Over the last three years I have had the privilege of working with a range of Muslim students and staff on research at the intersection of faith and the student experience. One arm of this led to a report on the impact of the student loans regime on Muslim students who see interest-bearing loans as a barrier:
Hall, R., Maryam, Y., and Loonat, S. (2025) The Impact of the Current Student Loans Regime on Muslim Student Engagement and Retention in English Higher Education. Leicester: De Montfort University. https://hdl.handle.net/2086/24766
Since then, I have been working on a project as part of the Aziz Foundation’s Muslim Friendly Universities (MFU) Programme. The Aziz Foundation and De Montfort University co-funded a research project to investigate the lived experiences of Muslim students and staff at the institution. The publication of our report represents the final in a series of three MFU reports exploring institutional cultures at UK Universities: the others were at Bradford and Loughborough.
DMU’s research project is underpinned by a co-produced, participatory methodology designed to enhance the student voice through enquiry. It sets out to analyse how British Muslim students experience their Muslimness in Higher Education spaces during their first year of study. It situates this experience against those students’ conceptions of their faith, with the intention of deepening our understanding of how these students experience their Muslimness in HE.
The project team included four experienced academic researchers, at a range of career positions, and with a range of identities, committed to social justice and a politics that celebrates diversity. However, crucially, it also included five second-year British Muslim students as advisers, able to co-create the project’s research design, with Yusraa Maryam, a DMU alumnus, working as a mentor. This partnership was designed to enable voice and agency, through authentic and meaningful partnerships with students, facilitated with support, advice and guidance from the Aziz Foundation.
Project recommendations included the importance of understanding and developing empowering institutional practices around: religious and faith-based literacy; the role of prayer spaces across campus; the connection between faith and study/the curriculum; developing student well-being; dialogue with established Muslim agencies, student unions and Islamic Societies; and the place of halal food in anchoring belonging.
The report can be accessed at:
Hall, R. Ansley, L., Loonat, S., Nemouchi, L., Al-Saedi, O., Ashrafali, H., Khalifa, D., Shah, M., Shifan, S., Maryam, Y. and The Aziz Foundation (2025). Being and Becoming: British Muslim Students’ First-Year Journeys in Higher Education. De Montfort University/The Aziz Foundation. https://hdl.handle.net/2086/25703
On LinkedIn, The Aziz Foundation noted the following, which I love. It is so on-point about this work.
Today, De Montfort University (DMU) has published the report ‘Being and Becoming: British Muslim Students’ First-Year Journeys in Higher Education’, produced with the support of The Aziz Foundation as part of the Muslim Friendly Universities (MFU) Programme.
This publication marks the final report in a series of three MFU studies, following work at the University of Bradford and Loughborough University, and represents an important contribution to sector-wide learning on faith, belonging and inclusion in higher education.
Co-funded by DMU and The Aziz Foundation, the research was co-created through a participatory methodology, working closely with five undergraduate student advisors to enhance student voice, support skills development and centre lived experience. The project explored how British Muslim students experience their Muslimness during their first year of study, revealing a complex terrain of being and belonging as students navigate faith, visibility and autonomy within the university context.
Key insights include:
🔹 The importance of anchor points – such as prayer spaces, Islamic societies, chaplaincy and Ramadan provision – in fostering a sense of feeling “at home”
🔹 Tensions where students can feel compelled to choose between educational engagement and religious practice
🔹 Experiences of heightened visibility and behavioural policing, particularly for Muslim women
🔹 The critical role universities can play in strengthening faith literacy among academic and professional staff
The report offers clear, constructive recommendations, including increasing religious literacy, a transparent approach to prayer space provision, more inclusive curriculum and assessment practices, stronger dialogue with Muslim agencies and Islamic societies and exploring inclusive catering options across campus.
The report’s Foreword is provided by Mohammed Laher, DMU Imam and Muslim Chaplain, with an institutional response from Professor Kasmin N. Sheikh, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Social Justice. The core research team comprised Professor Richard Hall 🇵🇸, Dr Lucy Ansley, Dr Sumeya L. and Dr Lamia Nemouchi, working alongside student advisors Ola Al-Saedi, Humera Ashrafali, Dawood Khalifa, Maria Shah, Shimla Shifan and DMU alumnus Yasraa Maryam.
We extend our thanks to the DMU research team, participating students and senior leadership, as well as colleagues across the MFU programme at Bradford, Loughborough and De Montfort University, for advancing this vital work.
This report is both a reflection and a starting point: an opportunity to build more faith-literate, inclusive university environments where British Muslim students and staff continue to thrive.