Dr Imranali Panjwani

Imranali Panjwani For media enquiries please contact the Press Team
Senior Lecturer
Faculty:
Faculty of Business and Law
School:
Economics, Finance and Law
Location:
Chelmsford
Areas of Expertise:
Law , Commercial law , Human rights , Jurisprudence , Islamic Law
Research Supervision:
Yes

Dr Imranali Panjwani has lived, studied and worked in the UK, 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 expert reports have been commented upon by judges and lawyers and draw upon his diverse legal, cultural and religious experiences.

[email protected]

Connect with Imranali on LinkedIn

Visit the Diverse Legal Consulting website

Background

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

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)
Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

Comments by Immigration Judges on Imranali's reports

  • 'Country Expert Report on Saudi Arabia' submitted to the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Appeal Number: PA/04774/2019, 11 March 2020
  • 'Country Expert Report on India' submitted to the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Appeal Number: HU/14446/2016, 29 April 2019
 
Selected recent publications

Panjwani, I. (2022) 'Book Review: Preserving Islamic Tradition: Abu Nasr Qursawi and the beginnings of modern reformism by Nathan Spannaus', Religion.

Greenfields, M., Dagilyte, E., Gillin, N., Radley, C., Panjwani, I., Paraskevopoulou, A., Caddick, N. and Smith, D. (2022) 'Submission to the Justice and Home Affairs Committee Committee's Enquiry in Family Migration', 7.2: The Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme (ARCS), 15 September 2022.

Panjwani, I. (2020) 'The ignored heritage of Western law: the historical and contemporary role of Islamic law in shaping law schools', The Law Teacher, 54(4), pp. 562-577. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2020.1827841

Panjwani, I. (2020) 'From Fair Hearing to Fair Tech Hearing: Access to Justice in Immigration & Asylum Cases'. In: Chishti, S., Adams Bhatti, S. A., Datoo, A. and Indjic, D. (2023) The LegalTech Book. New Jersey: Wiley, pp.193-196.

Panjwani, I. (2019) 'Evidence-Gathering Procedures in United Kingdom Immigration Law: A Critique of Home Office Decision-Making, Country Guidance Information & Country Expert Reports in Asylum Cases'. In: Gorak-Snowsoska, P. and M. (Eds.) Muslim Minorities and the Refugee Crisis in Europe. Warsaw: SGH Warsaw School of Economics, pp. 149-165.

Panjwani, I. (2019) 'From Theory to Practice: The Role of the Subject in the Derivation of Rulings and Its Potential in Creating a System of Case Law for the Operation of Shīʿī Law in Bhojani,'. In: Bohlander, A., de Rooij, L. and Bohlander, M. (2019) Contemporary Discussions in Shi‘i Legal Theory. Leiden: Brill.

Panjwani, I. (2019) 'Bahrain'. In Merskin, D. (Ed)., The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media & Society (Los Angeles: Sage Publications).

Panjwani, I. (2017) 'Challenges in Teaching Islamic Studies at Universities: The Problem of Streamlining Islam for Undergraduates'. In: Hwang, A. and Pugliese, M. (Eds.) (2017) Teaching Interreligious Encounters - American Academy of Religion’s Teaching Religious Studies Series. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 117-135.

Panjwani, I. (2017) 'Book Review: Shari'a in the Modern Era: Muslim Minorities Jurisprudence by Iyad Zahalka', American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 34(1), pp. 114-118.

Panjwani, I. (2014) 'Soul'. In: Kalin, I., Ayduz, S. and Dagli, C. (Eds). (2014) The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, Science and Technology in Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 267-273.

Panjwani, I. (2013) 'Book Review: Bibliographical Discourse Analysis – 4 Volume Set: The Western Academic Perspective on Islam, Muslims and Islamic Countries (1949–2009) by Saied Reza Ameli', Journal of Shi'a Islamic Studies, VI(4), pp. 500-505.

Recent presentations and conferences
  • 'Recognising Minority Rights', Centre for Access to Justice and Innovation, 2 March 2022.
  • ‘The Need for a Language Database: How Asylum Seekers become Passive Participants in Formulating their Identities in a Democratic Society’, Participation through Language: Actors, Practices, Ideologies, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, 25–26 March 2021.
  • ‘Breaking barriers through our shared history: Islam's role in the English Enlightenment’, University of Cambridge – Cambridge Festival of Ideas, 26 October 2019.
  • ‘The Ignored Heritage of Western Law: The Role of Islam in Shaping Law’, University of Bristol, 13 September 2019.
  • ‘The Creation of Fiqh Case Law in Mosques’, University of Copenhagen, Held in Gothenburg, Sweden, 21-23 August 2019.
  • ‘Islamic Law and Women’s Rights’, The University of Amsterdam, 11-13 June 2019.
  • ‘Minority Case Law’, The University of Coimbra, 7-9 May 2019.
  • 'The Creation of Minority Case Law: A Possible Solution for the Recognition of Muslim Refugee Rights in European Countries’ (Muslim minorities and the refugee crisis in Europe. Narratives and policy responses. SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Poland. Organised by Erasmus+: Programme of the European Union, 8–9 November 2018).
  • 'Broadening the Role of Imams: Imam as Key Brokers between Muslim & Non-Muslim Communities’ (Brokerage in Diverse Europe Workshop. Organised by The Open University/Göttingen University, Autonomous University of Barcelona and the Council for European Studies held in London, 12-13 Jan 18).
  • 'Case Law as a Solution for Reclaiming Minority Rights & Identities’ (Islamic Human Rights Commission & Universal Justice Network Conference, Penang, Malaysia, 25-26 October 2016).
  • 'Constructing a Framework for Human Dignity in Islam: The Thought of Zayn al-Abidin’ (Exploring the Meaning & Application of Human Dignity in Islam, Imam Hasan Centre, Sydney, 16-17 July 2016).
  • 'From Theory to Practice: The Relevance of English Case Law in Shi'i Jurisprudence’ (Symposium on Shi'a Jurisprudence, Al-Mahdi Institute & Durham University, Durham University, 16–18 August 2015).
  • 'A Lacuna in Shi'i Legal Theory: The Role of the Subject in the Derivation of Law’ (Research Institute of Al-Mustafa International University, Mashhad, 7 June 2015).
Media experience

Imranali has appeared in local and international news. Some of his recent press coverage includes: