3009, 2015

Speaker’s corner: Omar Salha offer his view on the debate over whether the London Muslim vote is necessarily a Galloway vote

By Myriam Francois|September 30, 2015|Speaker's Corner|0 comments

In response to our “Question time” blog on “Should George Galloway get the Muslim vote for London Mayor?” between Prof Maleiha Malik (Kings College London) and Tahir Shah (MPACUK), SOAS-CIS PhD scholar Omar Salha offer his view on whether the London Muslim vote is necessarily a Galloway vote : To vote or not to vote, Galloway is the question. In an age of geo-political disputes, meta-narratives and continued power struggles

3009, 2015

Free speech on British university campuses: Dr Amina Yaqin and Professor Peter Morey respond to the government’s proposals

By Myriam Francois|September 30, 2015|Ideas Hub|0 comments

Following the recent news that David Cameron will “name and shame” British universities “that give the floor to extremist speakers” – Dr Amina Yaqin, Senior Lecturer in Urdu and Postcolonial Studies at SOAS, and Professor Peter Morey, Professor of English and Postcolonial Studies at the University of East London offer their response: Some months ago, we were organising the latest event in the Muslims, Trust and Cultural Dialogue series: part of a research project

2309, 2015

Speaker’s Corner: Researcher at the Princes School of Traditional Arts, Bilal Badat, explores when and why depictions of Prophet Mohamed become incendiary

By Myriam Francois|September 23, 2015|Speaker's Corner|0 comments

Image drawn from “Muhammad: The Messenger of God”, a 2015 film by Iranian director Majid Majidi. Researcher at the Princes School of Traditional Arts, Bilal Badat, asks when and why depictions of Prophet Mohamed become controversial? From caricatures to carbon dated Qur’ans, 2015 has been a busy year for critics and commentators of the Prophet Muhammad. It began with the attack at the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo where two gunmen killed

1609, 2015

Question time – “Should George Galloway get the Muslim vote for London Mayor?” Prof Maleiha Malik (Kings College London) and Tahir Shah (MPACUK) discuss.

By Myriam Francois|September 16, 2015|Question Time|2 comments

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author in her/his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of SOAS or the CIS. With the 2016 London Mayoral election campaign well underway, MuslimWise asked two diverging voices whether the London Muslim vote is necessarily a Galloway vote? Is there even such a thing as the Muslim vote? and if so, on what basis should it

1609, 2015

Question Time #1: TELL MAMA’s Fiyaz Mughal “Anti-Muslim Hatred is a Phenomenon that is Sadly Here to Stay for a While”

By Myriam Francois|September 16, 2015|Question Time|1 comments

Fiyal Mughal OBE, founder of the TELL Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks (MAMA) organisation (http://tellmamauk.org) comments on recent MET figures indicating indicating a 70% rise in islamophobic attacks in London. FM: When Tell MAMA launched in March 2012, looking back, it is easy to describe the experience as launching a project into a cesspit of on-line anti-Muslim hatred that had been developing over years. On launching the project, it was clear that there were thousands of social

0709, 2015

Speaker’s corner: Nohoudh PhD scholar Ziad Amir on “Victorian Perspectives on Islamic Sexuality”

By Myriam Francois|September 7, 2015|Speaker's Corner|1 comments

The issue of sexuality in Islam has been a common target of criticism against the religion since the earliest European perspectives. From the 9th Century, writers and travellers understood Islam as sanctioning the fulfilment of lusts, which Christian thinkers perceived as being detrimental to the spirit, and rationally argued as being contrary to natural law. The framework within which such reproaches were deployed held Christian marital and sexual values as

1908, 2015

Question Time – Part #2 “”What’s going wrong in the public discourse on British Muslims?” Prof Arun Kundnani and Rashad Ali discuss

By Myriam Francois|August 19, 2015|Question Time|2 comments

Continuing the conversation on “what’s going wrong in the public discourse on British Muslims?“, two leading voices, Prof Arun Kundnani (NY university) and Rashad Ali (Institute for Strategic Dialogue) offer their analysis. Prof Arun Kundnani – Lecturer at New York University: In each of the last fourteen years, essentially the same speech has been delivered by one or another UK government minister. From Tony Blair, David Blunkett, Hazel Blears, and Ruth Kelly

1208, 2015

Ideas Hub: Dr Yulia Egorova on Muslim-Jewish relations and what her latest findings have uncovered

By Myriam Francois|August 12, 2015|Ideas Hub|4 comments

Dr Yulia Egorova, Reader in Anthropology, Durham University The relationship between the Jewish and Muslim communities of Europe is often constructed by public discourse as polarized due to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Indeed, in the summer of 2014, the mass media presented numerous reports suggesting that the relations between Europe’s Jews and Muslims were deteriorating following the military action between Israel and Gaza. At the same time, it has been argued

2907, 2015

Speaker’s Corner: “10 years on from 7/7 – a good time to rethink our fight against terrorism” by Nohoudh PhD scholar Mohammed Abdul Aziz

By Myriam Francois|July 29, 2015|Speaker's Corner|0 comments

The following blog is a response by Nohoudh PhD scholar Mohammed Abdul Aziz to the Daily Mirror article, published on July 6th 215, entitled “UK terror attacks are inevitable and there’s nothing we can do to stop them, warn spy chiefs” which claimed that a “Mirror survey reveals up to 1.5 million Britons could be supporters of Islamic State”: 10 years on from 7/7 – a good time to rethink our fight

2907, 2015

RIPOSTES: Nohoudh PhD scholar Farrah Sheikh weighs in on “What’s going wrong in the public discourse on British Muslims?” Featuring Prof. Mona Siddiqui and Omar Khan

By Myriam Francois|July 29, 2015|Ripostes|0 comments

Speaker’s corner is a comment section of the MuslimWise blog which aims to provide young scholars with the space to reflect and discuss issues raised either in the media, or in the “Question Time” section of the blog. Nohoudh PhD scholar Farrah Sheikh weighs in: I welcome the opportunity to chime in with my thoughts on this important discussion. Omar Khan has already highlighted the challenges (and frustrations) for researchers

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