School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics
Runako Charles
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Key information
Key information
- Qualifications
-
PhD (in progress) – School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics SOAS University of London (2025–2028)
MSc in Ḥadīth Studies – Islamic University of Madinah, KSA (2021–2025)
BA in Islamic Studies – Islamic University of Madinah, KSA (2018–2021)
Diploma in Arabic Language – Islamic University of Madinah, KSA (2016–2018)
A-Levels – Richmond upon Thames College, London, UK (2006–2008)
GCSEs – Featherstone High School, London, UK (2001–2006) - Subject
- Near and Middle East
- Email address
- 734064@soas.ac.uk
- Thesis title
- The Legacy of al-Imām al-Dāraquṭnī: The Study of Traditions in the 4th/10th Century
- Internal Supervisors
- Dr Mustafa Shah & Professor Muhammad A S Abdel Haleem, OBE
Biography
Runako Charles is a doctoral researcher in the Department of Near and Middle East Studies at the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, SOAS University of London. His academic trajectory reflects a sustained engagement with the study of ḥadīth, Islamic intellectual history, and Arabic scholarship within both traditional and modern frameworks.
Runako began his higher education at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia, where he completed a Diploma in Arabic Language (2018) before earning a BA in Islamic Studies (2021). Immersed in an Arabic-speaking scholarly environment, he acquired fluency in Classical Arabic and developed a comprehensive understanding of Qurʾānic studies, theology, jurisprudence, and the sciences of ḥadīth. His undergraduate experience combined the rigour of traditional madrasa-style learning with the analytical approaches of contemporary academia.
He subsequently pursued a Master’s degree in Ḥadīth Studies (2025) at the same institution, specialising in the methodology of transmission, authentication, and textual criticism. His postgraduate training included advanced modules in research methods, hadith terminology, manuscript verification, and the evaluation of narrators (ʿilm al-rijāl). This period consolidated his technical expertise and laid the foundation for his current research interests in the historical development of ḥadīth criticism. Runako has also contributed to the field through his publications, including the peer-reviewed article “A Critical Analysis of al-Muḍṭarib” (International Journal of Religion, 2024) and his book Explorations in Islamic Scholarship (Lambert Academic Publishing, 2025).
Currently undertaking his PhD at SOAS, he continues to build on this foundation by exploring the intellectual legacy of early ḥadīth critics within the broader context of Islamic intellectual and textual history.
Research interests
- Ḥadīth methodology and criticism in classical Islam
- Islamic intellectual and theological history
- Arabic manuscript studies and textual transmission
- Comparative approaches to traditional and modern Islamic scholarship
