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Centre Blog

Sophie Gilliat-Ray – A Tale of Two Re-interments

2 April 2024
Michael Munnik

Michael Munnik

A man in a dark coat and a woman in a dark coat with tinted glasses and a white headscarf stand on a blue carpet, smiling towards the camera. The carpet is loosely star patterned in an Islamic art theme with tones of light blue, navy blue, and ecru. A glass vase of flowers - red and pale roses - is to the bottom left corner, behind which is a coffin draped with a white cloth. In the background are wooden screens and also windows and doors in a arched shape.
Prof. Sophie Gilliat-Ray and Dr Mansur Ali in the mausoleum for Muhammad Abdul Wahab Siddiqi.

Hospitality and a warm welcome are embedded in the DNA of the Islam-UK Centre.  We love to welcome visitors!  But we also relish the opportunity to undertake fieldtrips, and to visit other important institutions in the landscape of Muslim communities in Britain.  On 7th February 2024, Maulana Dr Mansur Ali and Professor Sophie Gilliat-Ray were guests of the Bosworth Heritage Centre and the Hijaz College near Nuneaton.  So, what’s the story?

A man in a dark coat and a woman in a dark coat with tinted glasses and a white headscarf stand on a blue carpet, smiling towards the camera. The carpet is loosely star patterned in an Islamic art theme with tones of light blue, navy blue, and ecru. A glass vase of flowers - red and pale roses - is to the bottom left corner, behind which is a coffin draped with a white cloth. In the background are wooden screens and also windows and doors in a arched shape.
Dr Mansur Ali and Prof. Sophie Gilliat-Ray in the mausoleum for Muhammad Abdul Wahab Siddiqi.

These two institutions have been working together for the last 18 months in relation to an Exhibition called ‘A Tale of Two Re-interments’.  As you may know, the mortal remains of King Richard III were excavated in a car park in Leicester in 2012 and were re-interred in Leicester Cathedral in 2015.  The first Muslim saint in Britain (and indeed in Europe) was buried in Coventry in 1994, but his mortal remains were later re-interred in 1998 at the Hijaz Islamic College near Nuneaton. Spotting the connection between these two men and aspects of their shared circumstances (both high profile, both died relatively young, both re-interred), the Bosworth Heritage Centre and the Hijaz College worked together to co-create an exhibition about Muhammad Abdul Wahab Siddiqi, as an ‘extension’ of the overall Bosworth Heritage Centre and Museum.  The Exhibition about the Saint has been in place at the Bosworth Heritage Centre since May last year but has just come to an end.  We are looking forward to working with Hijaz College on the possibility of bringing the Exhibition to Cardiff University in Ramadan 2025.

After visiting the Exhibition, we were privileged to visit Hijaz College itself, and in particular the mausoleum that houses the mortal remains of the saint, Muhammad Abdul Wahab Siddiqi.  This was followed by a convivial and generous meeting with Shaykh Faizul Aqtab Siddiqi and his colleagues.  As well as being the Principal of the Hijaz College, the Shaykh is an eminent British Muslim scholar, Secretary General of the International Muslims Organisation, Grand Blessed Guide of the Naqshbandi Hijazi Sufi Order, and a barrister at law.  Shaykh Faizul Aqtab Siddiqi is a direct descendant of one of the closest Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the first Khalifa of Islam Hazrat Sayyidina Abu Bakr Siddiq (R.A.). The Siddiqi family is renowned for their services to Islam throughout the centuries.

It was a privilege to spend time with the staff of Hijaz College and to visit one of the most important institutions in the recent history of Islam in Britain.  We look forward to future potential collaboration.

Poster for the exhibition titled A Tale of Two Re-interments. It includes text from the Hijaz Trust about an exhibition in Leicestershire connecting the re-interments of King Richard III and Muhammad Abdul Wahab Siddiqi, the first Muslim saint in the UK.

Hanes Dau Ail-gladdedigaeth

Yn y Ganolfan Islam-y DU, mae lletygarwch a chroeso cynnes yn rhan annatod o bwy ydyn ni. Rydyn ni’n wrth ein bodd yn croesawu ymwelwyr, a hynny â breichiau agored. Ond rydyn ni hefyd yn ymhyfrydu mewn cyfleoedd i fynd ar deithiau maes, ac ymweld â sefydliadau o bwys yn nhirwedd y cymunedau Mwslemaidd ym Mhrydain. Ar 7 Chwefror 2024, croesawyd Maulana Dr Mansur Ali a’r Athro Sophie Gilliat-Ray i fod yn westeion yng Nghanolfan Dreftadaeth Bosworth, a Choleg Hijaz ger Nuneaton. Felly beth yw’r hanes?

Dros y 18 mis diwethaf, mae’r ddau sefydliad wedi bod yn cydweithio ar Arddangosfa o’r enw ‘Hanes Dau Ail-gladdedigaeth’ (A Tale of Two Re-interments). Fel y gwyddoch eisoes, o bosib, daethpwyd o hyd i weddillion marwol Brenin Richard III yn 2012, ar ôl cloddio mewn maes parcio yng Nghaerlŷr, ac fe’u hail-gladdwyd yng Nghadeirlan Caerlŷr yn 2015. Yn 1994, cafodd y sant Mwslemaidd cyntaf ym Mhrydain (ac yn wir yn Ewrop) ei gladdu yn Coventry, ond ail-gladdwyd ei weddillion marwol ef yn hwyrach yn 1998, yng Ngholeg Islamaidd Hijaz, ger Nuneaton. Gan sylwi ar y cysylltiadau a’r amgylchiadau tebyg wnaeth uno’r ddau ddyn yma (ill dau yn unigolion uchel eu proffil, wedi marw yn gymharol ifanc, ac wedi’u hail-gladdu), aeth y Ganolfan Dreftadaeth Bosworth a Choleg Hijaz ati i gyd-greu arddangosfa am fywyd Muhammad Abdul Wahab Siddiqi, sy’n cael ei hystyried bellach yn ‘estyniad’ i’r Ganolfan Dreftadaeth ac Amgueddfa Bosworth. Ers mis Mai y llynedd, mae’r Arddangosfa hon wedi bod ar agor i’r cyhoedd yng Nghanolfan Dreftadaeth Bosworth, ond mae hi bellach wedi dod i ben. Rydyn ni’n edrych ymlaen yn eiddgar at weithio gyda Choleg Hijaz ar y posibilrwydd o ddod â’r Arddangosfa hon i Brifysgol Caerdydd ar gyfer Ramadan 2025.

Ar ôl ymweld â’r Arddangosfa, cawson ni’r fraint o allu ymweld â Choleg Hijaz ei hun, ac yn arbennig y mawsolëwm, sy’n gartref i weddillion marwol y sant, Muhammad Abdul Wahab Siddiqi. Yn dilyn hynny, cafwyd cyfarfod siriol a hael â Shaykh Faizul Aqtab Siddiqi a’i gydweithwyr. Yn ogystal â bod yn Brifathro Coleg Hijaz, mae’r Shaykh yn ysgolhaig Mwslimaidd Prydeinig o fri, yn Ysgrifennydd Cyffredinol y Sefydliad Mwslemiaid Rhyngwladol, yn Arweinydd Bendigedig Urdd Sufi Naqshbandi Hijazi, ac yn fargyfreithiwr. Disgynnydd uniongyrchol i un o Gymdeithion agosaf y Proffwyd Sanctaidd Muhammad ﷺ a’r Khalifa cyntaf Islam Hazrat Sayyidina Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA), yw Shaykh Faizul Aqtab Siddiqi. Mae’r teulu Siddiqi yn adnabyddus am eu gwasanaethau i Islam ar hyd y canrifoedd.

Braint o’r mwyaf oedd cael treulio amser yng nghwmni staff Coleg Hijaz ac ymweld ag un o’r sefydliadau pwysicaf yn hanes diweddar Islam ym Mhrydain. Edrychwn ymlaen at y posibilrwydd o allu cydweithio yn y dyfodol.