Professor of the Anthropology of Islam, University of Leeds
I completed a BA (Ist Class) in Theology and Religious Studies, together with a MA in Middle Eastern Studies and a PhD in Social Anthropology, all at the University of Manchester, during the 1990s. I was appointed as a Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Leeds in 2000. I am a past Co-Convenor and Chair of the Muslims in Britain Research Network (2003-08, 2011-14) and current Secretary of the British Association for Islamic Studies (2017-20).
My research uses fieldwork, in-depth interviews and documentary analysis to explore the dynamics of Islam and Muslim cultures in contexts of contemporary migration, diaspora and transnationalism. I have worked mainly with South Asian heritage Muslim communities in Britain and especially British Pakistanis and Kashmiris in the North of England.
My expertise includes: Anthropology and Sociology of Islam and Muslim Diasporas. Muslims in Britain and Europe. Migration, Diaspora, Transnationalism, Pilgrimage. Culture, Religion, Ethnicity, Identity Politics, the State.
Hajj: how globalisation transformed the market for pilgrimage to Mecca
Aug 16, 2018 20:14 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life
More than 2m Muslims are currently gathering in Mecca ahead of the annual Hajj, which begins on August 19. As long as they are fit and financially able, the pilgrimage is an obligatory act of worship that followers of...
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