The Oxford Muntada is a joint initiative by the British Council and the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies to encourage dialogue between young Muslim thinkers, opinion formers and tomorrow's leaders, from Britain and overseas, which better enables them to contribute to the future welfare of their respective societies. It aims to provide the participants with an opportunity to reflect upon their obligations and responsibilities as Muslim leaders and thinkers in the modern world. It will help them achieve a more informed understanding of the nature and values of Western societies. It will encourage them to consider how each may best contribute to deeper mutual understanding and offer them a network of friends around the world for continuing support and dialogue. The Oxford Muntada is supported under the British Council's Connecting Futures initiative. This is a five-year programme which aims to build deeper mutual understanding, learning and respect between young people from different cultural backgrounds. For further details see www.connectingfutures.com
The Centre was established in 1985, as an associated institution of the University of Oxford, to encourage through sound scholarship a better understanding of Islam - its culture and civilisation. As an Islamic academic foundation, working in partnership with a premier seat of learning in the West, the Centre operates at the very inter-face of the Muslim and Western worlds of learning.
The Centre engages in the multi-disciplinary study of the Islamic world by the advancement of academic excellence in teaching, research and publication, and the cultivation of sustained dialogue and collaboration within the global academic community. This international outreach benefits from the Centre's links with scholars and institutions in more than fifty countries. | 
