Professor Matthew Wilkinson

Publication

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Research

Matthew's theoretical and empirical research has focussed on: (1) law courts (2) schools (3) prisons:

(1) Law Courts

Matthew developed the only widely accepted definition of Islamist Extremism:

• In S. Begg v. BBC the judge Rt. Hon. Justice Haddon-Cave used almost verbatim the definitions from Matthew's Expert Witness Report to give a legal 10-point definition of Islamist Extremism: Points 118-128

• These 10-Points have now become the basis of the only widely accepted legal definition of Islamist Extremism. 

• Please see here Matthew's Expert Witness Report and the Judge's subsequent Approved Judgement.

• The Courts have called on Matthew to analyze evidence in 34 Terrorism and Hate Crime trials, including the Manchester Arena Inquiry where he explained the process of radicalization of the bomber.  

• Matthew's analytical framework was published in The Genealogy of Terror: how to distinguish between Islam, Islamism and Islamist Extremism which was described by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Max Hill KC, as, "A book of stunning clarity and detail which will be of enormous value to practising criminal lawyers and to the interested 'lay' reader...a must-read."

(2) In Schools

Through the UK Government's National Curriculum Review for History, Matthew showed how alienated Muslim school pupils could be re-connected to the national community by removing the 'absent' curriculum of Islamic civilization and integrating it into the National Curriculum for History. 

• On behalf of the UK Muslim community, The Muslim Council of Britain presented Matthew's report A Broader, Truer History for All to the UK Government.

• The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge incorporated into their PGCE History Teacher Training Courses this concept of removing the absent curriculum to provide a more inclusive classroom history experience.

(3) In Prisons

Matthew and his team conducted the largest international study on Islam in prison. The findings of the 3-year research have been published in Islam in Prison: finding faith, freedom and fraternity.  

Based on these findings, Matthew and his team are designing innovative training for the UK Prison Service (HMPPS) for accreditation by Cardiff University through PRIMO:

• For Incarcerated People: PRIMO is using Islam to help them process their guilt and re-engage with a productive life.

• For Correctional Staff: PRIMO is building their religious literacy to give them confidence in their dealings with Muslim incarcerated people.

• For Prison Chaplains: PRIMO is enhancing their pastoral care by improving their theological and criminological awareness.

• The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, USA have asked Matthew to give them the same programme and he has agreed in principle.

Biography

I am often asked, "Why are you interested in religion and why do you research religion in public?”

I believe that religious faith, defined as worldviews of metaphysical belief and absolute value that inspire behavioural outcomes, deeply motivates humans and shape the institutional cultures in which we live. Unlike Freud, I believe that religion is rational behaviour and that human beings cannot live fully without finding meaning in this spiritual dimension. I also believe that when people’s connection to absolute value goes wrong, religion has the capacity to wreak unparalleled damage. My own life has been inspired by a quest to integrate religion and rationality and retain a space for reasonable faith in secularizing cultures. 

In 1989, I won a scholarship in Theology & Religious Studies at Trinity College, University of Cambridge. At Cambridge, I became fascinated by the Protestant philosophical theology of Schleiermacher, and Barth. As a result, I became gradually convinced of the need for Divine principles to guide humanity and that Western civilization, especially vis a vis young people, was suffering from the atrophy of the spiritual dimension and its reduction to other things.

My desire to share a love of practical scholarship around religion and the history of ideas led me to qualify as a QTS History teacher, and I taught History, Citizenship, and Religious Studies in London secondary schools for ten years. In 2011 I completed an ESRC-funded PhD in Education at King’s College London, examining how history curriculum might help under-achieving Muslim boys engage better with education and engage more fully with British life.

This PhD led to a watershed moment when I attended a lecture given by Professor Roy Bhaskar (1944-2014). Bhaskar was the founder of the philosophy of critical realism, whose brilliant schema of dialectical philosophy to explain the transformation of Being prompted me to realise that Abrahamic principles of worship, justice and excellence could be integrated into fields of research, education and law. As Roy’s postdoctoral student, I developed an original theological philosophy specifically designed to provide a space for rational inquiry at the interface of personal faith and institutional public life. This was published in A Fresh Look at Islam in a Multi-faith World: a philosophy for success through education which was awarded the Cheryl Frank Memorial Prize as the most “creative and innovative” work of critical realist philosophy.

My philosophy and social science of religion has delivered significant practical impact in promoting religious peace and reducing religious mis-understanding and violence in schools, courts of law and prisons:

For schools, using the philosophy of Islamic Critical Realism, I developed the Concept of the Absent Curriculum which showed how the absence of the contribution of classical Arab, Persian and Indian scholars to the intellectual history of humanity generated bad, incomplete history for all pupils and that school history that included this contribution at natural moments, such as the History of Science, would be more accurate and useful for all pupils. This concept has been used for teaching training at the University of Cambridge, UCL Institute of Education and the University of Oxford.

For courts, as an Expert Witness in 35 Terrorism and Hate Crime cases, I have used this theological philosophy to help juries reach just and evidenced verdicts by distinguishing between the worldviews of Islam, Islamism, and Islamist Extremism and to understand the nature of other types of extremism, such as Satanist and Christian Identity extremism. This work has included the Manchester Arena Inquiry where I was instructed to describe and explain the radicalization of the bomber of the Manchester Arena. The Chair of the Manchester Arena Inquiry, The Hon Sir John Saunders, commended my evidence as follows,

"I hope that his [Matthew's] evidence to this Inquiry will be considered carefully by the authorities, as it could enhance their ability to identify signs of radicalisation and the appropriate level of importance to be attached to them."        Volume 3, Clause 25.8, p. 104       

In the 2016 case of S. Begg v. BBC, my Expert Witness Report was taken almost verbatim by the Judge to give a 10-point definition of Islamist Extremism which has now become the only widely accepted legal definition of Islamist Extremism. I have published my full methodology in The Genealogy of Terror: how to distinguish between Islam, Islamism and Islamist Extremism.

As for prison, my work in the law courts made me aware that policy around religion and rehabilitation was hampered by ignorance of the presence and effects of faith in prison. Therefore, from 2018-2021, my research team and I conducted the largest study of Islam in prison. This was independently funded and involved research in ten prisons in England, Switzerland and France and showed that choosing faith in prison presents some criminogenic risk and significant rehabilitative opportunities. The findings are published in Islam in Prison: finding faith, freedom and fraternity.

Based on these research findings, I established at Cardiff University the independently funded programme PRIMO to develop innovative training for Incarcerated People, Correctional Officers and Prison Chaplains to help mobilize deeply reflective religious faith specifically tailored to reducing rates of reoffending, which is 72% over 5 years in the USA. PRIMO has been successfully trialled in the UK and USA, and we are currently exploring how to scale it up to be widely available and useful for both public protection and rehabilitation.

Honours and awards

2021-2026 - Awarded £2M grant by the Dawes Trust as Principal Investigator of Prison-based Interventions for Muslim Offenders (PRIMO).

2017-2021 - Awarded £840k grant by the Dawes Trust as Principal Investigator of Understanding Conversion to Islam in Prison (UCIP).

2015-2017 Awarded £190k grant by the charity Curriculum for Cohesion for a Senior Research Fellowship at SOAS, University of London.

2014 - Awarded 2014 Cheryl Frank Memorial Prize for, A Fresh Look at Islam in a Multi-faith World: a philosophy for success through education as the most “creative and innovative” work of critical realist philosophy.

2011-2015 - Awarded £276k grant by the charity Curriculum for Cohesion as Principal Investigator of Curriculum for Cohesion

2007 - Awarded ESRC-King's College London CASE PhD studentship to complete PhD research entitled History Curriculum, Citizenship and Muslim Boys: learning to succeed?

1989 - Awarded Undergraduate Scholarship in Theology & Religious Studies by Trinity College, University of Cambridge.

Professional memberships

Member of the Expert Witness Institute.

Member of the European Society of Criminology.

Academic positions

2022-present - Professor of Religion in Public Life, Cardiff University.

2020-2021 - Reader in Religion & Criminal Justice, Birkbeck, University of London.

2017-2020 - Senior Research Fellow in Contemporary Islam, SOAS, University of London.

2015-2017 - Research Fellow in Contemporary Islam, SOAS, University of London.

2013-2015 - Research Fellow for Islam and Muslims in Education, UCL, Institute of Education.

2012 - Visiting Lecturer on Islam in Education, UCL, Institute of Education.

2011-2015 - Visiting Lecturer on Islam in Education, University of Cambridge.

2011-2013 - Research Fellow, Cambridge Muslim College.

2010 - Visiting Lecturer in Education, Anglia Ruskin University.

2010 - Visiting Lecturer in Education, London Metropolitan University.

Supervisions

Current supervision

Md Kamruzzaman Bhuiyan