I am not responding to your request for clarification but more to the sort of aspersions you seemed to cast about what you framed as essentially my making false claims about my academic credentials (Yamin Cheng, 'Of Islamic studies and Islamic state', Jan 4).

You made some huge assumptions about what I must have and could not have studied or done, based simply on what are requirements in Temple's department of religion.

For brevity, as do many academics, I simply state that my PhD is in Islam. When I provide my CV etc. of course I state and have always stated that my field is religion, specialisation is Islam. And I am one of the few who do interdisciplinary work, so frankly I don't know what category or box you would like me to declare, but it did not seem to bother my professors at Temple, who awarded me my PhD with distinction.

One of those professors, Mahmoud Ayoub, has been an external examiner/evaluator of the Akademi Islam in the University of Malaya.

Since you seem to know so much about Temple's requirements, it surprises me that you are not aware of the requirement that no matter what our ultimate specialisation, we have to take (many) core courses which include Islamic philosophy, tafsir , fiqh etc. and at graduate level (in the British system, post-graduate level).

Those who know the American system will know also that after one does this coursework, one then prepares by studying individually with one's supervisors to take doctoral exams which specialise us. I prepared, as did most of my colleagues, for one and a half years before sitting for those four all-day exams; and only then do we write the dissertation.

In addition, your assumption that because I must have done my work in social sciences, I must be weak in Arabic discounts the fact that I studied at Al-albayt University in Jordan, etc. or that I have two Master's degrees.

Finally, anyone who is an academic will tell you that we continue to study and develop our abilities and expertise, and so to evaluate what I can and cannot do based on the course outline of a department of religion is really an exercise in injustice.

You chose to write extensively to that effect, so I am not sure what your intentions were in writing as you did, except perhaps to perpetuate what seems to be a concerted effort to discredit me. And thus to deflect effort where it should be directed: to those who seem to be getting away with silencing by dirty tricks and false posting, and now, innuendoes.

I lodged a police report yesterday, having tried to do so for almost 24 hours but was shunted around police stations (perhaps because the police are less experienced in dealing with cyber crimes.)

I am not sure what the level of my academic abilities - whether in your evaluation or otherwise - has to do with what is a crime of defamation against me, and an attempt to wreck nation-building in our country. Can we get back to the real issue, please?