Joel Hayward FRHistS FRSA (born 1964) is a New Zealand-born British scholar, writer and poet. The daily newspaper Al Khaleej called Hayward "a world authority on international conflict and strategy". The National newspaper called Hayward “eminent” and a “distinguished historian of warfare and military strategy”. Kirkus Reviews said that Hayward "is undeniably one of academia’s most visible Islamic thinkers". He is considered to be one of "the world’s five hundred most influential Muslims," with his listing in the 2023 edition of The Muslim 500 stating that "he weaves together classical Islamic knowledge and methodologies and the source-critical Western historical method to make innovative yet carefully reasoned sense of complex historical issues that are still important in today’s world."