Farhaan Wali

Most of my academic career has been involved in Islamic Studies, but since 2010 I have developed wider interests in the Study of Religion. My work has always involved combining key theoretical approaches to the study of religion with empirical research. I have spent several years in the field, carrying out my research both in Britain and abroad. After spending several years interacting with Islamic radicals, I was able to interpret their social world, giving me an insight into how they became radicalized. For this reason, radical Islam was the lynchpin of my research interest during my early career, and I subsequently completed my doctorate at Royal Holloway (University of London) in this area. In 2006, I developed a research project on religious institutions in the East End of London in collaboration with the Royal Historian Society. Since then I have been involved in a number of cross-cultural research projects in the private and public sector related to counter-terrorism and radical Islam.