Category Archives: Project Activities

Akbar Ahmed is a former ambassador of Pakistan to the United Kingdom, a professor at American University in Washington, and the author of several award-winning books and documentaries in the field of Islamic Studies.  He is a fighter for Interreligious Dialogue and one of the most influential Muslim intellectuals in America. For Al Jazeera, Ambassador Ahmed speaks about Gaza, the Middle East, the crisis of the Muslim world and the future of Islam.

After intensive field research traveling across Europe with his research team studying Islam and intercultural relations in Europe, Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington, DC and the former Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK, will discuss the preliminary findings at SOAS.

The Journey into Europe project examines the historical relationship between Europe and the Muslim world and current complicated and controversial issues including Sharia, terrorism, immigration, and Muslim female dress and the new pressures of security, globalization, and multiculturalism.

Journey into Europe, which will yield a book and documentary film, is the fourth part of a quartet of award-winning books published by Brookings Institution Press examining the relations between the West and the World of Islam after 9/11.

Ambassador Akbar Ahmed’s Journey into Europe research project, studying Muslim life in Europe, is supported and funded by the Stiftung Mercator Foundation, the RCUK-funded Muslims, Trust, and Cultural Dialogue Project and the British Council.

Date: 20 August 2014

Time: 6:30 PM-8:30 PM

Venue: Russell Square: College Buildings

Room: Kamran Djam Lecture Theatre

For further information and registration, please visit the following website.

Professor Akbar Ahmed’s previous book The Thistle and the Drone has been awarded the 2013 IndieFab Award for Political Science.

In The Thistle and the Drone, Professor Ahmed draws on 40 case studies of tribal societies in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and other nations across the Muslim world to reveal a tremendously important yet largely unrecognized adverse effect of campaigns on the war against terror. Ahmed argues that in the aftermath of 9/11, the use of drones as a leading military counterinsurgency weapon has morphed into a campaign against tribal peoples that has actually exacerbated the already-broken relationship between central governments and the tribal societies on their periphery. Although al Qaeda has been decimated, the U.S. is drifting into a global war against tribal societies on the periphery of nations.

A lecture by Ambassador Akbar Ahmed

Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies in the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C.

at 6pm – 8pm, Wednesday, 9^th July, British Council Berlin.

The British Council and Heinrich Böll Foundation are delighted to invite you to the lecture entitled “Clash or Dialogue of Civilizations? Relations between the West and the Muslim World After 9/11″.

As multiculturalism in European societies increases, so too does religious diversity. The growing presence and visibility of which can often be the source of controversial socio-political tension and debate. Islam and Muslim populations are particularly frequently at the centre of these debates which commonly become focused on the question of the compatibility of Islam and ‘European’ or ‘western’ values.

Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is the author of an award-winning quartet of books focusing on the relationship between Islam and the West, (Journey into Islam, Journey into America, The Thistle and the Drone, and the forthcoming Journey into Europe) bringing out the nuance of this encounter after 9/11 and arguing for a dialogue between the two. The theme of fostering peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding between different communities in the cities we live in will be addressed and we would be delighted to welcome you to the discussion on what constitutes an ideal and discrimination-free culture in European society.

It will be followed by a conversation with Dr. Riem Spielhaus (Research Fellow, Erlangen Centre for Islam and Law in Europe, EZIRE, University of Nürnberg-Erlangen) about some of the historical aspects of the relationship between Europe and the Muslim world, as well as contemporary challenges posed by increased immigration from the Muslim world, more specifically in the context of Germany.

If you have any questions, please contact Julia.Rawlins@britishcouncil.de.

BEYOND ISLAMOPHOBIA

Muslims, Trust and Cultural Dialogue are delighted to announce that

 Professor Akbar Ahmed of American University, Washington

 will introduce his Journey Into Europe: Islam, Immigration and Empire

12:15pm on Saturday 7th June in Khalili Lecture Theatre at the Beyond Islamophobia conference.

Please register to attend:www.soas.ac.uk/csp/muslimstrustdialogue/07jun2014-beyond-islamophobia.html

On the 31st May 2014, Prof Akbar Ahmed and his team of Researchers visited the Al-Mustafa Islamic Centre Ireland to interview the Imam and students of the Islamic School for the research project :“Journey into Europe; Islam, Immigration& Empire”.

Professor Akbar Ahmed is probably the world’s best known scholar on contemporary Islam. He is the former High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain, and has advised Prince Charles and met with PresidentGeorge W. Bush on Islam. He is now Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and professor of International Relations at American University in Washington, DC.

Professor Ahmed is the author of many books on contemporary Islam, including Discovering Islam: Making Sense of Muslim History and Society, which was the basis of the BBC six-part TV series called Living Islam. His Postmodernism and Islam: Predicament and Promise was nominated for the Amalfi Award, and his “Jinnah Quartet,” a four-part project on Pakistan’s founding father, M.A. Jinnah, has won numerous international awards. He is currently the chair of Islamic Studies in American University of Washington.

The Imam & Ameer of the Islamic Centre (Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Umar Al-Qadri), Brother Muibideen, Brother Arif, Ustaza Shahida, Ustaza Aisha and students of Al-Mustafa Islamic School welcomed Prof. Akbar S. Ahmed and his team to the Islamic Centre.

Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Umar Al-Qadri thanked the esteemed Professor for his visit and the offer of interviews for the purpose of the significant research. Shaykh said…

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BBC Northern Ireland, June 1, 2014 – “The rosy glow of world-wide attention received from millions of people watching the Giro d’Italia here has faded to accusations of an ugly stain of religious intolerance and racial bigotry. The world’s foremost expert on global contemporary Islam visited Belfast this week amongst the furore to deliver a major lecture at Queen’s university. Professor Akbar Ahmed talks to @williamcrawley about the myths and misunderstandings that follow Muslims living in the Western world and about the controversy that has engulfed the First Minister.”

To listen, click here.

On May 29, 2014, Professor Akbar Ahmed delivered the 2nd Annual Harri Holkeri Lecture, hosted by the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice and the Institute’s director, Professor Hastings Donnan, at Queen’s University Belfast.

Professor Akbar Ahmed Lecture – with introduction from Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor James McElnay

Q & A Session following the Lecture with Professor Akbar Ahmed and Dr. William Crawley, Broadcaster for BBC Northern Ireland

BBC Northern Ireland’s “Good Morning Ulster”, May 29, 2014 – “Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is a former Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK and has been described as the world’s leading authority on Islam. He’s here as part of his Journey into Europe tour, in which he is studying the complex relationship between the West and the Muslim world. He’s in Belfast to give a lecture at Queen’s University entitled ‌‌’Islam, Peace-building and Conflict Transformation. We aksed what he thought of Pastor McConnell and Peter Robinson’s comments.”

https://audioboo.fm/boos/2205937-ambassador-akbar-ahmed-on-islamic-comments-row