Professor Mona Siddiqui (OBE, FRSE, FAAAS,HFRIAS)

Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies, Assistant Principal Religion and Society, University of Edinburgh and Jane and Aatos Erkko Chair, Helsinki Collegium.

Biography

Background

Professor Mona Siddiqui is an internationally recognised academic and broadcaster at the University of Edinburgh. She is Professor Islamic and Interreligious Studies as well as Assistant Principal for Religion and Society.   Her research areas are primarily in the field of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and ethics and Christian-Muslim relations. Amongst her most recent publications are, A Theology of Gratitude, CUP, 2022,  Human Struggle: Christian and Muslim Perspectives, based on her 2016 Gifford lectures (CUP, 2021),  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). She is currently working on her next monograph, Faith and Fidelity in Islamic Thought which will be published by Edinburgh University Press in 2023. She has held research grants from The John Templeton Foundation and the Henry Luce Foundation on Christian- Muslim studies. Her most recent grants are from the Issachar Fund on the theme of Gratitude in Christian and Islamic thought. She is currently a PI for a new grant with the Issachar Fund on the theme of Loyalty in Christian and Islamic thought. She has held visiting professorships at several Dutch and American universities. In 2014 she served as a Humanitas Professor at the University of Cambridge and since October 2021, she holds a Distinguished Visiting Professorship at Hartford International University, Connecticut and a Visiting Professorhip at Union Theological Seminary, New York.  In September 2022, she will be the Jane and Aatos Erkko Visiting Professor in Studies on Contemporary Society at the Helsinki Collegium of Advanced Studies.

Professor Siddiqui is an internationally sought after public speaker on 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 as well as BBC Radio 4’s 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 and the subsequent 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 has been a regular expert report writer and witness on a variety of legal cases involving religious practice for over 20 years.

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 September 2019, she was a judge on the prestigious Andrew Doolan award for the best building in Scotland. In 2020, she was invited to join the Advisory Council of Wilton Park, an executive arm of the Foreign and Commonwealth office. In September 2020, she was invited to join the board of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation.

 

In 2011, she was awarded an OBE for her interfaith work. She has spoken on religion and politics at the World Economic Forum in Davos and been 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 elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in December 2020, she was elected honorary member and first speaker of the Royal Scottish Academy. In October 2021 she was elected Vice-President International at the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

 

CV

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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 79 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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