This issue features seven original research articles, authored by 22 scholars from four countries: Indonesia, Yemen, Malaysia, and Turkey. The themes explored include the symbolic interplay of religion and politics, interethnic marriage among migrant youth, character education rooted in local wisdom, gender equality and women's rights in Yemen, Javanese Islamic manuscripts and spiritual traditions, digital-era womanhood in Java, and the intersections of Islam, secularism, and international relations in contemporary Turkey. Together, these studies offer rich insights into how culture, gender, religion, and modernity intersect in diverse Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern contexts.