Minahil Mujahid
‘Whoever travels a path in search of knowledge, Allah makes easy for him a path to paradise’ (Sahih Muslim 2699). Travelling to seek knowledge has never been an alien concept to Minahil, whose parents ventured across the world, moving from place to place, to learn. So, although unexpected, it was not strange for her to end up all the way in Oxford.
For her intercalation, Minahil focused on applying Western scientific methods to elucidate the actions of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and has presented her work at several national conferences. She is interested in critiquing the modern approach to medicine and healthcare and believes there is a great knowledge to be gained from bridging the gap between modern and traditional.
Minahil is currently undertaking part-time traditional Islamic studies at the Al-Salam Institute as she believes there is a great benefit to be derived from interdisciplinary training. Knowledge of Islamic sciences, Traditional medicine and Western medicine contributes to a more holistic understanding of each subject; it allows questioning of normative perspectives and approaches to application, especially of science. She is hoping to pursue further studies in these areas after the completion of her Medical degree.
During her time at university, Minahil pioneered a series on ‘Islam and women’ which would exclusively host female speakers on topics including Leadership and identity politics. This was partly a reaction to the stark lack of (and unawareness of existing) Muslim women leaders and role models at university and, more especially, in the North East. She is looking forward to gaining valuable skills through COSARAF’s leadership programme and internship opportunities in order to work towards addressing these gaps.
Minahil’s ongoing aim is to bring the 3 spheres of her life, intellectual, spiritual and practical, into harmony so that by bettering herself she may better serve her community.
