PEOPLE
Teaching at the college is by world-leading scholars and guest lecturers from the University of Cambridge and elsewhere, co-ordinated by the management team.
(T. J. Winter)
Dean
The Cambridge Muslim College was the original vision of Abdal Hakim, who continues to oversee and contribute to its work. He was educated at Cambridge, Al-Azhar and London universities. He is currently the Shaykh Zayed Lecturer of Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge University and Director of Studies in Theology at Wolfson College. He has published and contributed to numerous academic works on Islam, including as Director of the Sunna Project , and is a leading figure in inter-faith activity, notably as one of the signatories to the Common Word statement . He is well-known as a contributor to BBC Radio 4’s ‘Thought for the Day’.
Principal
Dr. As'ad is an historian specialising in the history of the British Empire in the Middle East and South Asia. He studied for his BA and MA in History at the University of Portland, before receiving his MA in Near Eastern Studies and then his PhD from the University of Arizona. He went on to teach there as well as at the University of Texas at El Paso and Pima Community College, Tucson. He has extensive experience in teaching several aspects of world history and Islamic studies, as well as in community outreach, especially inter-faith initiatives.
Email: ma [at] cambridgemuslimcollege [dot] org
Academic Director
After studying psychology and philosophy at City University, he completed a PhD in social psychology at the London School of Economics on Muslim identity politics. He has been active in Muslim community life for over two decades. He was part of the Young Muslims UK and FOSIS in the 90s serving on the national committee for both organisations and has since studied Sufism with Shaykh Nuh Keller. More recently he worked as an Equality and Diversity advisor to NHS Bradford and Airedale. He has advised the British government on deradicalisation, Bradford Council on integration, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Healthcare Commission and the BBC. 'Wandering Lonely in a Crowd' is his first book and contains a series of reflections on recent debates that affect the Muslim community.
Email: ai [at] cambridgemuslimcollege [dot] org
Women's Officer
College Coordinator
Gillian Herbert has a degree in Modern Languages (French and Italian) from Oxford University and has worked for a number of years in education and administration. She was coordinator for the Cambridge Consortium, running a programme of teacher training events. More recently Gillian was responsible for supporting professional development at the Independent Schools Association.
Email: gh [at] cambridgemuslimcollege [dot] org
Course Convenor
Islam& Religious Pluralism
Introduction to World Religions
Interfaith Dialogue
Lejla studied at Marmara University in Istanbul, and then at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, before completing her PhD at the University of Cambridge. She is currently a Research Fellow of EUME at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. Her research focuses on respective Muslim and Christian understandings of the religious 'other', as expressed in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish theological writings.
Course Convenors
Islamic Counselling
Abdullah has been a counsellor for more than 15 years and through his company Stephen Maynard & Associates has helped develop the first accredited courses in Islamic Counselling. Sabnum is a Senior Partner at Stephen Maynard & Associates and specialises in learning and development, counselling and diversity. They have both been involved in a number of projects across the commercial, educational and community sectors.
Course Convenor
Introduction to the Social Sciences
Manzur read economics at Trinity College, Cambridge. He has taught at the University of Cambridge, UCL and Charterhouse and is currently pursuing a PhD at UCL.
Course Convenor
Sacred Art and Architecture
Samir Mahmoud is currently a doctoral candidate in philosophical aesthetics at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge. With a Bachelor degree in Anthropology (UNSW, Australia), a Masters in the History of Architecture & Urban Design (UNSW, Australia), and a Master of Philosophy (Cambridge), Samir's interests vary widely. He is the recipient of several awards including the Zappia and Sol Encel Awards for best honours thesis and performance, the Commissioner Hoffman and International Scholarship awards for masters of urban design and history of architecture, and the Commonwealth Scholarship for masters in philosophy at Cambridge.
Course Convenor
Science in the World Today
Usama Hasan has a MA, MSc and PhD from Cambridge and London universities and is a Senior Lecturer in Engineering at Middlesex University. He was the Planetarium Lecturer in the Royal Observatory Greenwich from 2006-8 and is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. He is a certified transmitter of Quran and hadith and is the Imam and Khatib at Tawhid Mosque, London. He was the Director of The City Circle in 2008-9. He has also translated a number of Islamic texts into English, the latest being "Way of the Prophet" (Islamic Foundation, 2009).
Course Convenor
Understanding UK Law & Government
Khadija Ali is a practising barrister at Tooks Chambers in London. She is involved in a number of projects advocating access to justice and women's rights in particular. She is a trustee of the University House Legal Advice Centre, one of London's longest-established free legal advice centres, and is also a founding trustee of Pro Bono in the London Muslim Centre. Khadija also sits on a committee convened, following the Temple Church lecture series on Islam and English Law, to discuss the position of Muslim family law under the English legal system.
Appointed 2011
Fozia Bora took her DPhil at the University of Oxford, where her thesis focused on the role of Arabic historiography in providing critiques of Islamic caliphates in the Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk eras. Her current research looks to assess the role of Mamluk madrasas in offering a safe space for the work of medieval Muslim intellectuals including historians, free of either political influence or financial dependence. Previously, Fozia was staff writer and features editor at Q-News , the Muslim weekly, between 1994-1996, and a contributing editor from 1997-2007. She is currently the Islam consultant for the OUP's third edition of the OED and participates on projects working towards the contextualisation of Islam in Britain and the participation of Muslim women in UK higher education.
Appointed 2011
Shaykh Mansur Ali completed his Alim studies at Darul Ulum (Bury) and al-Azhar University (Cairo), and received his PhD at the University of Manchester with a thesis entitled ‘Al-Tirmidhi and the role of the Isnad in his Sunan’. His specialisation is in Hadith Studies, but works also on fiqh issues affecting the British Muslim community. He has served as imam in several locations, including Ashworth High Security Hospital, Liverpool.
Appointed 2011
Matthew Wilkinson was a King’s Scholar at Eton, and subsequently studied Theology at the University of Cambridge, where he was awarded a scholarship. He embraced Islam after leaving Cambridge in 1991. He completed his PhD at King’s College London with a dissertation entitled ‘History Curriculum, Citizenship and Muslim Boys: Learning to Succeed’. His research interests include the relationship between Islam and history and citizenship education and the philosophy of education with a focus on 'success'. He has served as Lecturer in Education at the London Metropolitan University, Anglia Ruskin University and King’s College London and as Head of History at Brondesbury College, London.
You can find out more about Matthew's project and follow progress in relation to fundraising here.
Dr. Thomas Graumann
Senior Lecturer in Early Church History at the Divinity Faculty at the University of Cambridge
Dr. Rasjid Skinner
Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Bradford Community Health Trust
Dr. Gregor Schwarb
The Mu'talizite Manuscript Project
Dr. Chris Allen
The Institute of Applied Social Sciences at the University of Birmingham
Dr. Elizabeth Poole
Senior Lecturer in Media Studies at the University of Staffordshire
Dr. Rabia Malik
Chairwoman of City Circle and a practising systemic psychotherapist
Dr. Nora Berend
Lecturer in Medieval European History at the History Faculty, University of Cambridge
Ajmal Masroor
Broadcast journalist and community development advisor
Mufti Adam al-Kawthari
Director of The Institute of Islamic Jurisprudence
Abdal Haqq Bewely
Translator and Writer of Islamic texts
Professor Jack Goody
Emeritus Professor Social Anthropology (University of Cambridge)
Dr Jonathan Gorsky
Lectuer in Jewish Studies, Heythrop College
Professor Bruno Guiderdoni
Director of Research at the French National Center for Scientific Research and Director of the Observatory of Lyon
Professor Salim al-Hassani
Emeritus Professor Mechanical Engineering and Chairman ‘1001 Inventions’ initiative
Professor Julius Lipner
Professor of Hinduism and the Comparative Study of Religion, University of Cambridge
Dr Diana Lipton
Lecturer in Hebrew Bible & Jewish Studies, Kings College
Dr Susan O’Brien
Principal, Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology
Dr Sara Slivistri
Director, Globalising Justice, Equality and International Law programme, VHI, St Edmund's, University of Cambridge
Ahmed El Sharkawy
Co-ordinating Chaplain, Prisoners Chaplaincy Services