The University of Cambridge is facing fresh scrutiny after it emerged that a former member of the now-proscribed extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir was given a role as assistant research professor in the institution's faculty of education last year.
Farah Ahmed, who confirmed in 2010 that she had left the organisation, initially joined Cambridge as a senior research associate in 2024 before taking up her current post.
She was involved in supervising postgraduate research and teaching undergraduates.
The appointment heaps further pressure on Vice-Chancellor Prof Deborah Prentice, who is already contending with the fallout from the Jason Arday plagiarism affair and an employment tribunal ruling that found she had "shut down" a whistleblower's grievances.
Ms Ahmed authored a Hizb ut-Tahrir pamphlet entitled Education and Identity, first written in 2002 and republished in 2017.
In this work, she reportedly described "western education" as a "threat" to Muslim communities in Britain.
She is also alleged to have criticised British schools for presenting "polygamy or marriage under the age of 16" as "archaic and discriminatory to women," while branding democracy a "corrupt tradition."
Following her arrival at Cambridge, she helped organise a conference examining science's role as "part of a wider modernist and colonial project."
She additionally reportedly developed a resource called "How Islamic is my school?"
A Cambridge spokesman said: "We acknowledge the employment tribunal’s judgment of Aug 10 2026 and are carefully reviewing it. We will now take time to reflect on the findings in detail."
A spokesman for the Faculty of Education said: "The Faculty is committed to academic freedom and freedom of speech within the law.
"All members of our community are encouraged to exercise their rights to freedom of speech, including to challenge ideas or theories they disagree with through scholarship and robust debate."
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The revelation compounds difficulties for Cambridge stemming from an investigation into Jason Arday, who served as professor of sociology of education within the same faculty as Ms Ahmed.
Mr Arday stepped down last Wednesday amid numerous plagiarism allegations and doubts about the veracity of his personal narrative.
He attributed his apparent copying to autism-related mimicry and insisted his departure should not "be mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me."
Critics have accused the university of compromising its academic standards to appoint Mr Arday as its youngest-ever black professor, allegedly driven by a desire to bolster its diversity, equality and inclusion record.
Prof Prentice, the first American to serve as Cambridge's vice-chancellor, faced additional criticism on Tuesday when an employment tribunal found she had repeatedly dismissed complaints from Prof Wyn Evans, an astrophysicist who had raised concerns about the alleged bullying of a colleague at the Institute of Astronomy.
The panel identified a "clear pattern" of suppressing his grievances and shielding the university from potential damage.
The 21 Group, an anti-bullying campaign led by Prof Evans, declared Prof Prentice's position "untenable," questioning whether she is "actually in control of the university she is supposed to lead."
The case will now proceed to a remedy hearing.
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