Professor Ali Mazrui accepting AMSS's first Lifetime Achievement Award on 14th June 2000.

PROFESSOR ALI MAZRUI, the first recipient of the distinguished AMSS UK Lifetime Achievement Award, has passed away

It is with great sadness that we mark the passing away of world renowned scholar, and leading African academic and intellectual, Professor Ali Mazrui who died on 13 October 2014 aged 81. During an outstanding academic career which spanned many decades he earned both national and international respect for the depth of his scholarship and impressive writing. A man of great character as well as intellect, he exuded joviality and charm. He also made history on Wednesday 14 June 2000 by becoming the first African to launch a book and address a distinguished audience at the Moses Room, The House of Lords, UK. Dr Anas Al-Shaikh-Ali, CBE, Chairman of the AMSS (UK), marked the occasion by presenting Professor Ali Mazrui with the AMSS's first and newly established Lifetime Achievement Award.

The AMSS UK was pleased to organise a scholastic module for a group of IIUM High Achievers and SRC Members in London as part of the IIUM Global Leadership Trainging for students. The event took place 24th-25th August 2014 at Malaysia Hall in London. Lecturers included Dr. Mehmet Asutay, Dr. Bassam Saeh, Mrs. Imelda Ryan, Mrs. Kathleen Roche-Nagi, and Dr. Anas Al-Shaikh-Ali (Chair, AMSS UK). A selection of IIIT publications was presented to students, administrators and lecturers.

The AMSS UK is pleased to annouce that it will be presenting their 2013 Building Bridges Award to Rt Rev Bishop Desmond Tutu.

The Award is being presented in recognition of Bishop Tutu’s sustained and courageous efforts to promote peace, harmony and goodwill, both locally and internationally, for passionately championing the cause of human rights across the world, and for working tirelessly towards realizing a climate of reconciliation and social cohesion for all, uplifting the human spirit and infusing it with dignity and hope.

Please click here for the annoucement flyer (pdf).

The British Council together with the HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge, and other partners (including AMSS UK), held a conference Acknowledging a Shared Past to Build a Shared Future: Rethinking Muslim/Non-Muslim Relations 28-30 March 2012 at the Centre in Cambridge. Dr Anas Al-Shaikh-Ali (Chair, AMSS UK), Martin Rose (British Council) and Simon Kuper (Journalist, The Financial Times) joined a panel discussion to detail some of the lessons learned when the British Council and AMSS UK priduced a guide for the media to better understand British Muslims. The panel discussion was chaired by Rosemary Hilhorst, OBE, Regional Director, European Union, British Council. The British Muslims Media Guide was written by Ehsan Masood in 2006, and has since been translated into Arabic.

Oxford University Press published in 2011 Islamophobia: The Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century, edited by John L. Esposito and Ibrahim Kalin. Dr Anas Al-Shaikh-Ali, CBE, chair of AMSS UK, contributed a paper entitled Islamophobic Discourse Masquerading as Art and Literature: Combating Myth through Progressive Education. Click here for more information abou the publication on the publisher's website.

OSCE/ODIHR, Council of Europe and UNESCO jointly published in 2011 the Guidelines for Educators on Countering Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims - Addressing Islamophobia through Education booklet. Dr Anas Al-Shaikh-Ali, CBE, chair of AMSS UK, participated in meetings leading up to the production of the Guidelines, which draws upon knowledge and experience from education experts, teachers and teacher trainers, inter-governmental agencies and non-governmental organisations. Click here for more information about the guide on the OSCE website.

An article on Islamophobia by Dr Anas Al-Shaikh-Ali CBE, Academic Advisor to the IIIT in London UK, has recently been published in the Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. Click here to read the Arabic article in full (external link to the Asharq Al-Awsat website).