Cambridge University’s Faculty of Education has appointed a professor who wrote that Muslims should study engineering and computer technology in part to develop “advanced weaponry for Jihad,” according to a 2002 Hizb ut-Tahrir pamphlet.
Farah Ahmed, now an assistant research professor at Cambridge, co-wrote a chapter in the pamphlet with Nazreen Nawaz, a senior Hizb ut-Tahrir activist and head of the organization's women's section. The chapter outlined an Islamic education system to operate under a caliphate and stated that school curricula should not include teachings viewed as contradicting Islam, reports The Spectator. Ahmed was appointed as an assistant research professor in 2025.
It stated that “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.”
The chapter stated: “Nor can there be any schools established on any other religion, sect or race… Even the non-Muslims need to be educated under the educational curriculum of Islam… by pushing them to think about the correct belief in life.”
Ahmed and Nawaz also wrote that certain subjects should be limited to higher education and taught for the purpose of challenging their ideas. “Subjects such as foreign philosophies and religions, capitalism, communism, socialism, nationalism, sociology, psychology, foreign history, foreign languages and foreign literature, should be taught only at the higher level of education with the view of refuting their ideas and exposing their falsehood.”
The pair then described how higher education could support jihad. “The motivation to study engineering would be to aid the development of machinery for Jihad and Allah’s reward for this is immeasurable. The motivation for studying computer technology would be to elevate the Islamic society over all other societies in the world, to show it as a shining example and to produce advanced weaponry for Jihad in order that the deen [Islam] may dominate over all other deens as commanded by the Creator.”
The pamphlet was originally published in 2002 and republished in 2017, though Ahmed was not involved in its republication.
Ahmed said in 2010 that she no longer supported “all” of Hizb ut-Tahrir's views and had not recently been involved with the organization. According to The Spectator, Ahmed did not respond when asked whether she still supported the views expressed in the pamphlet. Ahmed is now employed at Cambridge's Faculty of Education, where she works in a role connected to education and teacher training. Hizb ut-Tahrir is an extremist group that seeks to unite Muslims under one Islamic caliphate.
Farah Ahmed, now an assistant research professor at Cambridge, co-wrote a chapter in the pamphlet with Nazreen Nawaz, a senior Hizb ut-Tahrir activist and head of the organization's women's section. The chapter outlined an Islamic education system to operate under a caliphate and stated that school curricula should not include teachings viewed as contradicting Islam, reports The Spectator. Ahmed was appointed as an assistant research professor in 2025.
It stated that “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.”
The chapter stated: “Nor can there be any schools established on any other religion, sect or race… Even the non-Muslims need to be educated under the educational curriculum of Islam… by pushing them to think about the correct belief in life.”
Ahmed and Nawaz also wrote that certain subjects should be limited to higher education and taught for the purpose of challenging their ideas. “Subjects such as foreign philosophies and religions, capitalism, communism, socialism, nationalism, sociology, psychology, foreign history, foreign languages and foreign literature, should be taught only at the higher level of education with the view of refuting their ideas and exposing their falsehood.”
The pair then described how higher education could support jihad. “The motivation to study engineering would be to aid the development of machinery for Jihad and Allah’s reward for this is immeasurable. The motivation for studying computer technology would be to elevate the Islamic society over all other societies in the world, to show it as a shining example and to produce advanced weaponry for Jihad in order that the deen [Islam] may dominate over all other deens as commanded by the Creator.”
The pamphlet was originally published in 2002 and republished in 2017, though Ahmed was not involved in its republication.
Ahmed said in 2010 that she no longer supported “all” of Hizb ut-Tahrir's views and had not recently been involved with the organization. According to The Spectator, Ahmed did not respond when asked whether she still supported the views expressed in the pamphlet. Ahmed is now employed at Cambridge's Faculty of Education, where she works in a role connected to education and teacher training. Hizb ut-Tahrir is an extremist group that seeks to unite Muslims under one Islamic caliphate.
A spokesperson for the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Education told Jewish News of Ahmed’s comments, “These comments were made in an article to which Dr Ahmed contributed as a historical researcher more than 20 years ago. She has said that they are not her words and do not reflect her views. Dr Ahmed also reiterated that she ended her association with Hizb ut-Tahrir more than 15 years ago, long before the group was proscribed. Her appointment at Cambridge followed a standard recruitment process and complied fully with the University’s legal obligations as an employer.”
