Projects per year
Personal profile
Research Interests
Muslim Women; British Islam; Digital Religion; ‘Non-religion’; Children in Care; Minoritisation; Methodology
Biography
Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor is Associate Professor in the Sociology of Islam at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University, UK. She is Chair (2020-2023) of the Muslims in Britain Research Network (MBRN) and is editor of the Review of Social and Scientific Study of Religion.
Her research emphasises collaborative methodologies that work with and for research participants. As a feminist sociologist of religion, she has a keen interest and appreciation of the power dynamics within knowledge production and the implications of the processes and systems of knowledge on society as a whole.
Her portfolio of research critically interrogates how we ‘do’ knowledge while also giving voice to lesser-heard and harder-to-reach sections in society. Feminist, Pragmatist and Decolonising methodologies are central to her methods toolkit. Her research has been funded by the AHRC, ESRC, Leverhulme Trust, British Academy and a number of UK foundations and charities (total value c. £2.9 million). Her publications include Muslim Women in Britain: Demystifying the Muslimah (Routledge 2012), Religion or Belief, Discrimination and Equality: Britain in Global Contexts (Bloomsbury 2013), Islamic Education in Britain: New Pluralist Paradigms (Bloomsbury 2015), Digital Methodologies in the Sociology of Religion (Bloomsbury 2015), Islam on Campus: Contested Identities and the Cultures of Higher Education (OUP 2020), a number of journal articles, book chapters and mass-media articles.
Her work has evolved through partnership with a number of civil society organisation including the Peace Train Foundation, Penny Appeal, Together in Action Trust (Coventry), Coventry Sacred Space, CoramBAAF and others. She welcomes every opportunity to ensure that her research is relevant to everyday lives.
In her spare time she travels, bakes, tries to garden by not killing her plants and writes poetry.
Her ongoing externally-funded research projects include:
- Principal Investigator | AHRC GCRF Minorities on Campus in India (2020-2022)
- Principal Investigator | Nuffield Foundation Expressions of Self: Care-Experienced Children’s Narratives of Intersectional Identity (2022-2023)
- Co-Investigator | CHANSE Digital Islam Across Europe (2022-2025)
- Co-Investigator | ESRC Digital British Islam (2022-2025)
- Co-Investigator | Rethinking Security Alternative Security Review (2021-2022)
- Director of Studies: AHRC M4C | Becoming Muslim in Rural Leicestershire: An Oral History Project exploring Identity and Belonging (2023-2027)
- Director of Studies: AHRC M4C | Uncovering the History of Inter-religious Relations in Post-War Coventry (2021 – 2025)
PhD Students
She learns from and is inspired by the scholarship that her doctoral students produce and welcomes expressions of interest from potential future students:
Completions:
- Dr Jennifer Verson used performance for inter-faith peace-building
- Dr Ola Alkhanoutproblematised lived experiences of Zakat in Contemporary Qatar
- Dr Samra Mursaleen interrogated the impact in Britain of Pakistani Muslim Scholar Dr Tahir Ul Qadri's scholarship on preventing violent extremism
- Dr Hafza Iqbal produced original theorisation around Islamic Practical Theology, in the context of contemporary and hybrid British Sufisms
Current Students
- Meryem Abdelhafid is showcasing the lived experiences and feminism of religious Algerian women, living in Britain
- Eko Bur Cahyo is examining the meaning of management and good governance of Waqf in the context of Islamic Education in Indonesia
- Imam Pamungas questions how Islamic Education can challenge radical narratives of Islam
- Leli Lismay is decolonising English, for Islamic Studies teaching in Indonesia
- Ulya Fuhaidah is demystifying Salafism in Jambi
- Dinesh Passi is uncovering the history of South Asian migrants and inter-religious relations in post-War Coventry
- Alfi Abdurrahman is thinking about ethical forms of Islamic Leadership
Vision Statement
I am inspired by the everyday lives, experiences and conversations of people. In our society, popular metanarratives around immigration, radicalisation and austerity seem to suggest that our communities are ‘broken’. Yet in examining the everyday, it seems that ordinary people are contributing much more to the resilience of British communities than media narratives would have us believe – they are not just fostering tolerance of the different other, but are establishing relationships of respect, trust and equality. As a sociologist specialising in the study of lived religion, I believe it is imperative to examine the issues and problems that underpin the disconnections within our societies. But I believe it is probably even more important to uncover what communities and individuals are already doing to find shared space, common values and practical solutions. At CTPSR, I hope to be able to do this - to find solutions and to recognise the good practice within our communities, to replicate this in policy and practice, and to thus advance social justice and equality in Coventry, Britain and beyond.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Sociology of Religion, Muslim Women in Britain: Demystifying the Muslimah, University of Gloucestershire
2007 → 2010
Award Date: 30 Nov 2010
External positions
Chair, Muslims in Britain Research Network
2020 → 2023
Member, CoramBAAF Black and Minority Ethnic Advisory Committee (BMEPAC)
Visiting Fellow, Advanced Centre for Women's Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences
Keywords
- BP Islam. Bahaism. Theosophy, etc
- Islam in Britain
- Muslim Women
- Islamic Feminism
- Sufism
- Lived Religion
- HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
- Muslim Women
- Islamic Feminism
- Children in Care
- Adoption
- Foster Care
Fingerprint
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 2 Finished
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Tackling religion-based hate crime on the multi-faith campus
Aune, K., Cheruvallil-Contractor, S., Osmond, J. & Weller, P.
1/04/18 → 31/03/20
Project: Research
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More than faith - Muslim-heritage children in care: Strategic Briefing
Halford, A. & Cheruvallil-Contractor, S., 31 May 2022, Research in Practice .Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report › peer-review
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The politics of Matching: Ethnicity, Religion and Muslim-heritage Children in Care in the UK
Cheruvallil-Contractor, S., Halford, A. & Boti Phiri, M. J., 1 Dec 2022, In: The British Journal of Social Work. 52, 8, p. 4571-4587 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Methodological Eclecticism: Feminist-Pragmatist Reflections on Re/centering Muslims in Research about Islam
Cheruvallil-Contractor, S., 20 May 2021, In: International Journal of Religion. 2, 1, p. 31-45 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile14 Downloads (Pure) -
Much More Than a Negation of Religion: A Qualitative Exploration of the Diversity of Non-Religious Identities in England and Wales
Cheruvallil-Contractor, S., Purdam, K. & Weller, P., 2021, In: Journal of Contemporary Religion. 36, 2, p. 329-348 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (Scopus)60 Downloads (Pure) -
The Salience of Islam to Muslim Heritage Children’s Experiences of Identity, Family, and Well-Being in Foster Care
Cheruvallil-Contractor, S., Halford, A. & Phiri, M. B., 25 May 2021, In: Religions. 12, 6, 12 p., 381.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Citations (Scopus)116 Downloads (Pure)
Activities
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RISING Together – The Unheard Stories of Peace
Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (Organising Committee), Laura Payne (Organising Committee), Zsófia Hacsek (Organising Committee), Gwenith Cross (Organising Committee), Richard Dickson (Organising Committee), Jennifer Verson (Panel Facilitator) & Mohammad Rashed Alam Bhuiyan (Contributor)
15 Nov 2021Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
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Sociology of Religion Study Group (SocRel) Annual Conference 2017
Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (Speaker)
14 Jan 2017Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
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Tata Institute of Social Sciences
Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (Visiting researcher)
4 Aug 2017 → 7 Aug 2017Activity: Visiting an external institution › Visiting an external academic institution
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Fourth Annual Conference of the British Association for Islamic Studies
Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (Speaker)
12 Apr 2017Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
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Muslims in Britain Research Network Day Seminar
Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (Speaker)
2017Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
Prizes
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Outstanding Supervisory Team
Cheruvallil-Contractor, Sariya (Recipient), Northey, Jessica (Recipient) & Weller, Paul (Recipient), 2020
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Press/Media
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Interview about my book - Muslim Women in Britain: Demystifying the Muslimah
1/06/17
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Other