Asiff Hussein

Asiff Hussein is a Freelance Writer and Author of a number of publications in the fields of Ethnology, Sociology and Linguistics. Hussein served as a Journalist at the Business Desk of the Sunday Times before joining the Sunday Observer where he served in the Business and Features Desks. He has contributed numerous articles on various topics which have been published in the newspapers and on the Internet. He has also contributed to Business Today, Explore Sri Lanka, the Souvenirs of the Moors Islamic Cultural Home and Hamdard Islamicus Journal of Studies and Research in Islam. He also served as the Editor of Islamic Finance Today, a magazine exclusively dedicated to the promotion of ethical interest-free banking and finance. Hussein is the author of a number of publications including The Origins of the Sinhala Language. A Lexical Reconstruction of Sinhala Vocables to their Earliest Known Proto- Indo-European Forms (2002); Sarandib. An Ethnological Study of the Muslims of Sri Lanka (Feb & July 2007 and September 2011), Zeylanica, a Study of the Peoples and Languages of Sri Lanka (2009), Ivilly Pevilly. The Gastronome’s Guide to the Culinary History & Heritage of Sri Lanka (2012); Tolerance in Islam (2012) and Caste in Sri Lanka. From Ancient Times to the Present Day (2013) He has also co-authored Memons of Sri Lanka. Men, Memoirs, Milestones with Hameed Kareem (2006) and co-edited The Muslim Heritage of Eastern Sri Lanka with S.H.M.Jameel (2011). A Sinhala translation of his book on Tolerance in Islam Islamaya Desana Agamika Ivasima was published in 2014. He holds a B.A. Degree in Social Sciences from the Open University of Sri Lanka, a Post-graduate Diploma in Archaeology from the University of Kelaniya and a Diploma in Journalism from the Aquinas College of Higher Studies, Sri Lanka. He is also among the Sri Lankan Alumni of the International Visitor Leadership Programme organised by the US State Department, having participated in an IVLP Programme on Religion and Social Justice in America on a tour that covered Washington, Huntsville, Birmingham, Santa Fe and San Francisco from June 28th to July 16th 2010.