Hello, I'm Kirstie Young. Thank you for downloading this podcast of Desert Island Disks from BBC Radio 4.

For rights reasons, the music choices are shorter than in the radio broadcast.

For more information about the program, please visit BBC.co.uk.

Radio 4. My castaway this week is the academic and commentator Mona Siddiqui. Born in Karachi and

brought up in Huddersfield, she is a rarity, a female Muslim theologian.

Professor of Islamic and inter-religious studies at Edinburgh University,

her analysis and opinions regularly shed light on controversial issues affecting the Muslim faith,

and her calm and reasoned standpoint

can be heard regularly on the today programs

thought for the day.

Brought up in a house stuffed full of books her academic promise revealed itself early on and despite dallying with the idea of journalism as a career she finally followed the path her mother wanted for her academia. She says, I like to be in places where I feel my voice

can be heard and I can say things of some value. So, Mona Siddiqui, have you always find it easy then to speak up when the opportunity arises?

I've never shied away from speaking about issues that I think are important,

and I know that a lot of what I say is controversial for many Muslims

as well but I think you have to have an ethical imperative to say things and if you are in a privileged position you know in a free academic

environment then I think you also owe the public something and you should speak up

about issues that matter.

And what about this idea of course in everything that you write and when you're asked

comment and when you're doing thought for the day you know you're introduced as a Muslim speaker?

Where does religion, where does being a Muslim sit in your life?

Is it important?

It's obviously part of who I am, but I'm a person who happens to be Muslim, rather than a Muslim speaker.

...