Our History

The Muslim College was established in 1983 by the World Islamic Call Society and Prof. Mohammed AboulKhair Zaki Badwi (1922-2006) was appointed as the first Principal of the College. The Muslim College began functioning as an educational institution of graduate studies in Islam from 1987, with the first cohort of student’s graduation with Masters in Islamic Studies in 1990.

During its early years in West London, Ealing, the Muslim College through its education programmes, publications and productions, established an international reputation for its efforts to revive Islam’s education and intellectual legacy. To popularize traditional learning amongst Western Muslims and Non-Muslim’s. In the ensuing years, The Muslim College continued to refines its academic identity, rooting itself firmly in the Islamic and western scholarly academic tradition.

Shekih Mohammad Aboulkhair Zaki Badwi (Gods Mercy be upon him) was a prominent Egyptian Islamic Scholar, community activist and promoter of interfaith dialogue and frequent writer and broadcaster on Islamic affairs. He was born in Egypt (1922) where he trained at Al Azhar University in Cairo, and graduated with BA in Theology and MA in Arabic Language and Literature in 1947. Later, he moved to the United Kingdom in 1951 and graduated with a BSC Psychology from the University College in London in 1954 and obtained a PHD in Modern Muslim Thought from the University of London in 1978. Sh. Badwi was appointed Director of the Islamic Cultural Centre (ICC) and Chief Imam of the London Central Mosque in Regents Park. He also, participated in establishing the Shari’ah Council as a facility to reconcile conflicts between Shariah Law and the British Civil code. In 1983, the World Islamic Call Society established the Muslim College in London, Ealing and appointed prof. Sh. Badwi as its Principal. The college became a postgraduate school for the training of Imams and Muslims leaders in the West. The curriculum compromised of studies of both Islamic and western societies with emphasizes to interfaith dialogue.  Sh. Badwi was elected Chairman of the Imams and Mosques Council by the National Conference of Imams and Mosque Officials of the UK in 1984. Sh. Badwi was also co-founder of the Three Faiths Forum, vice Chair of the World Congress of Faiths and Director and Trustee of the Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism (FAIR) Prof. Sh. Zaki Badwi spent almost 30 years, single handed creating British Islamic institutions and laying down its foundation. Consequently, he pioneered and laid the intellectual and bureaucratic foundations for our community to make peace and progress with modernity whilst living as a minority in the west. The legacy of Sh. Badwi has left a profound impact on British, western and Middle Eastern societies. The fruits of his work to bridge Islam and its progress with modern times, continues to date, at the Muslim College.