Lecture Abstract:

 The issue of rights of non-Muslims in Muslim majority states has come to forth in recent times. From the Ahmadiyahs in Indonesia, Christians in Malaysia and Egypt and Jews in Iran the rights of religious minorities have been trampled upon in many Muslim countries and societies. This seminar will explore the reasons for why there has been so little tolerance of religious minorities in the Muslim World. Drawing on the case studies from Malaysia and the United Kingdom, the seminar will be forwarding the view that the Muslim World must undergo a paradigm shift to build convergence with other faith communities to ensure that peaceful development especially in the context of a more globalized world.

About the Speaker:

Fuad Nahdi is a pioneering journalist, commentator and thought leader. He is currently Executive Director of the Radical Middle Way and founding publisher of Q-News, the Muslim Magazine. His contributions in fields of media, community activism and interfaith work spanning over three decades has been widely recognised in the UK and across the Muslim world. For four successive years he has been named one of the world’s 500 most influential Muslims in a widely acclaimed survey by Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Jordan.

Founded in the aftermath of the 7 July 2005 terrorist attacks in London to tackle the ideology and theology behind violent extremism and to work towards more open, resilient and cohesive communities, Radical Middle Way undertaken work in the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sudan, Mali, Morocco and Malaysia. Additionally, Fuad has provided critical guidance to counter-extremism projects in Somalia, Kenya and Yemen. He spearheaded the Radical Middle Way’s unique approach of developing grassroots partnerships, supported by a strong digital backbone and representing innovative thinking. Radical Middle Way has been one of the key civil society partners in the UK Government’s Preventing Violent Extremism initiative.

The Council on Foreign Relations and the newly created Global Fund for Community Engagement and Resilience have both recently identified Radical Middle Way as an enduring example of good practice in the field. Fuad served as a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Listening Initiative on Christian Muslim Relations (2001–2004) which led to the creation of the Christian Muslim Forum of which Fuad was an adviser until stepping down in 2009. He has also represented the interests of the United Kingdom in places and diverse as Somalia, Sudan, Turkey and Mali through his work with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Projecting British Islam and other initiatives.