SkyI am a Senior Lecturer in criminology and sociology in the School of Social, Political and Global Studies at Keele University, UK. I completed my PhD in Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, in 2011 and subsequently held research positions at the University of Bristol and Newman University, as well as in the private sector. Between 2018 and 2023 I worked as Lecturer and then Associate Professor at the University of Birmingham before joining Keele in September 2023. 

My primary research interest is in the study of Muslims in the UK and their treatment by British society and the state, although I have carried out research on a variety of themes including equality, discrimination, security, religion in public life and the public understanding of science. My most recent book is Islam and the Secular State: National Identity and the Transformation of Muslim Community in Britain (Bloomsbury/I.B. Tauris). I have also published peer-reviewed articles on subjects including:

  • The political representation of religious (especially Muslim) minorities
  • Anti-Muslim prejudice
  • Liberalism, multiculturalism and public religion
  • Strategies for the prevention of violent extremism in the UK
  • Religion, non-religion and attitudes towards science

Since 2018, I have led or co-led four major UK-focused and international research projects. I am Co-Principal Investigator on a major 6 country multi-disciplinary study, ‘Science and Religion: Exploring the Spectrum Global Perspectives’ (TRT, 2018–2023) and Co-Principal Investigator on a project developing the International Research Network for the Social Study of Science and Religion (TRT, 2019-2024). I was also Principal Investigator on the project ‘Science and the Transmission of Islamic Knowledge in Britain’ (Rice University, 2020-2023) and on a British Academy-funded Small Grant project entitled ‘The Nature of Contemporary Islamophobia’ (2020-2022).

My media appearances and interviews, mostly focusing on Islamophobia and political Islam, include Sky News, BBC Radio 4 and The Guardian, while my research has also been featured in reports by ITV News, The New Statesman, Yahoo, HuffPost, Arab News, and The Tablet, among others.