Adesina Alabi, Anila Hashim, Rev’d David Tuck, Nabila Ramdani and Sophie Gilliat-Ray

A panel of judges, completely independent of the newspaper and its editors, select the shortlist and winners of The Muslim News Awards for Excellence. The judges reflect the diversity of experience, background and gender. 

Adesina Alabi is a Nigerian-born commercial manager who has worked for both contractor and consultancy firms on major projects, specifically mixed developments and civil infrastructure works, for over two decades. He is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and some of his projects have included working on Highways England maintenance, Local Authority maintenance, and school building projects in the UK. He obtained his qualifications in Quantity Surveying from Lagos and went on to study for a Masters in Project Management at Greenwich University. He is currently President of Muslim Association of Nigeria.

Anila Hashim is a Pakistani-born mother of four. She came to the UK when she was18 and has been a Londoner ever since. She is a keen community organiser, specifically for faith communities, helping to run interfaith events. Anila was on the Executive Committee for the Shia Ithna Ashari Community of  Middlesex and is also part of the Residents Association in Northwood. She works in property investment, running her own company whilst also managing an international property portfolio with her husband.

Rev’d David Tuck is a retired Church of England priest but still plays an active role in his St Alban’s parish in North Harrow. After a theology degree at Cambridge and seminary training at Oxford, he spent most of his working life in parishes in Norfolk and London but has had significant teaching, pastoral and study experience in Nigeria, Zambia and South India.

In retirement, he taught English as a second language at Uxbridge College for several years. He currently has strong and growing links with Muslim communities in North London including links with the new Salaam Centre project in Harrow.

French-born Nabila Ramdani is an award-winning journalist of Arab descent. She specialises in French politics, Islamic affairs, and the Arab World. She is a prominent political commentator for both television and radio and she regularly appears on the BBC, Al Jazeera, CNN, Sky News, as well as producing documentaries for Channel 4 and ITV. She writes columns for The Guardian, The Observer and The Independent. Nabila has interviewed world leaders including the current President of France, Emmanuel Macron, and has held lecturing positions at the University of Oxford, University of Michigan and Paris 7 University. Nabila won the International Media Awards 2013 ‘Cutting Edge’ Prize in journalism and was honoured with the title Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2012.

Sophie Gilliat-Ray is Professor of Religious & Theological Studies at Cardiff University. She is also the Director of the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK. She has an MA in Interfaith Studies and has written seminal works on British Islam including Muslims in Britain: an Introduction, published by Cambridge University Press. She also recorded a two-part series on ‘British Muslim History’ to support the A’ level/GCSE curriculum on ‘Religion in Britain’ Sophie is a consultant to the Lincoln Theological Institute for the Study of Religion and Society and the Diocese of Birmingham. She is also a consultant to NHS research on spiritual and faith pastoral care in hospitals. She has made numerous radio appearances, including BBC Radio 5 to discuss Islamophobia and BBC Radio 4, talking about religious Muslim professionals in the UK.