The IELC TEAM
Meet our core team
Dr. Farah Ahmed
Director
Farah Ahmed is Senior Research Associate at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and Research Fellow at Hughes Hall College. She co-convenes the ‘Cultural, religious and philosophical traditions in educational dialogue’ strand of the Cambridge Educational Dialogue Research group. Her current project is: Rethinking Islamic education for British Muslim children: a philosophical investigation of dialogue in Islamic educational theory and an empirical study trialling dialogic pedagogy in UK madrasahs (supplementary schools). Farah has published widely on holistic Islamic educational approaches and is founder and Director of Education at Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation; where she oversees two independent schools and works on developing research informed curricular resources and teacher professional development. She is also Founding Fellow and Council Member of the Chartered College of Teaching, UK. Learn more about Dr. Ahmed here.
Dr. Dunya Habash
Research Associate
Dunya Habash holds a doctorate from the University of Cambridge, UK. The daughter of Syrian immigrants to the United States, she grew up in Birmingham, Alabama where she studied. After completing an MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies at the University of Oxford in 2017, she pursued her interests in forced migration and Syrian politics through her ethnographic study of Syrian artists and musicians in the new diaspora. She has also produced curriculum materials on Islamic heritage and culture for UK teachers during her work as a Public Engagement Coordinator at the Woolf Institute, Cambridge. Dr. Habash is currently a Research Associate on Dr. Farah Ahmed's project "Reorienting Education in Muslim Contexts towards Awe and Wonder through Dialogue, Science, and Art" at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge.
Maya Shaaban
Curriculum Developer & Course Facilitator
Maya Shaaban is an IELC Course Facilitator and Curriculum Developer and holds an M.A. in Educational Studies (Concentration: Design & Technology for Learning Across Culture & Context) from the University of Michigan and a BS.Ed. in Integrated Language Arts Education from The Ohio State University. Maya served as a high school teacher for three years, gaining valuable classroom experience. Her passion lies in developing innovative curricula rooted in Islamic values, aimed at empowering students and educators alike to reach their full potential.
Lamis M. Karim
Curriculum Developer
Lamis Karim is an IELC Curriculum Developer with a BSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Abdullah Gul University in Turkey. She has five years of experience as a teacher for primary, secondary and high school students, also teaching English as a second language in Pakistan and Turkey. She also has worked with publishing companies, AFAQ (Association for Academic Quality) in Pakistan and Canterbury Education in the UK as a curriculum designer, author and voice over narrator, developing new holistic teaching methodologies integrated with Islamic values.
The IELC TEAM
Meet our consultants
Dr. Claire Alkouatli
Consultant
Canadian-born Claire Alkouatli is Research Fellow at Cambridge Muslim College and a Lecturer at the Centre for Islamic Thought and Education at the University of South Australia. She currently has research projects active in Australia, Canada, England, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. With a PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of British Columbia, Claire’s research focuses on the roles of culture, relationships, and pedagogies in human development across the lifespan, including imaginative play, dialogue, inquiry, and challenge. She is committed to the theoretical study and practical advancement of self, social, and spiritual development and well-being in children, youth, women, and families.
Arwa Al-Qassim
Consultant
Arwa Al-Qassim is a PhD student at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. Her project is looking at educating for hikmah through dialogue in UAE Islamic Studies classes. She previously worked as a Projects Manager at the Future, Foresight and Imagination department at the Dubai Future Foundation. Al-Qassim holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from the American University of Sharjah (AUS) with a major in International Relations and a minor in Psychology, as well as a master’s degree in Islamic Studies from the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) in London, UK.
Dylan Chown
Consultant
Dylan Chown is a lecturer in the Centre for Islamic Thought and Education (CITE) in Education Futures at the University of South Australia (UniSA). His research focuses on teacher education and school renewal, with emphasis on Islamic pedagogy and culturally and religiously responsive pedagogy as well educational inclusion. Dylan is also a member of UniSA’s Centre for Research in Education and Social Inclusion (CRESI) and Pedagogies for Justice Research group. Dylan coordinates courses in an online accredited graduate program in Islamic Pedagogy offered through UniSA. Prior to joining UniSA, Dylan was a member of an International network of educators on the Islamic Teacher Education Program (ITEP), a project of Razi Ed (Canada/UAE). Dylan’s PhD research focuses on the exploration Islamic pedagogy in practice, based on a case study of an Australian K-12 Islamic school. He was a co-editor of the book: Islamic schooling in the West: Pathways to renewal (Palgrave MacMillan).
Dina El Odessy
Consultant
Dina El Odessy is a DPhil researcher in the University of Oxford, her current doctoral research focuses on the relationship between pedagogic practices, cultural values and educational principles espoused and enacted in community schools in Egypt. Her research primarily explores the potential of critical pedagogy in empowering school stakeholders by attempting to discover their potential to become sites of praxis. Dina holds an MA in Education from University College London (UCL) and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Alexandria University. She believes in the interconnected and multi-disciplinary nature of knowledge, and accordingly has been pursuing different learning opportunities in positive psychology, brain-based learning, postcolonialism, educational leadership, conflict resolution, history and cultural studies. She also currently works as a deputy director in an international school in Egypt, a freelance writer, an encouragement consultant and holistic coach. Hoping to become a happiness activist, she aims at bringing about small ripples of change through intermittently running lectures and workshops on well-being, the science of happiness and human development. Her research interests center around: equity and empowerment, Islamic education, alternative education, decolonizing pedagogy, social and emotional learning, community schools, critical pedagogy, and holistic education.
Usama Javed Mirza
Consultant
Usama studied Physics and Philosophy at LUMS (Pakistan), and Education as a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. He is an experienced educator and social entrepreneur. He is researching science and religion education in Pakistan at the University of Cambridge as a PhD student in Education on the Gates Scholarship. Usama leads on IELC’s Science, Islam and Education activities.
Widad Sirkhotte
Consultant
Widad Sirkhotte is a South African researcher currently pursuing a PhD at Stellenbosch University, where she explores students’ learning experiences in online Islamic calligraphy education. She has held various roles across the education sector, including school teacher, university tutor, course designer, lecturer, and researcher. Deeply curious about the relationship between knowledge and being, she is committed to lifelong learning and supporting others in their educational journeys. Her academic interests include course and curriculum design, Islamic arts education, and initial teacher education. Widad holds a BA in Media Studies, a Diploma in Islamic Studies, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), a Master’s in Education (M.Ed), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education. She is currently studying Thuluth and Naskh scripts under world-renowned Chinese master calligrapher Haji Noor Deen Mi Guangjiang, and Andalusian Maghrebi script under Ustaadh Badr Essaihi from Morocco.
Dr. Talal Al-Azem
Consultant
Talal Al-Azem is a teacher and researcher, with interests especially in fiqh, education, and formations of the self in Islam. He studied the disciplines of Islamic learning in Syria and Turkey, before completing a doctorate. He is the translator of "Prayers of Occasions", a handbook of sunnah prayers, and author of "Rule-Formulation and Binding Precedent in the Madhhab-Law Tradition", a study of how rules were determined in the madhhabs.
Dr. Shoaib Malik
Consultant
Shoaib Ahmed Malik is a prominent scholar and academic working at the intersection of science and Islam. He holds PhDs in Chemical Engineering and Theology, with his research focusing on the relationship between Islamic teachings and scientific concepts like evolution. Dr. Malik is the author of the award-winning book Islam and Evolution: Al-Ghazālī and the Modern Evolutionary Paradigm and is involved in developing the field of Islam and science through his editorial work and teaching at institutions like the University of Edinburgh.
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