VCG was founded by H.A. Hellyer, PhD., and D. M. Rateb: this website is managed and directed by them. VCG has a select network of specialists based throughout the world, including in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North America & Europe. Each of them possess either two bachelor degrees and/or higher university degrees. Together, they bring together decades of experience and expert knowledge in a variety of fields, including:

Diversity & Ethnic Relations
Islamic Law (classical Sunni jurisprudence, and contemporary applications)
Islamic Finance
Arabic-English-Arabic translation
Media & Entertainment
Public Education
Counter-terrorism strategies
Muslim world-West relations
Minority Muslim communities and integration
 
Our affiliates have worked in both the private sector and the public sector, providing different institutions with a variety of independent expert advice or commentary (we have included some further details on selected institutions). These include:

Public Sector Organisations

UK Home Office, UK  
UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, UK 
Organisation on Security and Co-Operation in Europe
Alliance of Civilizations, United Nations 
UK Prison Service, UK
UK Crown Prosecution Service, UK
Organisation of the Islamic Conference
Commission for Racial Equality, UK
British High Commission, Nigeria

Think-tanks
US Relations with the Islamic World Project, The Brookings Institution, USA
Demos, UK
International Institute for Strategic Studies, UK
Royal United Services Institute, UK
Nixon Center, USA
Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Malaysia
South African Institute for International Affairs, South Africa
Tabah Foundation, UAE

Educational institutes
Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, University of Oxford, UK
Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick, UK
The American University in Cairo, Egypt
The Zaytuna Institute, USA

Media
BBC, UK
On Faith, Washington Post, USA
Prospect Magazine, UK
Common Ground News Service, USA
Islamica Magazine, USA/Jordan
Emel Magazine, UK

Other institutions and organizations
Amr Khaled, Egypt/UK
British Council, Cairo, Egypt
Dar al-Ifta', Egypt
APCO Worldwide, UK
Euro-Islam Network
Legacy International
City Circle, UK
Weidenfeld Institute for Strategic Dialogue, UK
Oxford Amnesty Lecture, UK


It should be noted that none of the above are affiliates of VCG, nor does VCG necessarily endorse all aspects of their activities.

In the event that you wish to be in touch with one of our consultants, please contact us, and we will source the most qualified available consultant in our network. Our consultants are not listed on our website, as we believe in maintaining their independence, but any consultant that we do put you in touch with will come with VCG's assurances. You will have access to their resumes before you finalize any contracts should you so desire.


Examples of work VCG consultants have done

UK Home Office, UK: One of VCG's consultants served as Deputy Convenor on the UK Government's Taskforce 'Preventing Extremism Together' set up after the 7/7 bombings, and co-authored a report published to wide acclaim. The points covered in this particular report (both by the consultant's own working group and the other working groups as part of the wider task force) were:

• Engaging with young people
• Providing a full range of education services, in the UK, that meet the needs of the Muslim community
• Engaging with Muslim women
• Supporting regional and local initiatives and community actions.
• Imam Training and accreditation and the role of Mosques as a resource for the whole community.
• Security - Islamophobia, protecting Muslims from extremism, and community confidence in policing.
• Tackling extremism and radicalisation

UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office, UK: From October 2007 to March 2008, the Research Analysts section of the Foreign Office invited 2 independent university academics to be placed within their offices for the first time. One of VCG's consultants, through a competitive Economic and Social Research Council process, were chosen to give expert opinion on 'Muslims in Europe'. Some of the issues examined were:

• Religious authority structures, existing and emergent - mosques and Islamic centres, imam training, Islam in higher education, fatwa councils, state authorised religious establishments etc 
• Transnational links within and beyond Europe - scholarships to overseas educational institutions, travelling preachers, spiritual and political movements and networks, professional associations, pan and intra-European bodies and initiatives etc: 
• How is the legitimacy of Islamic religious authority constructed in Europe? Through formal religious qualifications? Word of mouth? Ethnic and diaspora loyalties? Media channels?

Organisation of Security and Co-Operation in Europe: in 2007, the Spanish Chairmanship of the OSCE held a conference on 'Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims'; a VCG consultant was one of the few non-governmental personnel to address a plethora of international experts and governmental personnel from around the world.


Alliance of Civilizations, United Nations: One of VCG's consultants is a recognized expert on Muslim world- West relations listed with the Alliance's 'Global Expert Finder'.


UK Prison Service, UK: A VCG consultant delivered a seminar to all of the UK Muslim Prison Chaplains on the subject of 'suicide bombing in Islamic law'. This was an abridgment of Mufti Shaykh Dr Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti's renowned verdict of the issue.

UK Crown Prosecution Service, UK

Organisation of the Islamic Conference

Commission for Racial Equality, UK:  At the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the quasi-governmental race relations organization, one of VCG's consultants was asked to debate the issue 'Is extremism an inevitable byproduct of our age?'

British High Commission, Nigeria


Think-tanks

US Relations with the Islamic World Project, The Brookings Institution, USA: One of VCG's consultants was a Ford Fellow with the Project. He published an acclaimed report looking at 'Engagement with the Muslim Community and Counter-Terrorism', and is a regular speaker and participant at the Doha Brookings 'US-Islamic World Forum', described as the 'Davos of the Muslim world'.

Demos, UK: A VCG consultant is an associate with Demos, one of Europe's most distinguished think-tanks, and is currently working on violent and non-violent radicalisation on an international project.

International Institute for Strategic Studies, UK

Royal United Services Institute, UK: First published in 1857, the RUSI Journal is the oldest publication of its kind in the world and considered by practitioners and scholars alike to be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand war and conflict, the UK's and other states’ armed forces and defence and security policies, and military history. One of VCG's consultants contributed an acclaimed commentary to the RUSI Journal on counter-terrorism and community engagement.

Nixon Center, USA: VCG has engaged with a variety of different perspectives in the policy world; at the height of controversy in the US, after the Glasgow attacks in 2007, one of VCG's consultants was asked to deliver a seminar to the centre-right American thin-tank, the Nixon Center, on Muslims in Europe.

Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Malaysia: An autonomous and non-profit organisation, ISIS Malaysia is engaged in a wide range of activities focusing on objective and independent policy research and fostering dialogue and debate between the public sector, the private sector and academia.

In general, its programmes are directed towards five central areas of national interest:
 
(1) Defence, Security and Foreign Affairs.
(2) National and International Economic Affairs.
(3) Nation-Building.
(4) Science, Technology, Industry, Energy and Natural Resources.
(5) International Understanding and Cooperation.

One of VCG's consultants is a Visiting Fellow with ISIS, looking at Muslim world-West relations.

South African Institute of International Affairs, South Africa: Perhaps the most influential of sub-Saharan African think-tanks, SAIIA requested one of VCG's consultants to deliver a private closed seminar on 'radicalisation' with international participation.

Tabah Foundation, UAE

Educational institutes
Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, University of Oxford, UK: Internationally renowned for the scholars that have been associated with it, such as James Piscatori, Yahya Michot, Muhammad Akram and Muhammad Afifi al-Akiti, the Oxford Centre invited a VCG consultant to become a Fellow, where he focuses on issues relating to Muslims in Europe.

Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick, UK: 

Funded as an ESRC Centre until 1998, the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations (CRER) is the major academic body in the UK for the research and teaching of aspects of race, migration and ethnic relations. Its particular strengths are in the study of urban restructuring, the labour market, social policy and welfare and equal opportunity policies.

CRER is at the forefront of research into the experiences of people from minority ethnic groups in the UK and Western Europe. Its constantly expanding research agenda includes a focus on the processes of racial discrimination, issues of citizenship, political participation, cultural identity, refugees, ethnic mobilisation and nationalism.

One of VCG's consultants has been associated with CRER first as an Associate Fellow, then as a Senior Research Fellow, looking at Muslims in Europe and multiculturalism.

The American University in Cairo, Egypt: The most renowned American liberal arts university in the Middle East, the AUC contracted a VCG consultant to teach graduate courses on the position of Muslims and Islam under European legal systems.

The Zaytuna Institute, USA: Founded in 1996 as the foundation of the first American Muslim seminary by Hamza Yusuf Hanson, the Zaytuna Institute has attracted American Muslim scholars such as Zaid Shakir, Abdullah Hamid Ali & Yahya Rhodus. One of VCG's consultants was contracted to teach Islamic law on the Distance Learning program as an expert in Islamic jurisprudence.

Media
BBC, UK
On Faith, Washington Post, USA
Prospect Magazine, UK
Common Ground News Service, USA
Islamica Magazine, USA/Jordan
Emel Magazine, UK

Other institutions and organizations
Amr Khaled, Egypt/UK
British Council, Cairo, Egypt
Dar al-Ifta', Egypt
APCO Worldwide, UK
Euro-Islam Network
Legacy International
City Circle, UK
Weidenfeld Institute for Strategic Dialogue, UK
Oxford Amnesty Lecture, UK