Critical Muslim – Liberty

Shanon Shah is the author of The Making of a Gay Muslim: Religion, Sexuality and Identity in Malaysia and Britain. A multiple award-winning singer-songwriter, playwright, and journalist in his native Malaysia, he now balances scholarship and activism on religion, politics and social and environmental justice in the UK.

Dr Shamim Miah, is a senior lecturer and the author of four books: Ibn Khaldun: Education, History and Society (due 2023); Race, Space and Multiculturalism in Northern England (co author-2020); Muslims and the Question of Security: Trojan Horse, Prevent and Racial Politics (2017) and Muslims Schooling and the Question of Self-Segregation which received the ‘highly commended’ book award by the Society for Educational Studies’ (2016). Shamim is the co-editor for the Muslim’s in Britain series (Oxford University Press). He is also a senior fellow at the Centre for Postnormal Policy and Futures Studies and an associate editor for the journal Critical Muslim (Hurst)

Canon Giles Goddard has been Vicar of St John’s since September 2009. He is closely involved in helping the Church of England to be more fully inclusive. He is chair of Faith for the Climate which works to support interfaith work on climate change and is a member of the Church of England’s Environment Working Group. He is also currently undertaking a course on spiritual direction.

His book, Space for Grace – creating inclusive churches, was published by Canterbury Press. Previously he worked in social housing and at the John Lewis Partnership. He is in a civil partnership with Shanon Shah.

Samia Rahman is a freelance journalist living in London. She is the former deputy editor of emel magazine and has written for the Guardian, Prospect and New Statesman. She also worked on the Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, Young, Angry and Muslim.