Islam

Mona Siddiqui is Professor of Islamic Studies and Public Understanding at the University of Glasgow. She began her academic life with a BA in Arabic and French at Leeds University which led eventually to a PhD in Classical Islamic Law at Manchester University. She came to the University of Glasgow in 1996 and two years later founded the Centre for the Study of Islam, which she directs. Professor Siddiqui's research and publication areas are Classical Islamic Law and Theology and Christian-Muslim textual engagement. Professor Siddiqui is well known as a public intellectual and as a broadcaster. She makes regular radio appearances, and writes frequently for the Scottish and British press, as well as being the Chair of the BBC's Religious Advisory Committee. She is an international speaker and has travelled the world at the invitation of diverse institutions to talk about her life and work. She holds 3 honorary doctorates from British universities for her contribution to religious studies and Islamic Studies. In 2005 she became an elected fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Society of Arts. In 2008 she was the Jantina Tammes Visiting Professor at the University of Groningen's Faculty of Theology. She is a member of the Commission on Scottish Devolution and a member of the Global Agenda Council on Faith for the World Economic Forum.