Farah Ahmed, the Assistant Professor at the University of Cambridge who encouraged Muslims to build “advanced weaponry for Jihad,” spoke at a “decolonization” conference back in May.
| PULSE POINTS |
❓ WHAT HAPPENED: Farah Ahmed, the University of Cambridge professor who voiced support for “jihad,” spoke at an anti-Western “decolonization” conference in Istanbul, Turkey, earlier this year. 📺 DETAIL: Ahmed was among the listed speakers at the World Decolonization Forum held between May 11 and May 12. “Farah Ahmed is an Assistant Research Professor at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education, where her work focuses on the intersections of dialogic education, Islamic educational philosophy, and teacher professional development,” reads Ahmed’s profile on the forum’s website. The stated purpose of the forum “efforts of decolonization theoretically and translating these theories into lived realities” by “bringing together scholars and practitioners from diverse disciplines and regions.” The theme of this year’s forum was “Decolonizing Knowledge Production and Circulation” which focuses on how “colonial structures that continue to shape our political, social, and epistemic systems”. Ahmed is also a Governing Body Fellow at Hughes Hall, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a Founding Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching. Ahmed spoke about alternatives to “colonial models of knowledge transmission.” The forum lists Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Shanghai University among its supporting institutions. 🎯 IMPACT: This represents a development on the initial Ahmed story. On Tuesday, it was revealed that Ahmed encouraged Muslims to study engineering and computing in order to “produce advanced weaponry for Jihad in order that the deen [Islam] may dominate over all other deens.” It was also revealed that Ahmed is a former activist for Hizb ut-Tahrir, a banned Islamist terror group, and co-authored a pamphlet calling for an Islamic education system. “Nothing will be contained within the curriculum that contradicts with Islam, such as the teaching of the ideas of freedom, nationalism, democracy or evolution in a positive light… Even the non-Muslims need to be educated under the educational curriculum of Islam,” wrote Ahmed. 📺 FLASHBACK: This is not the only scandal to hit the University of Cambridge this year. The now-deceased Professor Jason Arday was accused of plagiarism in his work and fabricating his personal biography by Nathan Cofnas, an American academic at Ghent University in Belgium, earlier this year. Arday resigned his post after an investigation was launched into his appointment. He was found dead in his London home earlier this month. Arday was heavily promoted by the university as the institution’s youngest black professor. Following the news of his passing, Cofnas was suspended by Ghent University, a decision which sparked criticism from the Trump administration. “The ultimate purpose of freedom of speech is to overturn lies, fraud, and false ideologies. This is precisely what Cofnas was doing, and precisely the reason his home institution wants to silence him,” said U.S. Ambassador Bill White. |
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