Muhammed Abdur Rahman

MA ISLAMIC EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

In Britain in the mid 90’s, avenues for accessing Islamic education were scarce, especially for Muslims living in my area of South Oxfordshire. Unfortunately, my elder siblings were unable to acquire a good level of Islamic education due to the lack of local availability. In the past 2 decades, provisions for Islamic education have grown rapidly. So, when I reached the age of 12, my parents enrolled me into an Islamic seminary to gain an Islamic education and deepen my understanding of faith. With the grace of Almighty God, I completed the memorisation of the Holy Quran and subsequent 6-year Alimiyyah course. Till today, I remain grateful to my parents for enrolling me in an Islamic institution as it has strengthened my faith and religious values, and I believe it was the best decision they made for me.
After my Alimiyyah studies, I completed a 1-year course in Advanced Islamic Jurisprudence which gave me first-hand experience of answering some of the day-to-day queries of Muslims related to their faith. Following this, I relocated to another city away from home, to gain some experience in serving a Muslim community as a full-time imam.
As a young British Muslim faith leader who serves rural Muslim communities I have always felt the need to improve my educational leadership competence so that I can facilitate transformative teaching and learning opportunities within the community-based Islamic education settings. I strongly believe that reflective Islamic education is a key element for helping young British Muslims integrate their multidimensional identities.
I am fortunate to study MA Islamic Education programme at Warwick University. This provides me with a unique opportunity of achieving my professional development goals and preparing me to respond effectively to the educational needs of my students and bring greater benefit to the wider community.

Isma Kouser

BA (HONS) ISLAMIC STUDIES, CAMBRIDGE MUSLIM COLLEGE

Soon after securing a place at University to study English Literature, Isma was presented with what appeared to be a one off opportunity to study the Islamic Sciences. Following her gut, she decided to take the latter route of education. Dissatisfied with the approach and methods employed at boarding school, Isma left in search of another seminary which would allow scope for intellectual and creative growth. She finally completed her course at a local Institute, developing a passion for the science of Tajweed whilst taking inspiration from practical teaching methods under the tutelage of Sheikh Muhammad al-Ghurbani.
Alongside her studies, Isma taught at an evening madrasa where she found purpose and joy in her role within the education sector.

Isma is currently studying a BA in Islamic Studies at the Cambridge Muslim College. She travelled to Marrakech to study Arabic prior to the commencement of the academic program, an enriching experience of witnessing a lived Islam in the Moroccan world. Isma aspires to contribute to the educational needs of Britain’s growing Muslim community. Whether through the medium of teaching or writing, Isma hopes to cultivate a sense of confidence and belonging to young Muslims living in the UK today.

Shawaz Ahmad

MA INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM

Shawaz Ahmad is an upcoming multi-media journalist and story-teller, specialising in topics relating to human rights and global affairs.

Shawaz graduated from Middlesex University where she attained a first-class honour in BA Journalism. During her time there, she was actively involved with the Journalism society and MDX Conversations, to help organise and direct journalism related events. She was hosting weekly shows on the student radio channel, discussing politics and current affairs with her co-host and guests. In her second year, she was able to secure a placement at BBC London, where she gained valuable experience about news-gathering and working in a fast-pace newsroom.

Shawaz is currently the assistant manager at MTA UK, a national Muslim broadcasting TV channel. She has been working with MTA UK for over four years, and has had the experience of script-writing, editing, recording TV news packages and directing short documentaries with a small team. She feels that working with her community has allowed her to gain essential experience and work on pieces that tackle the negative portrayal of Muslims in the U.K.

It has only been one term of Shawaz’s Masters studies at City University in International Journalism, and in this short amount of time she has produced radio, print and TV pieces, learnt about ethics and law and global journalism. She is looking forward to the terms ahead, specifically her specialism module Reporting in the Middle East and working on her final project assignment.

Part of this scholarship will be completed with an internship at the Mirror. Shawaz is keen to put her previous experience in journalism and her studies into practice at The Mirror, and learn from experts in the field. She believes that this opportunity will allow her to amplify the voices of minorities and marginalised communities that are under-reported in the media.

Shawaz’s aim has always been to help people and create change through her passion of journalism. This opportunity has opened many doors for her, and she is certain that it will make a significant contribution to her career and future.

Mohammed Makda

Graduated 2021: MA ISLAMIC STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

Like most Muslims living in the UK, and especially ones born into communities with strong Islamic roots, I have had a steady stream of Islamic Knowledge and digest fed into my educational diet. From a very young age, I was a keen bookworm, and my interests were not limited to fiction either. Books allowed my perspective of the world to grow organically, and consequently have played a part in my desire to bring education, especially within Muslim communities, more in line with that type of organic growth and identity formation.

At the age of 12, I entered a Darul Uloom. The following 10 years saw me grow and mature in that environment, becoming a Hafidh and then subsequently an ‘Alim. During my time in the Darul Uloom, I became aware of the various educational challenges that Darul Uloom’s across the UK faced, and by extension, most Islamic education institutions. For this reason, when I was offered the opportunity to obtain a Level 5 Teaching Qualification, I immediately took it.

I completed my Ilmiyyah course last year. The experience is one I will cherish for life, but as I move on, I see it my responsibility to ensure that those who follow me enjoy an experience as good or even better. Likewise, I see it as my responsibility, as a Muslim and an aspiring educator, to try and create avenues for greater educational achievement within the wider Muslim community. For this reason, I applied at Warwick, where I enrolled on the Masters in Islamic Education. I aim to hopefully bring my knowledge and expertise to help my community in realising and actualising the potential that exists within it.

Minahil Mujahid

BM BCh MEDICINE, ST ANNE'S COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

‘Whoever travels a path in search of knowledge, Allah makes easy for him a path to paradise’ (Sahih Muslim 2699). Travelling to seek knowledge has never been an alien concept to Minahil, whose parents ventured across the world, moving from place to place, to learn. So, although unexpected, it was not strange for her to end up all the way in Oxford.

For her intercalation, Minahil focused on applying Western scientific methods to elucidate the actions of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and has presented her work at several national conferences. She is interested in critiquing the modern approach to medicine and healthcare and believes there is a great knowledge to be gained from bridging the gap between modern and traditional.

Minahil is currently undertaking part-time traditional Islamic studies at the Al-Salam Institute as she believes there is a great benefit to be derived from interdisciplinary training. Knowledge of Islamic sciences, Traditional medicine and Western medicine contributes to a more holistic understanding of each subject; it allows questioning of normative perspectives and approaches to application, especially of science. She is hoping to pursue further studies in these areas after the completion of her Medical degree.

During her time at university, Minahil pioneered a series on ‘Islam and women’ which would exclusively host female speakers on topics including Leadership and identity politics. This was partly a reaction to the stark lack of (and unawareness of existing) Muslim women leaders and role models at university and, more especially, in the North East. She is looking forward to gaining valuable skills through COSARAF’s leadership programme and internship opportunities in order to work towards addressing these gaps.

Minahil’s ongoing aim is to bring the 3 spheres of her life, intellectual, spiritual and practical, into harmony so that by bettering herself she may better serve her community.

Ali Anis

BM BCh MEDICINE, ST ANNE'S COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Medicine is not a path that Ali has chosen lightly, however it is one to which he hopes he can make a lasting contribution in his lifetime. His reasoning is clear: a career as a doctor will allow him to use his love of science in the context of helping others, to continuously learn and develop and most importantly, to make a difference.

Growing up in one of the most deprived areas of East London and having received free school meals all throughout his formal education, he has a deeply personal experience of the challenges faced by those of lower socio-economic status. It is his passion to address these issues and ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to realise their potential, irrespective of their background. As such, he recently interned at the social mobility charity upReach, an organisation recognised for their work in helping less-advantaged students secure competitive graduate jobs.

He is also involved in a range of university access initiatives and most notably, was part of the delivery team for the annual Oxford Muslim Access Conference.

In the future, with the help of the COSARAF Charitable foundation and St. Anne’s college, he looks forward to coming up with fresh approaches that encourage more Muslim students to apply to institutions like Oxford.

Shayma Bakht

Graduated 2020: MA JOURNALISM, CITY UNIVERSITY

Shayma graduated from Nottingham University with a First-class honours in English. She then spent a year freelancing for different print and online publications like the Guardian, VICE and Gal-Dem. Shayma worked alongside the editors of AZEEMA magazine, which is a publication for women from the MENASA regions. With them, she interviewed Nike athlete Nesrine Dally, co-hosted an Eid event at WAH nails, and helped plan their next edition. While she began to pave a career in journalism, Shayma knew that she would need formal training to compete as a broadcaster or television reporter – especially as the industry is 94% white and 55% male.

It has only been one term of her Masters at City University in Broadcast Journalism, and she has already produced news packages for television and radio, created data journalism stories, and learned essential media law and ethics. Shayma has also secured placements with Channel 4 News and Unreported World, and she will be helping LBC cover the election on air.

Part of this scholarship will be completing an internship at the Sun. Shayma is excited to be a part of the new generation that are diversifying the media, and she wants to create change within the Sun, as it is an established platform that speaks to millions of people every day. She hopes that her experiences will enable doors to open for other minority women in journalism.

In the future, she would love to become a foreign correspondent. She believes it is so important for the news to become more diverse, and she would encourage more women from South Asian and Muslim backgrounds to be brave enough to become the change they want to see.

Hafsa Zadran

Graduated 2020: MA ISLAMIC STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

After successfully completing a five year comprehensive study of Islamic theology at a Dar-u- Uloom (Islamic seminary), Hafsa began to teach Islamic sciences such as Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) Hadith (prophetic traditions) and Seerah (biography of the Prophet Muhammad SAW). The quest for learning is a fundamental factor in Islamic education. This is why along with the teaching, her goal after graduating was to continue studying to acquire advance knowledge and understanding of the background literature in the area of Islamic education and professional practice.

The purpose behind studying the masters at the University of Warwick was to gain the skills needed for her to become a reflective professional practitioner in her own field. As a Muslim educator Hafsa sees it as her responsibility to think educationally about Islam, and to facilitate in bridging the gap between the values/beliefs of the Muslim youth and their practices.

The COSARAF Scholarship has opened many doors of opportunities for her, and she is certain that it will make a significant contribution to continuing her education and career.

Momodou M Touray

Graduated 2020: MA INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM, CITY UNIVERSITY

Momodou Musa Touray is an accomplished journalist, writer and filmmaker. He was a former editor-in-chief of The Gambia’s Daily Observer newspaper.

Momodou is passionate about telling stories of social justice. His writing focuses on politics, human rights, Africa, minority and refugee issues. He recently worked with the Guardian Foundation and London College of Communication on a Refugee Journalism Project for exiled journalists.

Momodou is a writer and contributor to The Guardian newspaper on Africa and Gambian issues. His journalism work has been published extensively in leading newspapers in both U.K and the Gambia.

Momodou is the founder of Gambiana, a Gambia-focused media platform. Gambiana has been praised for its excellent journalism and balanced coverage of the news.

In addition to Momodou’s journalism work, he is being lauded for his filmmaking talent. Momodou graduated with a BA (Hons) in Filmmaking from the Arts University College in Bournemouth. He was awarded a trailblazing prize in 2008 by the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) and was named as one of 20 emerging UK talents in 2008 by the UK Film Council at EIFF for his award-winning short film Sweet Mother. The film also received a Special Mention award at the Royal Television of Society Students’ Award. Momodou’s short films have been shown in film festivals in the UK, Poland and Mexico.

Momodou is currently an MA student in International Journalism at City, University of London.

Nighat Shaheen

Graduated 2020: MA ISLAMIC STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK

‘The seeking of knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim.’ -Tirmidhi- Hadith74

As a wife and mother to three teenage boys, I aim to lead by example and continue to seek knowledge. Education is what defines me. My entire life has revolved around the education sector. Whether that be teaching as a senior teacher in secular and faith schools, training teachers, managing departments and whole school initiatives, working with voluntary organisations in education or in my role as parent and Local Authority governor at various faith and special institutions working to improve outcomes and experiences.

A few years ago, my health took a bad turn and following multiple surgeries, I had to take time out of teaching as I now have some mobility issues and long-term health concerns. However, this has not deterred me and during this time, I participated in an abundance of voluntary work and completed a 3 year Islamic Aalimiyaa/scholar course which opened my eyes to the array of islamic sciences within the discipline but also alerted me to the issues around Islamic education in the UK. This led me to enrolling on the Masters in Islamic Education: Theory and Practise at Warwick University to gain further knowledge on Islamic pedagogy and educational thought. My aim is to combine this learning and my two decades of experience to improve equality and educational experiences for both staff and pupils.

Yaqub Muslim Eneborg

Graduated 2019: BA (HONS) ISLAMIC STUDIES, CAMBRIDGE MUSLIM COLLEGE

Yaqub is an aspiring theologian currently studying for a BA (Hons) in Islamic Studies at Cambridge Muslim College. He has previously studied Arabic at Stockholm University, and worked as a personal care assistant.