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Imam of al-Aqsa visits On June 21 2011, corresponding to the Day of al-Isra wa’l-Mi’raj the college was honoured to receive Shaykh Yusuf Abu Sneina, Imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque, with a senior delegation of Middle Eastern scholars representing the World Association of Azhar Graduates, led by Dr Abdel Daim Nosear, its Secretary General. Others attending included Shaykh Abd al-Fadeel al-Qawsi, representing Shaykh al-Azhar Ahmad al-Tayyib, and also Shaykh Muhammad Imdad Hussain Pirzada, the Principal of Jamia al-Karam, Nottinghamshire. The delegation was introduced to the College’s work, and expressed its pleasure at the presence of Azhar graduates in the present student body. The event ended with a lunch, and prayers for the further success of the College. } Papal visit ‘a success’ Rome was the location for the 2010 annual CMC excursion. Students and staff were hosted for five days at the Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas, located in the grounds of a monastery beside the Coliseum in Rome. The intensive programme included the following highlights: • A welcome address by the British Ambassador to the Holy See, Francis Campbell. • Lecture by Professor Daniel Madigan SJ, on ‘What Happens at Mass?’ followed by observation of an English-language mass at the Caravita church community. • Guided visit to the Palatine Hill, the Forum and the Coliseum, with art historian Dr Elizabeth Lev. • Guided visit to St Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum, also with Dr Lev. • Visit to the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, with a welcome from its President, Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot MCCJ. • Lecture on ‘Muslim-Christian Relations in Italy’ by Imam Yahya Pallavicini, Imam of the Al-Wahid Mosque in Milan. • Visit to Sta Maria Maggiore and other sites of interest. • Visit to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, presented by Msgr. Khalid Akkache. • Visit to the Instituto Tevere, with a welcome speech by director Mehmet Cenap Aydın. 2 c m c n e w s l e t t e r 2 CMC in China Following a visit to Lanzhou, Dongshan and the Linxhia Hui Muslim Autonomous Prefecture in July 2010, CMC has been exploring ways of building ties with Islamic educational programmes in Central China. In January 2011 CMC students heard a lecture on ‘Issues in Hui Muslim Inculturation’ from Professor Yang Wenjiong of Lanzhou University, who visited Cambridge with a group of Hui scholars, and learned more about the CMC’s work. right: village madrasa in dongshan country • Visits to the Pontifical Gregorian and Angelicum Universities and meetings with staff. • General Audience with Pope Benedict XVI. Following the trip, CMC Principal Dr. Muhammad As’ad said: ‘We are immensely grateful to the Lay Centre for their hospitality and help in coordinating such a complex and rewarding programme. Our students have been greatly enriched by the whole experience, and we look forward to future cooperation with our friends at the Lay Centre and at other key institutions in Rome.’ }
CMC in Senegal On 30 January, representatives from CMC visited the city of Touba, where they were received by HE the Khalifa Serigne Mukhtar, and met Touba graduates who have served in mosques in the West. The madrasas of Touba and the neighbouring city of Kaolack are currently host to an estimated thirty students from the English-speaking world, and CMC is exploring ways of building improved ties with this important sector. The visit ended with a seminar discussion on Islamic education in Europe at the Université Ante Diop in Dakar. } CMC takkes in the Yemen the distinctive cmc takke was sighted for the first time in Yemeni towns in January. The team gave several briefings on the CMC’s work to British and Australian students, several of whom expressed an interest in continuing their studies in Cambridge. Public lectures were given at the Ribat Tarim, Dar al-Mustafa, and the Faculty of Sharia at Ahqaf University, and visits took place to libraries and cultural institutions. CMC Dean Abdal Hakim Murad gave several interviews to Yemeni television, and participated in an hour-long radio discussion and phone-in with Shaykh Usama al-Sayyid of al-Azhar on issues of counter-radicalisation, which was broadcast in several provinces, including Abyan. A recording is available here (Arabic only): cambridgekhutbasetc. blogspot.com/2011/03/interview-in-yemen-arabic.html } New research fellows appointed In July 2011 the College was delighted to announce the following appointments of new full-time Research Fellows. fOzia bOra took her DPhil from the University of Oxford with a thesis on the development of medieval Islamic historiography. Her present research interests focus on Fatimid and Ayyubid Egypt, with a special emphasis on the evolution of educational institutions. She is currently writing a monograph on the madrasas and courts of Mamluk Egypt. shayKh mansUr ali completed his Alim studies at Darul Ulum (Bury) and al-Azhar University (Cairo), and received his PhD at the University of Manchester with a thesis entitled ‘Al-Tirmidhi and the role of the Isnad in his Sunan’. His specialisation is in Hadith Studies, but he works also on fiqh issues affecting the British Muslim community. He has served as imam in several locations, including Ashworth High Security Hospital, Liverpool. matthew wilKinsOn was a King’s Scholar at Eton, and subsequently studied Theology at Cambridge, completing his PhD at King’s College London with a dissertation on ‘History, Citizenship and Muslim Boys: Learning to Succeed’. His research interests include the sociology of Muslim youth, and Islamic Critical Realism. He has served as Lecturer in Education at London Metropolitan University, and Head of History at Brondesbury College (London). c m c n e w s l e t t e r 2 3
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