. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 2019–2021. ($20,000)
- Research Development Scheme. ANU. 2020. ($3,000)
- ‘The Morality of Success among the Emerging Black Middle Class in South Africa’. Research Council of Finland (formerly the Academy of Finland), with Tuulikki Pietilä. 2016–2020. (480,000 EUR)
- ‘Youth, Music and the Construction of Social Subjectivities and Communities in Post-Apartheid South Africa’. Research Council of Finland (formerly the Academy of Finland), with Tuulikki Pietilä. 2013–2016. (376,454 EUR)
Awards
- 2024: Stanford University/Elsevier Top 2% Scientists List
- 2012: School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol: Hilary Hartley Prize for best PhD dissertation
- 2008: Monash University: Vice-Chancellor’s Commendation for Excellence
- 2008: Faculty of Arts, Monash University: Award for best master’s thesis
- 2004: Faculty of Law, Monash University: Monash Law School Prize and Mallesons Stephen Jacques Prize
Current
- PhD student, Federation University, co-supervisor.
- PhD student, University of Helsinki, co-supervisor.
Past
- PhD student, Australian National University, co-supervisor.
- PhD student, Australian National University, co-supervisor.
- Sociology
Professional association memberships
- Australian Association for the Study of Religion (Executive member 2020–2022, Vice-President 2025–2026)
- Australian Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies
- International Sociological Association
Future Regions Research Centre
Ibrahim is part of the Future Regions Research Centre's 'Society and Heritage' stream, which explores how changes in society and the natural environment interact and seeks to integrate environmental values within social practices and policy.
- Publications
You have your Gibran and I have my Gibran: representations of Kahlil Gibran, a century after The Prophet
- Journals
- DOI reference: 10.1080/20581831.2025.2552630
Millennial Muslims in Lebanese-Australian Literature: Pure and Vernacular Religion in the Bildungsromane of Michael Mohammed Ahmad and Omar Sakr
- Book Chapters
- DOI reference: 10.1163/9789004737372_007
Book review: Called and Queer: Lived Religion and LGBTQ Methodist Clergy in South Africa
- Journals
- DOI reference: 10.1558/jasr.33913