Blog

Sophie Gilliat-Ray – A Tale of Two Re-interments

2 April 2024

Hospitality and a warm welcome are embedded in the DNA of the Islam-UK Centre.  We love to welcome visitors!  But we also relish the opportunity to undertake fieldtrips, and to visit other important institutions in the landscape of Muslim communities in Britain.  On 7th February 2024, Maulana Dr Mansur Ali and Professor Sophie Gilliat-Ray were […]

Sam Bartlett – Research Update on Islam in Wales Project

22 March 2024

Sam Bartlett, part of the Muslims in Wales project, came to the Madina Mosque in Cardiff to talk about the project. Watch more in this vlog. Ymwelodd Sam Bartlett, sy’n rhan o’r prosiect ymchwil Mwslimiaid yng Nghymru, â Mosg Madina yng Nghaerdydd i sôn am y prosiect. Gwyliwch ragor yn y blog fideo hwn.

Matthew Vince – Exploring the Rich Tapestry of Islam: Three Years of Discovering Muslims in Britain

26 June 2023

As the dust settles on another successful run of the Discovering Muslims in Britain online CPD course, now is a good time to reflect. The Islam-UK Centre team created the Discovering Muslims in Britain course and teaching resources to support Religious Education (RE) teachers across the UK as they introduce sociological perspectives in the classroom. […]

Laiqah Osman – Things to consider when applying for a PhD, from a PhD student

15 June 2023

Congratulations! You’ve made the monumental decision to apply for a PhD. As a recipient of the Jameel PhD Scholarship, currently in the fourth year of my PhD at the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK at Cardiff University, I am closely familiar with the application process. I was also previously awarded an […]

Sophie Gilliat-Ray, Mansur Ali, and Hansjoerg Schmid: Research Update

2 June 2023

We were treated in May to the presence of a visiting scholar – Prof. Hansjoerg Schmid from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Hansjoerg works with the Swiss Center for Islam and Society, so you can already see some of the links between our Centre and his. Moreover, he specialises in Muslim chaplaincy, which is […]

Abdul-Azim Ahmed: Research Update (Islam in Wales)

25 May 2023

In this vlog, the Centre’s deputy director Abdul-Azim Ahmed shares an update on his research project on Islam in Wales, with a special focus on his visit to the grave of Amelia Kadija Baksh in Carmarthenshire. The project was launched with a photo competition, and in this gallery, you can see some of the entries, […]

Sophie Gilliat-Ray: Research Update

15 May 2023

In the first of our series on research updates from Centre staff, director Sophie Gilliat-Ray discusses issues of diversity, inclusion, and exclusion in relation to religion in the workplace and in public life more generally. Here’s the transcript for Sophie’s vlog: Welcome to the Islam-UK Centre at Cardiff University…and to one of our regular research […]

Mansur Ali – The Alcoran of Mahomet in the Salisbury Collection: The Mystery Continues

26 April 2023

On Monday 13 March 2023, my colleagues from the School of English and Philosophy (Dr Megan Leitch, Dr Stephen Gordon and Prof Martin Willis) and I (Dr Mansur Ali) with the assistance of Cardiff University AHSS library special collection staff, and led by Dr Megan Leitch (Reader in English Literature), launched our exhibition on ‘Sleep […]

Mansur Ali – Organ Donation and You

18 April 2023

On Sunday 12 March 2023, the British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA) premiered its first movie on organ donation and Islam. The panel included transplant surgeons, organ transplant patients, nephrologists, organ donation activists, and myself, acting as the Muslim theologian on the panel. Many questions were raised by members of the public related to the law, […]

Abdul-Azim Ahmed – Wales’s First Muslim Grave

14 March 2023

Photo by Mark Bryant The pursuit of “firsts” is always enticing in history as superlative claims help justify the importance of the findings in question. But such claims are always contentious and prone to contradiction.   Given this, it is with some hesitation I’m sharing the story of the first Muslim grave in Wales – at […]