Professor Mona Siddiqui (OBE FRSE FRSA DCivil Laws(Hon) Dlitt (Hon),Hon FRIAS, FAAAS)

Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies, Assistant Principal Religion and Society, Dean International, Middle East

  • School of Divinity
  • Chair of BBC's Scottish Religious Advisory Committee
  • Member of the Advisory Council of Wilton Park, an executive arm of the Foreign and Commonwealth office. Member of the board of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation. I

Contact details

Address

Street

School of Divinity, Mound Place

City
Edinburgh
Post code
EH1 2LX

Biography

Background

Mona Siddiqui joined the University of Edinburgh’s Divinity school in December 2011 as the first Muslim to hold a Chair in Islamic and Interreligious Studies. She also holds the posts of Assistant Principal for Religion and Society and Dean international for the Middle-East at the University of Edinburgh.  Prior to this, she worked at Glasgow University directing the Centre for the Study of Islam. Her research areas are primarily in the field of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and ethics and Christian-Muslim relations. Amongst her most recent publications are, 50 Ideas in Islam (Quercus, 2016), Muslim Christian Encounters 4 volumes, (Routledge, 2016) Hospitality in Islam: Welcoming in God’s Name (Yale UP, 2015), My Way: A Muslim Woman's Journey (IB Tauris, 2014), Christians, Muslims and Jesus (Yale University Press, 2013) and The Good Muslim: Reflections on Classical Islamic Law and Theology (Cambridge University Press, 2012). Her current monograph  based on her Gifford lectures on the theme of human struggle is currently in   press with Cambridge University Press. She has held research grants from the John Templeton Foundation on comparative philosophy,  the Henry Luce Foundation on Christian- Muslim studies and the Issachar Fund on the theme of gratitude in Christian and Islamic thought. She has held visiting professorships at several Dutch and American universities including a Humanitas Professorship at Cambridge University in 2014. 

Professor Siddiqui is also well known internationally as a public intellectual and a speaker on issues around religion, ethics and public life. She is a regular commentator in the media, known especially for her appearances on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland’s Thought for the Day. In June 2016, she became a panellist on BBC Radio 4’s award winning The Moral Maze.  In 2012, she appeared as a guest on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs and in July 2015, was a guest on BBC Radio 3’s Private Passions.  She chairs the BBC’s Religious Advisory Committee in Scotland and during 2016 served as chair of the Scotland `Stronger In’ pro Europe campaign.  In April 2016, she was invited by the Home Office to lead an independent review of shari`a councils in the UK; the report was published by the Home Office in February 2018. She served as an elected member of the Nuffield Council of Bioethics and as a member of the British Medical Associations’ Medical Ethics Committee until June 2018. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, holds six honorary doctorates and an honorary fellowship of the Royal Society of Scottish Architects for her contributions to public life.  In 2011, she was awarded an OBE for her contribution to interfaith services. In 2014 she spoke on religion and politics at the World Economic Forum in Davos and in 2017 was listed in the Debretts top 500 list of the most influential people in the UK.  In April 2019, she received the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation. In April 2019 she was also elected a Fellow of the American Academy of  Arts and Sciences. 

Qualifications

OBE FRSE FRSA DCivil Laws(Hon) Dlitt (Hon),Hon FRIAS

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Research summary

My main research is in classical Islamic law (fiqh/furu`), juristic arguments and the interface with contemporary ethical issues.

I have an interest in Muslim theology which has developed into Christian-Muslim relations.  I welcome enquiries from students wishing to do a Masters or Phd in these areas. 

my research areas mean i am regulalry involved in writing expert witness reports and welcome inquiries from legal firms

More information about research projects by Prof Siddiqui are available on her Edinburgh Research Explorer profile.

Project activity

My current project is on the topic of Gratitude funded by the Issachar Fund 

https://www.ed.ac.uk/divinity/research/projects/gratitude-christian-and-muslim-perspectives

From January 2021, I will be exploring the topic of Loyalty  in a Christian - Muslim context, again funded by the Issachar Fund. 

 

Current project grants

Issachar Fund - Gratitude
Issachar Fund - Loyalty

Past project grants

John Templeton Foundation - comparative philosophy
Luce Foundation - Christian Muslim studies Network -https://christianmuslim.div.ed.ac.uk/

View all 76 publications on Research Explorer

Conference details

 

 

In the press

I contribute to a wide range of print and broadcast  media nationally and internationally

I have been a regular presenter on  BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland's Thought for the Day for over 20  years

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00szxv6/episodes

I am also a regular panellist on the BBC's Moral Maze 

I welcome invitations from all media 

 

 

 

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