Amanullah De Sondy

Amanullah De Sondy joined University College Cork in 2015 as Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Islam and is an Affiliate of the University of Glasgow's Department of Theology and Religious Studies.

Amanullah holds a concurrent B.A in Religious Studies and Education Studies with the Diploma in Education from Striling University. This led to a short but illustrious career as a secondary school teacher of Religious Education (RE) in Scotland where he taught in many different schools, held senior positions in national RE organisations, led a number of in-service events for teachers, consulted the Scottish Government's non-departmental public body, Learning Teaching Scotland (LTS), authored two key texts on teaching Islam and lectured part time at Strathclyde University's teacher training courses on RE at Jordanhill College, Glasgow.

Amanullah then completed an M.Litt in Islamic Jerusalem studies at the University of Abertay Dundee which focused mainly on the history of the city and its religious connections. Amanullah then returned to his home city, Glasgow where he completed his Ph.D in 2009 in Theology and Religious Studies with a specific focus on Islamic Studies. While at Glasgow, he was short-listed for the Teaching Excellence Award and was the lead researcher on "Philanthropy for Social Justice in British Muslim Societies," a project funded by the Ford Foundation. Amanullah moved to the USA thereafter, where he taught Islamic Studies at Ithaca College (1 year) and the University of Miami (5 years) in 2010.

He has studied Arabic and Islam in France, Jordan, and Syria and has particular interest in Urdu and Punjabi poetry, or ghazals. His first book, The Crisis of Islamic Masculinities, was published with Bloomsbury Academic in January 2014. The book has been reviewed in The Times Higher Education, New Books in Islamic Studies USA and BBC Radio Scotland's 'Sunday Morning with...'. Amanullah is currently working on book projects relating to themes on contemporary and historical Islam and Muslims.

Amanullah has played a significant international role in the public understanding of Islam. He has contributed articles and interviews in the print media by invitation to The Scottish Herald, The Sunday Times UK, The Irish Times, The Irish Journal, Cork Evening Echo, The Catholic Herald, The Catholic Tablet, The Times Educational Supplement, The Scotsman, The Guardian and the Washington Post. Aman has also been invited to present on Cork's 96FM, Newstalk 106-108fm, BBC Radio 4, Glasgow Radio Ramadhan, Glasgow Radio Awaz, BBC World Service, BBC Panorama, WPBT2 Florida TV, NBC6 South Florida TV and Fusion Miami Live TV. In 2008, BBC Radio Scotland broadcast a full length program ‘A Life in Question - Amanullah De Sondy’ hosted by Colin McKay.

In his spare time, he has twice served as an umpire at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London and has ran 11 half marathons between Glasgow, Miami and Cork. Amanullah is a Director at NASC Ireland (The Migrant and Refugee Rights Centre). Amanullah has twice been invited to lead Time for Reflection at the Scottish Parliament and has been a regular contributor to BBC Radio Scotland's 'Thought for the Day' for over ten years. Amanullah's parents arrived in Scotland from Sialkot (Pakistan) in the 1960s and he was born and raised in Glasgow.