Dr Imranali Sibtain Panjwani has lived, studied and worked in the UK, the Middle East and Australia as an academic, lawyer, chaplain and community worker. He researches Islamic and Western Law focusing on the subject of the law, interpretation of scripture, moral development and access to justice and human rights for minority communities. His country’s expert reports have been commented upon by judges and lawyers and draw upon his diverse legal, cultural and religious experiences.
Dr Panjwani is the Head and Founder of Diverse Legal Consulting, a consultancy that specialises in country expert reports on Middle East & North Africa (MENA) for asylum seekers. Drawing upon his seminary and university studies, his work cuts across scriptural exegesis, jurisprudence, philosophy, logic and metaphysics. By re-examining the subject of the law, a critical evaluation of how laws are derived from religious and non-religious sources can take places. This also means broadening our notions of evidence to understand other legal systems better so that the dignity of minorities can be recognised.
In his spare time, he engages in interfaith dialogue in Muslim and faith communities worldwide and likes playing tennis and doing charity work. He enjoys spending time with family and when possible, escapes into the world of fantasy football and all other idiosyncratic creative outlets.
Imranali’s current research projects include:
- Editor of ‘The Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheries of East Africa: Their quest for a new socio-religious identity (1860-1960) by Dr Sibtain Panjwani
- Impact case study research for CAJI on the rights of minority communities
Awards
- Recipient of the ‘Excellent Teaching Award in Business and Law’ at ARU’s Made A Difference Awards 2022.
- Recipient of the ‘Highly Commended Access to Justice’ Award at the UK Diversity Legal Awards 2021.
Spoken Languages
- English
- Arabic
- Persian
- Gujarati
Research interests
- Islamic law, jurisprudence and exegesis
- Logic and legal reasoning
- The Rights of asylum seekers and minority communities
- The relationship between law, religion and spirituality
- Legal education
- Decolonialism
Areas of research supervision
- Comparative Islamic and Western Jurisprudence
- International human rights
- Jurisprudence
Teaching
Imranali teaches the following modules at ARU:
- European Union Law
- Child and Family Law
- Civil Litigation
- Issues in Medical Law
- Company Law
- Agency and the Sale of Goods
Qualifications
- Post-Doctoral Research & Persian Language Studies: The Research Institute of Al-Mustafa International University (Jami’at al-Mustafa), Mashhad, Iran
- PhD in Theology & Religious Studies, King’s College London
- PGDip in Academic Practice (Teaching Certificate), King’s College London
- PGDip in the Legal Practice Course (LPC), University of Law, Birmingham
- Seminary Training in Islamic Studies & Arabic, Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham
- LLB in Law, University of Sheffield
Memberships, editorial boards
- Member Electronic Immigration Network (EIN) Expert’s Directory
- Associate Fellow, Higher Education Academy
- Book reviewer, Religion (Taylor & Francis Journal)
Published articles on this forum
London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom is a 21st-century city with a history stretching back to Roman times. At its centre stand the imposing Houses of Parliament, the iconic ‘Big Ben’ clock tower and Westminster Abbey, the site of British monarch coronations. Across the Thames River, the London Eye observation wheel provides panoramic views of the South Bank cultural complex and the entire city
