Islam on Campus

Islam on Campus explores how Islam is represented, perceived, and lived within higher education in Britain. It considers the changing nature of university life, and the place of religion within it. Even while many universities maintain ambiguous or affirming orientations to religious institutions for reasons to do with history and ethos, much western scholarship has presumed higher education to be a strongly secularising force. This framing has resulted inreligion often being marginalised or ignored as a cultural irrelevance by the university sector. However, recent times have seen higher education increasingly drawn into political discourses that problematizereligion in general, and Islam in particular, as an object of risk.Using the largest data set yet collected in the UK, Islam on Campus explores university life and the ways in which ideas about Islam and Muslim identities are produced, experienced, perceived, appropriated, and objectified. The volume considers the role universities and Muslim higher education institutions play in the production, reinforcement, and contestation of emerging narratives aboutreligious difference. This is a culturally nuanced treatment of universities as sites of knowledge production, and contexts for the negotiation of perspectives on culture and religion among an emerging generation. Thiscollaborative study demonstrates the urgent need to release Islam from its official role as the othered, or the feared. When universities achieve this we will be able to help students of all affiliations and of none to be citizens of the campus in preparation for being citizens of the world.

“"This book is a sophisticated and robust examination of the construction of Islam and the experiences of Muslims on UK campuses, which important shares, not just the perspective of Muslim students, but also that of non-Muslim students and staff ... an important contribution for scholars of Islam in Europe and America or of race and ethnic studies or for higher education leaders and policy-makers." -- Daniel Azim Pschaida, Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review "Islam on Campus: Contested Identities and the Cultures of Higher Education in Britain is an extensive and through issue unveiling the public and official discourses about Islam and Muslim identities represented in the changing natureof university life in the UK." -- Ozge Onay, Ethnic and Racial Studies "Islam on Campus is a very important and impressive book that will be vital reading for those interested in the civic and public role of universities, decolonisation of the curriculum, the study of Islam within western systems of knowledge, the nature and implications of the reach of the security agenda across public life, and the terms of debate over gender and Islam. Throughout it provides fresh thinking on often stale-mated debates on gender equality, freedom of speech and religious accommodation, and responses to security risks, and in ways that draw on rather than suppress critical debate." -- Professor Therese O''Toole, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol "This ground-breaking work explores the crucial topics of Islamophobia and its impact on Muslim students, and it also explores how the securitization of Muslims on campus has transformed campus life itself, significantly restricting both freedom of expression and freedom of association.”

This book is a sophisticated and robust examination of the construction of Islam and the experiences of Muslims on UK campuses, which important shares, not just the perspective of Muslim students, but also that of non-Muslim students and staff ... an important contribution for scholars of Islam in Europe and America or of race and ethnic studies or for higher education leaders and policy-makers. Daniel Azim Pschaida, Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review
Islam on Campus: Contested Identities and the Cultures of Higher Education in Britain is an extensive and through issue unveiling the public and official discourses about Islam and Muslim identities represented in the changing natureof university life in the UK. Ozge Onay, Ethnic and Racial Studies
Islam on Campus is a very important and impressive book that will be vital reading for those interested in the civic and public role of universities, decolonisation of the curriculum, the study of Islam within western systems of knowledge, the nature and implications of the reach of the security agenda across public life, and the terms of debate over gender and Islam. Throughout it provides fresh thinking on often stale-mated debates on gender equality, freedom of speech and religious accommodation, and responses to security risks, and in ways that draw on rather than suppress critical debate. Professor Therese O'Toole, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol
This ground-breaking work explores the crucial topics of Islamophobia and its impact on Muslim students, and it also explores how the securitization of Muslims on campus has transformed campus life itself, significantly restricting both freedom of expression and freedom of association. This book will be necessary reading for both sociologists of religion and Islam, and legal and political theorists interested in law and religion in liberal democracies generally. Professor Mohammad Fadel, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Embedding the question of discrimination against Muslim students in the wider context of the changing landscape of university education in Britain, this timely book presents fascinating insights into the role of marketisation of education, shifting social norms and securitised bureaucratic preoccupations in shaping future citizens of the country. The authors do not shy away from complexity; the diversity among Muslims and the paradoxical role played by Islamic Studies as a discipline are given thoughtful treatment here. They do, however, make their detailed and methodologically rich analysis available in lucid and jargon free language. An important study for all concerned about the transformations in the education sector as well as the dangers of schemes like PREVENT for all citizens, and not just Muslims. Dr Humeira Iqtidar, Department of Political Economy, King's College London
This fascinating book successfully reviews the attitudes and behaviours confronted by Muslim students in Higher Education. Through comprehensive research, it demonstrates the presence of hidden prejudice that confronts the Muslim students, exposing the hurdles faced in their pursuit of academic success. At a time when intolerance has become the accepted norm, this book is a step forward in putting across ideas based on engagement, communicating well and manifesting a real change and fresh thinking for enhancing the university campus with the Islamic expert's voice. Of particular importance is the co-operation between universities and Muslim colleges. Dr Mohamed Mesbahi, Director of Education, The Islamic College
Scott-Baumann, Guest, Naguib, Cheruvallil-Contractor, and Phoenix make a highly original, remarkable, and timely intervention. There is much to think about-and with-here. Islam on Campus will inform lively debates and furnish talking points on a hotly contested topic for years to come, acting as a key step in the re-invention of the university as a space that unites a plethora of ideas and voices. Professor Ziad Elmarsafy, Department of Comparative Literature, King's College London
This book uncovers, and shows in words and figures, the hidden prejudices and a climate of unfairness as well as the securitisation of Muslims in Higher Education. It argues for a need to develop more positive and constructive modes of respectful engagement. The book is a valuable addition to understanding the culture of universities in England. Professor Ataullah Siddiqui, Markfield Institute of Higher Education
Islam on Campus brings much-needed empirical study to bear on debates about religion, discrimination, and securitization. It casts light on the unexamined secularism of British universities and the costs that are disproportionately borne by Muslim students. Professor Linda Woodhead, Department of Politics, Philosophy, and Religion, Lancaster University

Alison Scott-Baumann is Professor of Society and Belief and Associate Director Research (Impact and Public Engagement) at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Mathew Guest is Professor in the Sociology of Religion in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University. Shuruq Naguib is Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Lancaster University and chairs the British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS 2019-2020). SariyaCheruvallil-Contractor is Assistant Professor and Research Group Lead for Faith and Peaceful Relations at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University. Aisha Phoenix was thepostdoctoral researcher on the Re/presenting Islam on Campus research project based at SOAS, University of London.

Islam on Campus explores how Islam is represented, perceived, and lived within higher education in Britain. It considers the changing nature of university life, and the place of religion within it. Even while many universities maintain ambiguous or affirming orientations to religious institutions for reasons to do with history and ethos, much western scholarship has presumed higher education to be a strongly secularising force. This framing has resulted inreligion often being marginalised or ignored as a cultural irrelevance by the university sector. However, recent times have seen higher education increasingly drawn into political discourses that problematize religion in general, and Islam in particular, as an object of risk.Using the largest data set yet collected in the UK, Islam on Campus explores university life and the ways in which ideas about Islam and Muslim identities are produced, experienced, perceived, appropriated, and objectified. The volume considers the role universities and Muslim higher education institutions play in the production, reinforcement, and contestation of emerging narratives about religious difference. This is a culturally nuanced treatment of universities as sites ofknowledge production, and contexts for the negotiation of perspectives on culture and religion among an emerging generation. This collaborative study demonstrates the urgent need to release Islam from its official role as the othered, or the feared. When universities achieve this we will be able to help students ofall affiliations and of none to be citizens of the campus in preparation for being citizens of the world.

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