Joel Hayward FRHistS FRSA is a New Zealand–born, British, Muslim writer, poet and "noted scholar of war and strategy" whom the daily newspaper Al Kaleej calls "a world authority on international conflict and strategy". He is best known for his published books and articles on strategic and security matters, including the use of air power, his 2003 biography of Horatio Lord Nelson, and his writing and teaching on the Quranic (Islamic) concepts of war, strategy, and conflict.

In November 2012 he became full Professor of International and Civil Security at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi and in 2013 he became Chair of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Khalifa. He also serves there as the Director of the Institute of International and Civil Security. Earlier in 2012, he was a Senior Fellow at the Markfield Institute of Higher Education and a Research Fellow of the Cambridge Muslim College. His career highlights include having been Dean of the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell for five years (2007-2011), a Director of the Royal Air Force Centre for Air Power Studies think-tank for four years (2008-2012) and the academic Head of Air Power Studies at King's College London for six years (2005-2011). He is a Professor of Strategy at the Indonesian Defense University and he holds fellowships from the United States Air Force and the Federal Government of Germany. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Historical Society. With the title of Shaykh, he has earned ijazas in ʿAqīdah and Sirah.