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Cambridge Hired a Former Supporter of a Banned Terror Group
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Farah Ahmed once backed Hizb ut-Tahrir and now trains future teachers
Cambridge University has appointed a former supporter of Hizb ut-Tahrir as an assistant research professor of education. The Islamist group was banned as a terrorist organisation in January 2024.
Farah Ahmed took up the post in the Faculty of Education, the same faculty as Professor Jason Arday. She is responsible for postgraduate research in education and teaches undergraduate students.
The Home Secretary proscribed Hizb ut-Tahrir under the Terrorism Act 2000 on 19 January 2024. The group campaigns for a global caliphate. Membership or support is now a criminal offence.
Ahmed contributed to a 2002 Hizb ut-Tahrir pamphlet, Education and Identity, republished in 2017. In it, she wrote that 'western education is a threat to our beliefs and values'.
In 2010 she said she had not been a member for a few years and did not agree with all the group's views as a political organisation. She declined to say whether she had ever been a member.
Her schools still receive public money
Ahmed first came to public attention in 2009, when reporting by The Spectator revealed she was running two private primary schools in Haringey and Slough. The schools had received more than £100,000 in public money. According to that reporting, at least three of the schools' four trustees were Hizb ut-Tahrir members or activists.
Both schools remain open under the Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation, a registered charity. Charity Commission records show the foundation received £382,000 in government grants last year, within a total income of about £1.29 million. Ahmed remains chair of trustees.
The schools are independent, but they access public money through pupil-related grants. The Charity Commission investigated the foundation in 2010 and found no ongoing concerns about political links. The then schools secretary Ed Balls defended the funding. No action was taken.
What she is doing at Cambridge
Ahmed directs the Islamic Educator Learning Community, part of Camtree, a research centre at Hughes Hall, a Cambridge college. She is a research fellow at the college and sits on its governing body.
In July 2023, the IELC, Camtree, and the university ran a conference on Islam, science, and education. Its programme aimed to 'recognise the role of science as part of a wider modernist and colonial project'. In December 2023, Ahmed organised a conference on 'Islamically grounded teacher development', which said teachers should focus on 'preparing the Muslim learner for the akhira', the afterlife.
Charity Commission records show the foundation received £382,000 in government grants last year. Ahmed remains chair of trustees.
Ahmed also co-wrote a 'How Islamic is my school' toolkit. It states that the Islamic concept of education is opposed to 'gaining literacy and numeracy and other disciplinary skills demonstrated through qualifications'. The IELC website promotes a site called Salafi Homeschool, which warns Muslim parents that celebrating Christmas or birthdays can 'blur the clear boundaries of the deen'.
How other schools were treated
After the 2014 Trojan Horse affair in Birmingham, several schools faced formal intervention over curriculum and governance concerns. Some closed, some were reformed, and others continued under monitoring. The Shakhsiyah schools have faced no comparable action, either before or after the 2024 ban.
Cambridge University has not issued a public statement on the appointment. The Faculty of Education has said it is committed to academic freedom and freedom of speech within the law. Ahmed remains in post.
