Staff Profile of Dr Farhaan Wali

Name:

Dr Farhaan Wali

Position:

Lecturer in Religious Studies

Email:

f.wali@bangor.ac.uk

Location:

T22, Main Arts

Phone:

01248 383810

Background:

At the age of sixteen, I was invited to attend a religious event in Trafalgar Square. I did not know at the time of the storm that such an event would trigger, nor could I have predicted the social upheaval that would result from it. The ‘Rally for Islam’, as it was entitled by the organisers, was a pioneering event for Muslim fundamentalists in the UK. I was shocked by the great devotion shown by these young Muslims to religion. It was this fanatical zeal in religious ideology that provoked in me a great deal of interest in understanding the processes involved in the making of a fundamentalist. I capitalised upon this intellectual curiosity by conducting my doctoral research on fundamentalism at Royal Holloway (University of London). Regarding my teaching experience, I have spent several years developing an extensive teaching portfolio in the area of religious studies. I have taught a range of modules, such as sociology of religion, the history of religion and Islamic theology. Before arriving at Bangor university in 2011, I completed a lectuership in the study of Islam and Muslims in the School of Divinity at Aberdeen University. Prior to this, as a research fellow at Royal Holloway, I helped develop a research project in collaboration with the Royal Historian Society on religious institutions in the East End of London.

Modules Taught

Fundamentalism
Islam: Belief and Practice
Sociology of Religion
Themes in Eastern Religions

Research Interests

Islamic fundamentalism
Islam and Muslims in Britain
Religious rhetoric and voting behaviour
Post-conflict religious identity
Self-segregation and religious communities

Recent Publications

Radicalism Unveiled: The Rise of Militant Islam in Britain. (fourthcoming).

Journal Articles

Wali, Farhaan (2008a). The Rise of Religious Fundamentalism in Britain (hansenfisher.org.uk)
Wali, Farhaan (2008b). ‘New Approaches to Radicalisation and the Muslim Community’ (hansenfisher.org.uk)
Wali, Farhaan (2007a). ‘Rebuilding Post-Conflict Religious Communities in Bosnia’ (hansenfisher.org.uk)
Wali, Farhaan (2007b). ‘The Roots of Religious Extremism’ (hansenfisher.org.uk)
Wali, Farhaan (forthcoming). ‘Renegotiating Radical Muslim Identity in Social and Individual Life: A Case Study of Members of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain’
Wali, Farhaan (forthcoming). ‘Post-Radicalisation identity: A Study of ex-members of Hizb ut-Tahrir in the UK’
Wali, Farhaan (forthcoming). ‘Religious Self-segregation in Britain’