Clinton Bennett

Clinton Bennett was awarded the PhD in Islamic Studies by Birmingham University in 1990. He also holds the M.Ed. from Oxford and his undergraduate degree in Theology from Manchester University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and of the Royal Anthropological Institute and uses ethnography in his research. He is especially interested in how sensitive but critical issues in Religious Studies can be explored without causing offense to religious insiders. He is a specialist in the study of Islam with a focus on modern Muslim thinkers and movements. Ordained as a Baptist minister in 1978, he has worked as a missionary in Bangladesh, as co-pastor of a multi-racial inner city congregation, on the staff of the British Council of Churches and as a College and University chaplain and teacher. He has written twelve books, co-written and co-edited one and co-edited two. He has combined academic study of Islam with participation in interfaith dialogue, serving on several World Council of Churches committees. He currently serves on the Interreligious Table of the National Council of Churches USA. He has advised local mosques, chaired school governing bodies and represented an NGO at the UN. He taught at the State University of New York at New Paltz from 2008 to 2024.. In 2022 he was incardinated as a priest of the Old Catholic Apostolic Church.