Tariq Ramadan, a scholar of international standing has been appointed to a new Islamic Studies Chair at the University of Oxford.Ramadan, a Research Fellow at St Antony&aposs College, has been appointed to the His Highness Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Chair in Contemporary Islamic Studies beginning on September 1, 2009.
Ramadan was named by Time magazine as one of a hundred innovators of the 21st Century for his work on creating an independent European Islam. He was a member of a British government task force, which defined policies to root out Islamic extremism in Britain.
Ramadan said:"I am very happy and honoured to have been chosen for this position. During the last four years I have been involved in research and teaching at Oxford and this new chair will be a great means to carry on my work and to address the critical and sensitive issues related to contemporary Islamic studies both in the West and in the Muslim majority countries".
The Chair of the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Jeremy Johns, said:"The Faculty is delighted that the new Chair in Contemporary Islamic Studies is not only a distinguished scholar but also a leading Muslim thinker, who is actively engaged in current debates about the role of Islam in contemporary Europe".