Cambridge Muslim College
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Cambridge Muslim College is an independent
higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
institution in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, England. It was founded in 2009 by
Timothy Winter Timothy John Winter (born 15 May 1960), also known as Abdal Hakim Murad, is an English Islamic scholar and theologian who is a proponent of Islamic neo-traditionalism. His work includes publications on Islamic theology, modernity, and Anglo ...
(also known as Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad). It was most recently (2023 and 2024) headed by
Joel Hayward Joel Hayward (born 1964) is a New Zealand-born British scholar, academic and writer. He has been listed in the 2023, 2024 and 2025 editions of The 500 Most Influential Muslims, ''The World's 500 Most Influential Muslims''. He has been the Dean ...
, a professor and senior education administrator, who served as Chief Executive. Cambridge Muslim College was founded to support
British Muslim Islam is the second-largest religion in the United Kingdom, with results from the 2021 Census recording just under four million Muslims, or 6.0% of the total population in the United Kingdom. London has the largest population and greatest p ...
scholarship and training from secular and Islamic perspectives. It does not hold a political or denominational affiliation. Accredited by the British Accreditation Council for Independent Further and Higher Education, Cambridge Muslim College offers trained Muslim scholars a one year diploma in Islamic studies and leadership, designed to help them better implement their knowledge and training in 21st-century Britain. It also hosts academics, including early-career scholars engaged in post-doctoral research, as full-time and associate research fellows. In 2017, Cambridge Muslim College launched a three-year BA (Hons) in Islamic Studies validated by
The Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...
.


History

In 2002, Timothy Winter,
Yusuf Islam Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...
and Tijani Gahbiche agreed to the idea of establishing a centre of Islamic learning in Cambridge. Fundraising and consultations followed, and senior figures from the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
such as
Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...
Alison Richard Dame Alison Fettes Richard, (born 1 March 1948) is an English anthropologist, conservationist and university administrator. She was the 344th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, the third Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge since the po ...
and Regius Professor of Divinity David F. Ford offered advice, as well as Muslim scholars such as
Zaid Shakir Zaid Shakir (; born Ricky Daryl Mitchell, May 24, 1956) is an American Muslim scholar"Lonny Shavelson, Fred Setterberg", Under the Dragon: California's New Culture, Oakland Museum of California, Heyday Books, p.64, "Edward E. Curtis", The Colum ...
, founder of
Zaytuna College Zaytuna College is a private liberal arts college in Berkeley, California and is the first accredited Muslim undergraduate college in the United States. It was built on the foundation of an educational institute, founded in 1996 by Hamza Yus ...
. Cambridge Muslim College was founded in 2009 by Timothy Winter, who is the Shaykh Zayed Lecturer in
Islamic Studies Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam, which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies. Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidiscipli ...
in the
Faculty of Divinity Faculty or faculties may refer to: Academia * Faculty (academic staff), professors, researchers, and teachers of a given university or college (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a large department of a university by field of study (us ...
at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
. He has consistently been included in ''
The Muslim 500 ''The 500 Most Influential Muslims'' (also known as ''The Muslim 500'') is an annual publication first published in 2009, which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world. The publication is compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies C ...
'' list published annually by the
Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (RABIIT) is an international Islamic non-governmental, independent institute in Amman, Jordan. It is affiliated with the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre. The late King Hussein Bin Tala ...
. In its inaugural year it hosted a handful of students and was temporarily based at the University of Cambridge's Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology while searching for a permanent home. In 2011, the College acquired the freehold of its current campus at St Paul's Road, for £3.1 million. In 2015, it purchased with a loan a large adjacent building at 20 Cambridge Place, which will be the core of the teaching and resources provision for the BA and MA programmes. From 2023 to 2024,
Joel Hayward Joel Hayward (born 1964) is a New Zealand-born British scholar, academic and writer. He has been listed in the 2023, 2024 and 2025 editions of The 500 Most Influential Muslims, ''The World's 500 Most Influential Muslims''. He has been the Dean ...
served as Chief Executive. ''Kirkus Reviews'' said that Hayward "is undeniably one of academia’s most visible Islamic thinkers". He is also considered to be one of "the world’s five hundred most influential Muslims," with his listing in the 2023, 2024 and 2025 editions of ''
The Muslim 500 ''The 500 Most Influential Muslims'' (also known as ''The Muslim 500'') is an annual publication first published in 2009, which ranks the most influential Muslims in the world. The publication is compiled by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies C ...
'' 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."


Site

Cambridge Muslim College has been based at Unity House on St Paul's Road in central Cambridge since July 2011. The former
vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or Minister (Christianity), ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of n ...
was designed in 1847 by the Victorian architect
Sir George Gilbert Scott Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), largely known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he ...
. The building has a large front office and two teaching rooms on the ground floor, a refectory and a kitchen. The first floor houses the library, the prayer room and offices of the chief executive, the dean and research fellows. The adjoining buildings – a row of former
almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...
s – are used to house the college's Arabic book collections.


Curriculum and research

Cambridge Muslim College offers three programmes for students: the Diploma in Contextual Islamic Studies and Leadership, the Diploma in Islamic Psychology, and the three-year B.A. (Hons) in Islamic Studies validated by
The Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...
. The Diploma in Contextual Islamic Studies and Leadership is based on the 'non-traditional' segment of the proposed BA curriculum. It was agreed to launch the college's teaching programme with this diploma, which was designed for graduates of Islamic academies and
madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...
s to improve their understanding of Islam's relationship with the leading intellectual, legal, social and scientific trends of modern Britain. Around 20 students take the diploma each year. Students take courses on a wide range of subjects including philosophy, world religions, western art, international affairs and British constitutional history. The programme also includes an open audience with the
Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
in the Vatican City. The Diploma in Islamic Psychology is an online programme designed to give students who are already practitioners in related fields theoretical and practical perspectives of psychology and the Islamic sciences. The longer, three-year programme has a prerequisite one year of intensive Arabic study at the
Qasid Institute Qasid may refer to: * Qasid subtribe of the Yemeni tribe Yafa' * Qasid Dynasty (1144-1151 CE) of the Iberian Moorish Taifa of Mértola * Qaṣīd, a type of Jewish poetry written in Arabic from Yemen * Qased (rocket), an Iranian launch vehicle ...
in Amman, Jordan, before starting the three years of classical Islamic studies in Cambridge. The curriculum is modelled on that of the Al-Fath Academy in Damascus, Syria and also draws on the programme of
Al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...
in Cairo. In addition to classical Islamic text study, a range of contemporary disciplines are also taught, including Western history, philosophy, and science, and the knowledge of non-Muslim religions. Cambridge Muslim College hosts academics, including early-career scholars engaged in post-doctoral research, as full-time and associate research fellows. A part-time, two-year research-based postgraduate qualification is planned.


See also

*
List of Islamic educational institutions Institutions that have an Islamic or Muslim identity or charter include: Historical institutions in continuous operations Institutions founded before the colonial era and which are still in operation: * University of al-Qarawiyyin, Morocco, th ...
*
Cambridge Central Mosque The Cambridge Central Mosque is the first purpose-built mosque within the city of Cambridge, England. It opened to the public on 24 April 2019. The Mosque is a prominent Islamic centre located on Mill Road in the Romsey area of Cambridge. The ...
*
Namira Nahouza Namira Nahouza (born July 1979) is a French author, academic researcher, university lecturer, teacher of Arabic and religious studies, and research fellow at Cambridge Muslim College, whose research focusses on contemporary Salafi-Wahhabi theories ...


References


External links


Official website
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 2009 Schools in Cambridge Islamic schools in England Higher education colleges in England 2009 establishments in England