Core Faculty
Paul Williams (Founder and Director)
Paul Williams studied philosophy and theology at the University of London. He is a convert from Christianity to Islam.
Paul is the founder of the celebrated comparative religions platform ‘Blogging Theology’, which brings together some of the world’s most prominent theologians and scholars, of numerous religious backgrounds, in a unique and much-loved intellectual forum.
Leading New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman has described Paul Williams as "highly knowledgeable about the Bible, early Christianity, and the scholarship connected with them," praising him as "an astute questioner with the right queries that get to the heart of important issues."
Williams travels widely, delivering lectures on diverse theological questions all across the world. He has featured in the 2024, 2025, and 2026 editions of The Muslim 500: The World’s Most Influential Muslims.
Hasan Spiker (Dean)
Hasan Spiker is a philosopher and second-generation Anglo-American Muslim. He spent twelve years studying the Islamic intellectual sciences in the Muslim world, primarily under the guidance of the Iraqi sage, al-Sayyid Qusayy Abu’l Si’d. He subsequently obtained a degree in philosophy from the University of London (First Class Honours), and an MPhil in philosophical theology from the University of Cambridge (Distinction, recipient of a Faculty Prize for examination performance), at which latter university he continues to carry out his doctoral research.
He is the author of Things As They Are: Nafs al-Amr and the Metaphysical Foundations of Objective Truth (2021), The Metacritique of Kant and the Possibility of Metaphysics (2022), and most recently, Hierarchy and Freedom: an examination of some classical metaphysical and Post-Enlightenment accounts of human autonomy (2023)and the first volume of The Unravelling of Intelligibility: Elements of Modernity (2024).
Dr Francesca Bocca-Aldaqre (Programme Director, Islamic Psychology)
Dr Francesca Bocca-Aldaqre has a Master’s degree in Neuro-Cognitive Psychology, a PhD in Systemic Neuroscience, both from the University of Munich, Germany, and a Diploma in Islamic Psychology from Cambridge Muslim College. She has been working inside and outside academia on the issue of Muslim identity in Italy. Her latest book, “The Italian Islam Manifesto” touches upon the most urgent topics facing Muslims in Italy. She is also the director of Ibn Rushd Islamic Studies Institute, the first Italian language madrasa for children and youth.
Visiting & Guest Faculty
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Dr. Joseph Lumbard received his PhD in Islamic Studies from Yale University and has studied with scholars in Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, and Iran. His scholarship contributes to the fields of Islamic philosophical theology, Sufism, and Quranic studies. He has previously taught at the American University of Sharjah, Brandeis University, and the American University in Cairo. His current research incorporates aspects of Quranic studies, philosophy and theology to focus upon the development of epistemologies in Islam. Lumbard is Associate Professor of Quranic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University.
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Dr. Ali Ataie is a scholar of biblical hermeneutics with specialisms in ancient languages, comparative literature, and comparative theology. He is Dean of Undergraduate Studies at Zaytuna College.
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Asfandyar Qureshi studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the University of Oxford, and Philosophical Theology at the Univerity of Cambridge. He is a barrister at the Inner Temple.
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Usman Sheikh holds an MA in Biblical Studies, from Heythrop College, University of London, and an MPhil in Islamic Studies and History from the University of Oxford, where he is also currently reading for his DPhil at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.
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Yusuf Chaudhary is an historian of Islamic intellectual history. He is a researcher at Mizan Research and Education in Cambridge, and studied the Islamic sciences traditionally for a number of years. He holds a PhD in Islamic intellectual history from the University of Cambridge.
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Mustafa Aziz is a Teaching Fellow in Philosophy at Harvard University, where he is also carrying out his doctoral research. His main interests are Platonism, German Idealism, Heidegger, and Sufism.
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Louay Fatoohi is a prolific author on Islam and Christianity. A convert from Christianity to Islam, he holds a BSc in Physics from the University of Baghdad and a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Durham.