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Islam in Wales

Muslims have been part of the fabric of Wales for over a century, and Islam and Wales are joined through deep historic connections.

Background

The project seeks to document and tell the “story” of Islam in Wales and make the history of Muslims in Wales accessible to academics, the wider public, and Welsh Muslims themselves so as to broaden public understanding of a multicultural and multireligious Wales.

Urgency

The first generation of pioneers who settled in Wales are ageing and passing away, and with them, the accounts, histories, and stories of Muslim settlement beyond retrieval.

The importance of this story is even more pronounced given that the current generation of Welsh-born Muslims are “coming of age” and seeking to understand their place in Welsh society. Capturing and telling the history of Muslims in Wales will equip them with an academic account of their communities’ experiences.

Methods

The research will be led by Dr Abdul-Azim and supported by community volunteers who will act as “participant researchers” documenting their own family history, and collecting important documents and items for archiving. The “participant researchers” will be given training in oral history and social science research methods.

The final dataset will include oral history interviews, collaboratively created family timelines, and archival material.

Outputs

The outputs for the project will include:

  • a travelling exhibition that can be adapted for museums, galleries, schools, mosques and other locations
  • a monograph published by the Principal Investigator based on project findings, along with academic journal articles
  • a sizable collection collated and made accessible to future researchers and scholars on the history of Muslims in Wales

Advisory Board

We are currently seeking advisory board members. If you would like to be included, please contact a member of the project team.

The project team

Principal Investigator

Picture of Mohammed Ahmed

Dr Mohammed Ahmed

Lecturer in British Muslim Studies

Telephone
+44 29208 75634
Email
AhmedMA1@cardiff.ac.uk

Project development officer

Picture of Mark Bryant

Mark Bryant

Development Officer for the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK (Islam-UK)

Telephone
+44 29208 70121
Email
BryantMW@cardiff.ac.uk