‘Tariq Ali’

Come and listen to Tariq Ali's vision about the rise, decline and fall of Islamic civilisation. Ali (born 1943) is a British Pakistani historian, novelist, journalist, biographer, playwright and television and film producer. He has written 21 books about world history and politics, and is the editor of the controversial political magazine New Left Review in London.

Biography
Tariq Ali (1943) is an English Pakistani writer, journalist, and filmmaker. He is a member of the editorial committee of the New Left Review and Sin Permiso, and contributes to The Guardian, CounterPunch, and The London Review of Books.
He is the author of several books, including Pakistan: Military Rule or People's Power (1970), Can Pakistan Survive? The Death of a State (1991), Pirates Of The Caribbean: Axis Of Hope (2006), Conversations with Edward Said (2005), Bush in Babylon (2003), and Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity (2002), A Banker for All Seasons (2007), The Duel (2008), The Obama Syndrome (2010) and his most recent book The Extreme Centre: A Warning (2015).

Abstract
"Tradition and divine truth versus reason and history; Koranic literalism versus elasticity; free thinking and dissent versus orthodoxy. All these currents have existed within Islam since its foundation as a universal monotheism. As a result the history of the religion has been rich and diverse, reflecting both its global spread and the commingling of civilizations and cultures. The Ottoman Empire symbolised and reflected these currents throughout its long life. Wahabbism - the faith of al Qaeda and ISIS - remains a tiny segment of Islam. Its politicisation is both modern and a response to modernity. History remains the most useful way to both understand and contest fundamentalism. Islamophobia only strengthens the latter."

Speech of 45 minutes followed by a discussion (participants to be announced shortly)