A Phenomenological Study of Female Students' Experiences in Two Different Muslim Higher Education and Training Institutions

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According to the UK Population Census 2011, there are 2.7 million Muslims (4.8% of the totalpopulation) living in Britain (Office for National Statistics, 2016). Muslims thus form the second largestfaith community in Britain after Christians. Muslim faith leaders such as imams (prayerleaders) and ulema (religious scholars) are a small but disproportionately important group ofpeople who occupy a position of authority and influence in the Muslim community. These imamsand ulema play an important role in shaping the collective identities and subjectivities of Muslimsin relation to the wider British community, and have hence received significant attention fromBritish media, parliament and universities in relation to issues such as integration, pluralism, etc.Yet despite this interest and attention, there is very little that is known about the educationalcentres where these imams and ulema are educated and trained. This is an important gap inexisting research on the British Muslim community, since 'it can be said with relative confidencethat Islamic education will continue to function in the years to come as a primary site for thenegotiation and contestation of what it means to be a Muslim in the UK and the terms of justhow that Muslimness relates to - and, of course, helps to define - the cultural tapestry of apluralistic Britain.' (Mandaville, 2007, p. 239)