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Islamic Foundation Awarded IDB Prize in Islamic Economics

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The Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Jeddah, has conferred the IDB Prize in Islamic Economics for the year 2011 on the Islamic Foundation, Leicester, UK, in recognition of its distinguished services and contribution to Islamic Economics. The Prize was received by Dr M. Manazir Ahsan MBE, Director General of the Islamic Foundation at IDB’s 36th Board of Governors Annual Meeting in Jeddah on the 29 June 2011. The award was presented by H.E. Dr Ibrahim al-Issaf, Saudi Finance Minister in the presence of over one thousand guests.

In his speech, Dr Ahmad Muhammad Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group, congratulated the Islamic Foundation on its notable accomplishments and hoped that this award to the Islamic Foundation will encourage more Muslim institutions and scholars in the UK to devote their intellectual resources and work tirelessly for the promotion of Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance. He also thanked the British diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia for the achievements of this British Islamic institution in the service of Islamic Economics.

Dr Manazir Ahsan in his acceptance speech stated that the global financial

crisis has provided a historic opportunity to Islamic Economists and Bankers to

initiate a constructive and meaningful dialogue with the intellectuals and policy-makers of the contemporary world to carefully work out an alternative approach to put the house of humanity in order.

The IDB Prize Selection Committee, chaired by Professor Hatem Karanshawy, Dean of the faculty of Islamic Studies at Qatar Foundation, stated that the IDB Prize Selection Committee had been unanimous in their decision to award the IDB Prize in Islamic Economics for 2011 to the Islamic Foundation, UK.

In the Award Citation, Dr Ahmad Muhammad Ali, President, IDB, outlined four reasons for this distinguished award to the Islamic Foundation:

1. Considering its pioneering efforts in rendering important services to

Islamic economics;2. Recognising and appreciating its contributions to the establishment of Islamic Economics as an independent field of inquiry through innovative research, teaching, training and publications;3. Realising the significant impact of its publications in Islamic economics and frequent citation of such publications;

4. And in view of its sustained interest, intellectual support and continued commitment to the promotion of Islamic economics.

The IDB established this Prize in 1988 with the aim of recognizing, rewarding and encouraging the activity of promoting outstanding work in Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance. In the last 23 years, 32 researchers, bankers, economists and institutions have been awarded the IDB Prize. The first person to be awarded this prestigious prize was Professor Khurshid Ahmad, the Chairman of the Islamic Foundation, for his seminal contribution to Islamic Economics.


Howarth, Secretary for Inter Religious Affairs to the Archbishop of Canterbury and National Adviser on Inter Religious Affairs for the Church of England; Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Imam, teacher and inter faith worker; Mr Ed Owen, Communications Consultant, and head of Maitland Political; Maulana Shahid Raza OBE, Chairman MINAB; Mr

A newly formed Advisory Board to the Islamic Foundation held its first meeting on 22nd June 2011.

The trustees of the Islamic Foundation decided last year to constitute an Advisory Board in order to bring fresh perspectives and insights to the wide range activities of the Foundation. With this in mind, a number of people from faith and non-faith backgrounds with academic, community, business, policy and media experiences were invited to join the Advisory Board, which is expected to meet twice a year.

The present Board comprises the following: Mr M Iqbal Asaria CBE, Afkar Consulting Ltd; Dr Mahmood Chandia, Programme Leader and Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies, University of Central Lancashire; Dr Sophie Gilliat-Ray, Reader in Religious & Theological Studies at Cardiff University; Rev Dr Toby

Stephen Shashoua, Director, Three Faiths Forum and the Rt Reverend Bishop Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester.

The first meeting was very successful with a number of useful suggestions and ideas presented by the Board to members of the Senior Management Committee of the Foundation.

Islamic Foundation Advisory Board

in the past year. He highlighted the financial and human resource challenges that need to be addressed to sustain and develop the work of the Foundation in the future. Then Irshad Baqui, Haris Ahmad and Dilwar Hussain presented the reports on behalf of Markfield Institute, Kube Publishing and Policy Research Centre respectively. Provisional Accounts for financial year 2010 were presented and the budget for 2011-2012 was presented and approved. The meeting concluded with lunch which the staff of the Foundation joined, and during which the gathering was addressed briefly by Prof Khurshid Ahmad.

The thirty eighth Annual Board of Trustees meeting was held on 21 July 2011 at the Markfield Conference Centre. The meeting, chaired by Prof Khurshid Ahmad, was attended by both UK based and overseas trustees in addition to a number of special invitees, who reviewed the work of the Islamic Foundation, its units and subsidiaries over the past year and offered valuable advice and suggestions to address the ever-growing challenges that the Foundation and its departments are facing.

In his opening remarks, the Chairman gave a brief outline of the key achievements and problems of the past year and suggested strategies to overcome them.

Prof Khurshid reported that the issue of inducting new and younger trustees to the Board was implemented with the appointment of Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari and Dr Munir Ahmed Butt to the Board this year.

Dr Manazir Ahsan, Director General, then presented his report on the overall work and activities that had taken place


MIHE has continued to grow its provision in priority areas and developed further its quality, delivery and services. It has continued to attract good numbers of students to all its programmes.

MA in Islamic Banking, Finance, and Management continues to be the most sought after programme offered by MIHE. Beside the regular MA programme, the Institute also offers an MA ‘Top Up’ programme and currently there are more than 100 students enrolled in these two programmes over the October 2010 to February 2011 intakes. In addition to this the MEd in Islamic Education, which was launched in February 2010, has proved to be very successful and has managed to attract a good number of students.

MA Through Distance Learning Launched In June 2011 the MA programme through distance learning was launched. The programme will be delivered through cutting edge virtual learning

Markfield Institute of Higher Education

Marketing effort in Kenya and South AfricaAs part of MIHE’s initiative to promote excellence in higher education and build links with prominent academic institutions across the world, very successful visits to Kenya and South Africa were undertaken by Asim Riaz from 8 - 22 May this year. The visits were primarily aimed at expanding the range of contacts in academic, financial and altruistic sectors in these countries to help promote our courses. Various promotional programmes were organised in Nairobi, Mombasa, Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town with the help of local partners. These programmes included presentations, media interviews, meetings and discussions. Very fruitful discussions were held with Vision Institute of Professionals, Nairobi, Pwani University, Kilifi, Business School, University of Nairobi, Umma University, Thika (Kenya), Regent Business School, Durban, International Peace University, Cape Town.

technology which enables students to progress in their own time by attending live lectures from a distance and accessing course material available online. Students will be able to interact with their tutors and supervisors utilising modern media of communications.

MIHE Becomes a Listed BodyIn the summer of 2011 the Markfield Institute became a listed body of Department of Business Innovation Skills in the UK. This would enable the Institute to apply for public funding to support its research activities in the future.

Pre/Post Doctoral Research MIHE aims to foster links with relevant academic institutions in the UK, Europe and the wider Muslim world and aspires to become an international academic forum for scholars to participate in regular seminars, workshops, symposiums and conferences to allow exchange of ideas and the sharing of the best academic practices. Alongside

In addition, several promotional programmes and media interviews were also arranged at Jameh Masjid, Nairobi, to Muslim Women Professionals, Nairobi, Darul Uloom Kisauni, Mombasa, at WITS university, Johannesburg, with Radio Islam Johannesburg and Voice of Cape in Cape Town, at Islamic Dawah Movement office in Durban and with Muslim Views, a newspaper in Cape Town.

The visit not only helped build links with academic institutions for collaborative academic partnership but also encouraged the promotion of Islamic Scholarship by building relationship with charitable organisations and philanthropists who may help to financially support students in higher education. The visits also paved the way for developing relationships with legal, financial and insurance institutions in order to meet their staff training needs in Islamic Banking and Islamic law through local delivery of tailor-made courses.

its research degree programme, this year MIHE provided opportunities to conduct pre and post doctorate research within the specialist fields offered at the Institute. It has had so far 6 candidates who have either completed or are undergoing their research, and another 4 are due to join the Institute by the end of 2011.

External ChallengesSince April 2011 a number of changes have been imposed by the UK Borders Agency on all privately funded Higher Educational institutions which has major implications on the future operations of the Markfield Institution and the overseas students it sponsors. The UKBA has mandated that Institutions must attain the ‘Highly Trusted’ status by April 2012 and be approved by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) by the end of 2012. This has meant that Markfield Institute will have to comply with these requirements in order to continue sponsoring foreign students.


SEMINAR ON CHALLENGES FOR MUSLIMS IN A BRITISH MILITARY CONTEXT

On 18th May 2011, Markfield Institute of Higher Education was pleased to host a well-attended public lecture by Dr Joel Hayward, Dean of the Royal Air Force College, on the subject of ‘The Challenges for Muslims in a British Military context’, which generated much interest and a lively discussion.

Dr Hayward started by giving a background about how the Military establishment felt that it should reflect the current British society, which meant the Military actively tried to increase the composition of ethnic minorities with the military. Though there has been a big improvement in the representation of ethnic minorities over the last few years, the number of Muslims has remained relatively low.

A noted military historian, Dr Hayward has two books under contract with Kube, a study of the conduct and justice of the Prophet’s military campaigns, and a collection of Islamic poems, Splitting the Moon.

Mr Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Governor Central Bank of Nigeria, delivered a seminar entitled ‘Islamic Finance in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges’ at the Markfield Institute of Higher Education on 17 June 2011.

In his address, Mr Sanusi first spoke about the concept and key principles of Islamic banking and finance. He then went on to highlight the development of the concept in Nigeria, the recent initiatives taken by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to promote the growth and effective regulation of Islamic banks in Nigeria, and concluded by looking at the prospects and challenges as well as future steps and short term outlook that need to be adopted to push Islamic Banking forward in Nigeria.

Mr Sanusi stated that, in January 2011, the CBN released the framework for the regulation and supervision of the non-interest banking sector, under which Islamic Banks included, and in line with its facilitating role, the CBN has undertaken a number of initiatives to promote the effective regulation of Islamic banking and finance in Nigeria,

such as capacity development, membership of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), the establishment of the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM), inter-agency collaboration and cooperation, awareness creation, cross-border and linkages and bridges and instituting a non-interest banking and the new banking model.

As a result of these steps, the first Islamic Bank has recently been licensed and will start its operations by the end of this year (2011). However, Mr Sanusi was well aware of the challenges that lie ahead for the successful introduction and operation of Islamic banking in Nigeria and was confident of meeting them.

The seminar was attended by students, staff as well as a number of visitors from the Nigerian community from around the UK, and was concluded with a lively question and answer session.

Governor Central Bank of Nigeria delivers seminar


Seminar on Abdullah Quilliam

Professor Ron Geaves, Professor of Comparative Religion at Liverpool Hope University, delivered a lecture on “The Historical and Contemporary Significance of the writings of Abdullah Quilliam” at MIHE on 23 March 2011, which was well attended by students, staff and other guests.

Professor Geaves highlighted Quilliam’s wide interests which ranged from geology, comparative religion, history, literature, poetry, political commentary, journalism, Islamic studies and so forth, as well as his prolific output, which included the weekly Crescent magazine that was published between 1893-1908. Alongside his life of Quilliam, published by Kube, Professor Geaves intends to follow up with an edited anthology of Quilliam’s writings, which will also be published by Kube.

The Islamic Foundation and the Markfield Institute of Higher Education (MIHE) in conjunction with the Islamic Development Bank and the Islamic Research & Training Institute (IRTI), Saudi Arabia, held an Orientation Seminar and Research Workshop under the theme of ‘Morality and Finance’ on 4 -6 October 2011 in the Markfield Conference Centre. This programme was in continuation of the earlier training programme that was last held in 2008 and which explored how modern financial practices can be reconciled with moral values.

The programme was comprised of a two-day intensive Orientation Seminar and one day Research Workshop. It was attended by academics, scholars, practitioners and students from the Markfield Institute and other academic institutions in the UK as well as students from Trisakti University, Jakarta, Indonesia. A number of research papers were presented by some of the world’s leading academics and practitioners in the field such as Professor Khurshid Ahmad and Dr Umer Chapra, Dr Sami Al-Suwailem, Dr Salman Ali from IRTI and Professor Rodney Wilson and Professor Habib Ahmed from Durham University. among others. The seminar and workshop presented the participants with the opportunity to interact with the lecturers and discuss the detailed well researched papers that formed part of the study material given to the participants.

After a welcome note and brief introduction about the organisers by Dr Manazir Ahsan, Director General Islamic Foundation and Dr Abdelkadir Chachi of IRTI respectively,

the keynote address was delivered by Professor Khurshid Ahmad, Chairman of the Islamic Foundation on ‘The Movement of Islamic Economics, Banking and Finance and the Challenges Facing it’. In his address Prof Khurshid gave a historical and theological background to the development of Islamic Economics and the practical challenges that it faced today. This was followed by speeches from a number of prominent scholars from IRTI and other academic institutions in the UK and Europe. The participants were given the opportunity to put their questions and queries to the speakers at the end of each day when the speakers took questions during the Panel Discussion.

At the end of the programme students were presented with attendance certificates by Dr Manazir Ahsan and Dr Umer Chapra.

Orientation Seminar & Research Workshop on

Morality and Finance


Kube Publishing

at living IslamLiving Islam ‘the event of the year’, organised by the Islamic Society of Britain, took place at the Lincolnshire showground from the 28th to the 30th of July. Kube Publishing was in attendance with a sizeable stall situated in the bazaar and its own dedicated ‘story telling tent’. Four authors, published by Kube, were invited to launch and promote their work.

Jamal Orme, author of The Victory Boys, launched his book at the Kube stall and ran two scout workshops in the ‘story telling tent’. He worked with one group of girls and one group of boys, all aged 10-12. In each workshop the children had to write a new part of The Victory Boys to follow an extract Jamal read at the beginning. After the event, Jamal wrote on his blog thevictoryboys.com, ‘that these young writers came up with such impressive results had far more to do with their enthusiasm and creativity than the somewhat experimental format of my workshop!’

Suma Din’s Dr Hany El Banna: A Servant to the World’s Poorest People, the first title in the Muslims in the Modern World series was launched at the stall as well. Suma Din was also invited to hold events in the ‘story telling tent’ and took the book to four Scouts workshops. She said, about the children, ‘they had questions galore to ask me about the whole process of interviewing; writing; the designing process; printing and more. After this, they went on to try their own hand at interviewing each other!’ Suma Din is also the author of Turning the Tide: Reawakening the Woman’s Heart and Soul.

The final book to be launched at this event was Farah Morley’s Spider and the Doves: The Story of the Hijra.

Ron Geaves, author of Islam in Victorian Britain: The Life and Times of Abdullah Quilliam was also at Living Islam. He delivered a thrilling talk on Islam in Victorian Britain, which continued afterwards as interested listeners queued up to purchase signed copies of his book and ask questions.

A high profile absentee from Living Islam was Dawud

Wharnsby, who had hoped to be there to see his latest book A Picnic of Poems: In Allah’s Green Garden on sale. To compensate for his absence the Kube stall promoted his songbook and played the joyful recordings of them throughout the event. Not content with this Dawud also produced a set of videos for the book that are now on Youtube and recorded a 30 minute length interview, which can be found on thekubeblog.com but was also played on Radio Ramadan stations throughout the UK during August.

Kube Publishing was represented at Living Islam by Haris Ahmed, Manzoor Khalid, Anwar Cara, Usman Sheikh and Yosef Smyth.

In April, Kube Publishing attended the London Book Fair, displaying our work to the wider industry. Along with selling our products, the book fair also acts as an excellent place to maintain contacts and network with other publishing companies. This year we sold rights of a number of our books to Saudi Arabia, had some fantastic interest in First Principles of Islamic Economics and the Journal of Islamic Economics, and met a range of international distributors willing to export our products to new territories.

In October Kube could also be found at Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest book exhibition in the world. There was significant interest in our titles from Malaysia and Turkey in particular, and a request to translate and publish Cinderella: An Islamic Tale into Italian.

London and Frankfurt Book Fairs


NEW TITLES

Heavenly BitesKarimah bint Dawood

Heavenly Bites is the first multi-national Muslim cookbook that features the best of Muslim cooking to be found from Morocco to Bangladesh, which is all part of the dynamic food culture of modern-day London,

served up by Karimah bint Dawood, the TV presenter, cook and convert to Islam. With the ever-growing popularity of “Eastern” cooking in the Western world, this book assembles together some of the best-loved dishes, featuring some 50 recipes from soups, salads, snacks and starters, smoothies, main courses and sweets.

ISBN: 978-1-84774-031-1Pp. 98, Price: £9.95, Paperback

The Spider and the Doves: The Story of the HijraFarah Morley

The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is besieged on all sides by his enemies. Then Allah sends him some unlikely helpers in the

form of a pair of doves and a spider. “But what can I do? I am so small and weak, and now even my web is broken.” This is the re-telling of a classic true story from the Prophet’s life. It weaves a tale that shows how even the smallest of us can have a great destiny.

ISBN 978-0-86037-449-7Pp. 29, Price £3.95, Age: 5+, Hardback

A Picnic of Poems. In Allah’s Green GardenDawud Wharnsby

A wonderful collection of 30 poems to keep the young and ‘young at heart’ entertained for hours. These poems cover a number of topics including: motherhood, daily prayers, baby siblings, life on a farm, the animal kingdom,

bulling, Ramadan, mosques, appreciating nature and more. The book comes with an audio CD to bring the poetry to life and allow you to sing along to these joyful yet educational rhymes.

ISBN 978-0-86037-444-2Pp. 42, Price £9.99, Age: 5+, Hardback

The Victory BoysJamal Orme

Junayd and his friends think madrasa is a waste of time, and older brother Saleem is fast becoming the black sheep of the family. That is, until the Imam of the mosque initiates an extra-curricular project outside his comfort zone. But can faith and

football flourish side-by-side?ISBN: 978-0-86037-414-5Pp. 104, Price £4.99, Age 9+, Paperback

Dr. Hany El Banna: A Servant to the World’s poorest peopleSuma Din

Dr. Hany El Banna, the founder of Islamic Relief Worldwide, is a tireless humanitarian activist working for the world’s poorest people. Follow his footsteps as he moves to the UK as a young doctor, only to become

the president of a global humanitarian relief organization. From underground tunnels in war-torn Bosnia to the cyclone ravished villages of Bangladesh, find out what drove Dr. El Banna to people in need. The story of his efforts to establish Islamic Relief around the world is at once a warm, inspiring and occasionally eccentric tale of humanity. This is the first book in the Muslim in the Modern World series, which brings together lives and personalities of a range of influential and fascinating Muslim figures.

ISBN 978-1-84774-026-7Pp. 104, Price £5.99, Paperback

Daily Wisdom: Selections from the Holy Qur’anAbdur Raheem Kidwai

This beautiful presentation of the Holy Qur’an engages the reader in a moment of daily reflection. With 365 verses covering the whole year, this is a must for every home.

An essential companion to the book “Daily Wisdom: Sayings of

the Prophet Muhammad.”ISBN: 978-1-84774-032-8Pp. 412, Price: £9.99, Hardback


New Muslim Project April 2011 began with the National Network Meeting which provided a forum for those who run support networks for converts to Islam across the UK to meet and discuss their work. A number of presentations from academics in the field of religious conversion were included in the two day programme. Ruqaiyah Hibell presented the joint research findings emanating from the New Muslim Projects and Leicester City Council’s research which examined the challenges faced by converts to Islam in Leicester and discussed the report, entitled ‘From Isolation to Integration: A report on the Muslim Convert Community in Leicester’.

The Living Islam camp provided a venue through which Batool al-Toma was able to introduce many converts to the work and services provided by the New Muslims Project. With the assistance of Erica Timoney two presentations were delivered; ‘The Final Journey of Death and Bereavement,’ and ‘How to make a good Hajj.’

Batool al-Toma delivered a presentation to the Association of British Hujjaj at the House of Lords entitled, ‘Perspectives on Hajj.’ A presentation at 8 Broughton Terrace, Liverpool was part of a programme designed to bring converts together to support the memory of the illustrious Victorian convert Abdullah Quilliam.

Ramadan commenced with a new edition of the ever popular Meeting Point newsletter which continues to be circulated

widely across the UK and abroad and its demand is increasing in prisons and young offenders’ institutions around the country.

The 2011 Ramadan Retreat offered converts to Islam several days of spiritual sustenance. Around 100 converts from around the UK benefited from a peaceful and tranquil environment whereby they

enjoyed the company of others new and not so new to Islam. They participated in a range of presentations and spiritual exercises designed to recharge the spirit and nurture their faith as Muslims.

The Eid Open day was again a resounding success. A fantastic day was enjoyed by converts who came to the Islamic Foundation from around the UK to share the blessing of Eid celebration. Children were treated to a wide range of fun activities which included a wide selection of inflatable slides, castles and obstacles courses. Interactive displays of Tai Kwon Do and Tai Chi enthralled both parents and children. Mad Science proved a great success with some hair-raising experiments designed to mesmerise the children. The snakes and reptiles appeared for the third year in succession having lost none of their appeal as the children were fascinated by them. The clown entertained with balloons and fun and the day was rounded off with sports events which were thoroughly enjoyed by all who participated. Overall, it proved to be a wonderful day.

Ask the LibrarianOne of the most frequently asked questions in the new academic year has been about e-books’ provision in the Library. With the availability of modern electronic gadgets, users’ reading habits are changing and the demand for e-resources is growing.

The Islamic Foundation Librarian is able to provide students access to the University of Gloucestershire’s Network, which gives off-campus access to e-books in multi-disciplinary fields. Students have access to over 500 full text e-books via the university network. The categories of books available include Business and Economics, Education, History, Religion and Law. There are 34 full text e-books on Religion, 15 titles in Law, 103 in

Business and Economics and 48 in Education (48) in the e book database.

E-Journals New e-journals appear on the horizon weekly they cover a wide range of titles and subjects. These journals are all available as full text via the University of Gloucestershire’s Network from EBSCOHost.

Libraries across SectorsThe Librarian, Jasmine Ansari, had a unique opportunity to meet other Librarians from Higher Education, commercial and public libraries from the East Midlands on a course entitled ‘Motivate, Lead and Learn’ .The course, run by LIEM (Libraries & Information East Midland), was aimed at middle-

T H E I S L A M I C F O U N D A T I O N


The Islamic Foundation organised a seminar on ‘Islamic Revival in the UK: Past, Present and Future’ which was held at the Markfield Conference Centre on 16 -17 September 2011.

The seminar was organised with to promote thoughts and insights on the history/heritage and future legacy of Islamic revival in the UK, as well as the wider scene of related Islamic activism, in order to consider implications for the Islamic Foundation, its activities and projects.

The round table was well attended by some members of the Islamic Foundation andincluded leaders of community organisations, activists and academics with an interest in the subject.

Dr Ahsan mentioned in his welcome speech: “…it is nearly 50 years since the first of these organisations [present] were established, and over 20 years since the second generation of organisations here today came into being. It’s ten years on since 9/11 and we have just seen huge changes this year in the Arab world – so this is an important moment for us to think, to take stock and to reflect…”

Other presenters included: Prof. Khurshid Ahmad who delivered the keynote speech on ‘Islamic Revival in the UK: Past, Present and Future’ and Dr Abdelwahab El-Affendi who spoke on the ‘Origins, Purpose and Development of Islamic Revival’, with Dr Philip Lewis acting as respondent.

Round Table Seminar

Islamic Revival in the UK – Past, Present and Future

Looking at the global context, Dr Abdullah Sahin spoke on ‘Turkey: Reflections on the AK Party’, Dr Ataullah Siddiqui spoke on ‘India: Reflections on the Jama‘at-i-Islami Hind’, and Naved Siddiqi on ‘the 9/11 decade and its impact on Muslims in the UK’. Participants also considered the impact of the Arab Spring’ on British Muslim communities.

In a session looking at UK experiences, Mohamed Abdul Aziz, spoke on ‘Building Alliances in the UK: the Equality and Human Rights Experience’, Dr Abdul Bari tackled the issue of ‘Building Unity within the Muslim Community: A Reflection’, and case studies of organisational activities were also examined.

A number of important discussions were held at the seminar and a workshop looking to the future also generated very helpful suggestions from seminar participants.

managers and their effectiveness as leaders within their work environment. The topics addressed in the modules included: communication, motivating staff during times of change; team building; coaching; advocacy; and working in collaboration with other organisations.

Markfield Interfaith Group (MIG)The MIG met in August 2011 during Ramadan in the Library. The meeting was about ‘The Importance of fasting and prayers in Christianity and Islam’. Revd. Simon Nicholls gave an insight into Lent and spoke about the importance of the Lord’s prayer. He helped us to realise the similarities and importance of these two acts of worship in both the religions. Br M. Rafeek spoke movingly of the main tenets of Islam. The meeting was attended by MIHE students and other guests.

L I B R A R Y


Staff Activities

Sughra AhmedLecture on Shariah, Al-Nisa in March

2011.

Speech on British Muslims, local

Conservative Party meeting with

Baroness Warsi, Woking in March

2011.

Lecture on Women in Religion

and Leadership, Christian Muslim

Forum, Blackburn Cathedral in

March 2011.

Presentation on Faith and Social

Justice, Amplified Leicester, Phoenix

Square in March 2011.

Paper on Modernity / Transforma-

tion and Tradition in conflicts of

identity across Arab and European

societies, Organisation of Arabs and

Christians, Greece in April 2011.

Interview and Moment of Reflection,

Good Morning Sunday with Aled

Jones, BBC Radio 2 in May 2011.

Article on Interfaith in Britain,

Common Ground News in June

2011.

Presentation on young British

Muslims, Young People and Faith

Conference, Youth and Policy, Leeds

in June 2011.

Article on young British Muslims,

Common Ground News in

September 2011.

Contribution on remembering 9/11,

Leicester Cathedral in September

2011.

Presentation on Contemporary

Challenges for British Muslims,

Islamic Revival in the UK: Past,

Present and Future Roundtable, The

Islamic Foundation in September

2011.

Presentation on Generation 1.0–

memories of migration and settle-

ment, Religious Archives Group,

Cambridge in September 2011.

Regular contribution to local and

national BBC Radio through Pause

for Thought and interviews.

Yahya Birt Participation in debate on “Islam in

a Secular Europe”, British Humanist

Association, Conway Hall, London,

16th September 2011

Iqtidar CheemaUs against them’: Failure of the

British Policy of Multiculturalism?

Journal of European Studies, Vol. 27

(02) July 2011, pp.16-29

Socio Cultural Stratification of India,

Policy Perspectives, Vol. 8, No. 1,

January–June 2011, pp.49-63

A Conceptual Framework of the

Dynamics of Democracy, Journal of

Political Studies, Vol. XVII , pp. 131-

149

Jinnah: India, Partition,

Independence, Tbe Muslim World

Book Review, 31: 3, 2011, pp. 53-56

Unholy war: terror in the name

of Islam, accepted for publication,

Journal of Islam and Christian-

Muslim Relations

Dilwar Hussain Seminar on Contextualising Islam

in Britain Programme, Cambridge

University, 12th-13th February 2011.

Panel discussion on Islam, Islamic

Society, University of Cambridge,

19th February 2011.

Seminar on Contextualising Islam

in Britain Programme, Cambridge

University, 12th-13th March 2011.

Meeting of the Three Faiths Forum

Consultative Council, 17th March

2011.

Keynote speech on Migration

and Integration, at the launch of

Migration Integration Policy Index,

hosted by the British Council, Oslo,

21st March 2011.

BBC Standing Conference on

Religion and Ethics, London, 12th

April 2011.

Presentation on Religion and Identity,

Global Futures Forum, Madrid,

20th-22nd June 2011.

Panel discussion on the Place of

Religion in Public Life, Humanist

Philosophers’ Day Conference,

London, 16th July 2011.

Presentation on 50 Years of British

Islam, Living Islam Festival,

Lincolnshire, 28-31st July.

Presentation on Challenging

Extremist Thought, Living Islam

Festival, Lincolnshire, 28-31st July.

Presentation on As British as Fish &

Chips, Greenbelt Festival, Gloucester,

27th August 2011.

Meeting of the Three Faiths

Forum Consultative Council, 26th

September 2011.

Presentation on Countering

Extremism, Community Engagement

and Resilience, International

Conference on Community

Engagement, 21st September 2011.

Panel discussion on Muslims in

Europe, OSI Panel at the Multiple

Modernities and Tradition

Conference, Budapest, 30th

September 2011.

Participation in seminar on Race

Inequality, Cabinet Office, London,

4th October 2011.

Panel discussion on Anatomy of

British Society, Wroxton College,

Oxford, 6th October 2011.

Thought for the Day on St George’s

Day, BBC Radio Leicester, 21st April

2011.

Dr Shahrul Hussain “Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb: An Analytical Study of its Historical Inception, its Definition by the Classical Scholars and its Application to the Contemporary World”, Al-Hikma Publications 2011. Islamic Law and the Law of Armed Conflict: The Armed Conflict in Pakistan, by Niaz A. Shah, Tbe Muslim World Book Review, 32:1, 2011, pp.26-28The Creation of Saudi Arabia: ibn Saud and British Imperial Policy, 1914-927, by Askar H. Al-Enazy, Tbe Muslim World Book Review, 32:1,

2011, pp44-46


Faizal ManjooSpoke on “An Islamic Conceptual

Framework for DC (defined

contribution) and the decumulation

options” at the Professional Pension

Annual Show on the 22 September

2011 held in London.

Manjoo F. A. (2011), “Tax

Engineering Pertaining to Zakah and

Waqf for Poverty Alleviation and

Micro-financing in South Africa”,

in Obaidullah M & Abdul Latiff S.

(Editors) Islamic Finance for Micro

and Medium Enterprises, Jeddah:

Islamic Research and Training

Institute, pp.183-202.

Manjoo F.A. and Abdullah N.I. (2011), “Risk Management Principles and Mechanisms for the Islamic Financial System” et al Financial System: Principles and Operations Kuala Lumpur: International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance, pp. 551-588. Manjoo F. A (2011), “The “Ping-ponging” of the asset-backed / asset based and asset based/asset backed Sukuk debate and the way forward.” in Islam and Civilisation Renewal Journal (To be published in October 2011)Manjoo F. A. (2011), “An Orientalist Perspective of Islamic Law: From Fossilization to Legal Transplant”, The Muslim World Book Review, 31: 4. pp. 6-19

Dr Ataullah SiddiquiParticipated in a Seminar at

Woodstock Theological Center,

Georgetown University, Washington

DC on the situation of Christian-

Muslim Relations to an invited

audience on 16th February 2011.

Spoke on the ‘International situation

of Inter-faith relations’ at Richmond

mosque Virginia USA on 18th

February 2011.

Spoke on ‘Faith, Inter-Faith and

Common Good’ at Richmond

Virginia Central Mosque and

Community Centre on 19th

February 2011.

Radio Interview on ‘Islam in Britain’

(1hour) with Radio Islam Chicago,

also discussed the situation of

Islamic Studies in Britain on 29th

April 2011.

Attended Mid-Atlantic Muslim-

Catholic Dialogue New Jersey jointly

organised by the Roman Catholics

and Islamic Circle of North America

(ICNA) on 13th–14th April 2011.

Gave a presentation on ‘Education:

Joint courses and programmes by

Christians and Muslims – a critical

reflection.’

Delivered a public lecture at the

Islamic Foundation, Chicago –

‘Recent Trends in Christian-Muslim

Relations’ on 30th April 2011.

Gave a seminar on ‘Changing

perceptions of Islam: Christian

theology and theologians since 1900’,

at Woodstock Theological Center

Georgetown University on 11th May

2011.

Attended the Islamic Circle of North

America’s National Convention

at Hartford. Gave a talk on

‘Islamophobia and Inter-Faith

Relations’ on 28th May 2011.

Invited as a respondent to Professor

David Ford‘s presentation on the

‘Common Word between Us and

You’ Document at the International

Summer School of Jewish, Christian

and Muslim leaders organised by

University of Cambridge on 27th

July 2011.

Dr Abdullah Sahin Delivered key note speech “Religious

freedom & freedom of speech, at

the seminar on Religious Freedom

in Cotemporary Muslim World”

Lambeth Palace, March 2011.

“Risk &Reward; an Islamic reflection”

key note speech delivered at Windsor

Debates organised by Thames Valley

Chamber of Commerce Group,

Windsor Castle April, 2011.

Contributed to the panel discussion

on Faith and International

Development held at Lambeth

Palace with an address entitled “The

Concept of ‘well-being ‘in Islamic

Law”, April 2011.

Dr Ian G. WilliamsPaper: Initiatives and Models in Inter

faith Dialogue in the Contemporary

UK, Conference: “Philosophical

Inheritance as an Effective Factor of

Development of the Modern World”.

Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko

University, Kiev, Ukraine 12th–14th

May 2011.

Paper: Contemporary Movements

and Developments in UK Faith

Sector Education University of

Gloucestershire, Postgraduate

Research Conference, Cheltenham

16th–17th May 2011.

Paper: A Dangerous Devotion? Shared

and disputed symbols within Twelver

Shi’ite and Ahl i-Sunnat Traditions of

Islam: An examination of theological

constructions and devotional practices

amongst leaders and adherents of these

traditions from 19th c ce South Asia

to the contemporary UK. Conference:

“Contesting Shi‘ism: Isna ‘Ashari

and Isma‘ili Shi‘ism in Modern

South Asia”, Royal Holloway College,

University of London, 9th–10th

September 2011.

Paper: “Ours is not a caravan of

despair”: the influence and presence of

the Turkish Sunni Nurcu Movement

of Hojaeffendi Fethullah Gülen in UK

Education and Social Development.

Research Conference “Interpretation,

Imagination and Islam”, Centre for

the Study of Islam in the UK, Cardiff

University Wednesday 26th October

2011.

Chapter The influence and presence of

the Turkish Sunni Nurcu Movement

of Hojaeffendi Fethullah Gülen in the

UK’ in Gabriel, Theodore [ed] British

Sufism, London, Ashgate 2011.


w w w . i s l a m i c - f o u n d a t i o n . o r g . u k

The NEWSLETTER is published by the Islamic Foundation. For further copies or more information about its projects, publications and courses, contact:

THE ISLAMIC FOUNDATION, Markfield Conference Centre, Ratby Lane, Markfield, Leicestershire UKTel ( ) Fax ( ) E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

VisitorsThe Foundation and MIHE have had the privilege of welcoming a number of prominent national and international visitors during the last few months:

H.E. Pehin Abu Bakar, Minister of Education, Brunei visited the Foundation on 9 July 2011. During his visit Mr Abu Bakar met the senior management and Trustees of

the Islamic Foundation and expressed his happiness atfor what had been achieved over the years and hoped to facilitate discussions with institutions in Brunei to explore areas of mutual cooperation.

Professor Mohammad Amin, Dean Faculty of Sharia and Law Universitas Islam Negeri, Jakarta, Indonesia lead a delegation from the University to visit the Markfield Institute of Higher Education from 5 - 7 May 2011. The aim of the visit was to follow up the Memorandum of Understanding signed between UIN and MIHE in 2009. Members of the delegation met senior management and academic staff of MIHE and discussed the possibility of supporting the development of postgraduate programmes and providing progression pathways for staff and students of UIN. The meetings concluded with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement to formalise the discussions.

Dr Riffat Hassan, President, The Iqbal International Leadership Institute visited the Foundation on 10 May 2011. During her visit she had discussions with mem-

bers of the Policy Research Centre to identify specific projects that could be jointly undertaken.

Dato Dr Mohd Yusuf Hj Othman, Director Institute of Islam Hadhari, Malaysia accompanied by representa-tives from JAKIM and the

Prime Minister’s Department visited the Markfield Institute of Higher Education on 4 July 2011. During their visit, Dato Dr Othman and members of the delegation had meetings with the Rector and and other senior staff members and discussed areas of common interest that could be explored for future cooperation with the Institute. Specific projects were identified and formal proposals will be sent to JAKIM to be lookedstudied for future implementation.

Mr Mohammed Ali Abdullah Al-Wohaiby, Advisor, Sultan Qaboos Centre for Islamic Culture, Diwan of Royal Court, Sultanate of Oman visited

the Foundation on 25 - 26 October 2011. During his two- day visit, Mr Al-Wohaiby met with heads of departments and senior staff of the Islamic Foundation, Markfield Institute and Kube Publishing and discussed matters of mutual interest and explored areas of future cooperation.

Professor Ishtiyaq Ahmad Zilli, Director Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy, India visited the Foundation on 19 July 2011.

During his visit he met with Dr Manazir and other members of staff at the Foundation and the Markfield Institute.

Bader Saud Al-Dughaishi and Moham-med Said Al Mamari, Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, Sultanate of Oman visited the Foundation on 25 July 2011. They were particularly impressed by the work of the Foundation such as the Markfield Institute, the New Muslim Project and the variety of publications produced by the Foundation through Kube. The Ministry has agreed to host the visit of a delegation of new Muslims to the Sultanate early in 2012.

Mr Abdullah bin Hussein Al-Nimah, Vice Chairman, Qatar Charity visited the Foundation 28 September 2011. During

his Mr Al-Nimah had meetings with Prof Khurshid Ahmad, Chairman, other Trustees and senior management of the Foundation. He was particularly impressed by the range and variety of activities and services of the Foundation and the efforts that have been made to present the message of Islam in the western world. He hoped that he will be able to mobilise support to some of the Foundation’s key projects.

Karen Huntress, Assistant Cultural Attache, Embassy of the United States of America, London accompanied by Zeba Iqbal Executive Director, Council for the Advancement of Muslim Professional , visited the Foundation on 12 October 2011. The visitors were given an introduction about the work and activities of the Foundation and had detailed discussions with the Policy Research Centre and other staff of the Foundation.

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