Islam
Why has Abdul Hakim Murad not been sacked by Cambridge University?
Abdul Hakim Murad is the Islamic name of a convert to Islam called Tim Winters. He is a lecturer and tutor and director of studies at Wolfson College, Cambridge University. … Continue reading
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Tweeting can seriously damage your health
Members of the World’s Most Rational and Peaceable Religion © have been going berserk in the lovely Bangladeshi town of Cox’s Bazar. Some bloke put a photo of a burned… Continue reading
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The Koran and Richard Dawkins’s survival instinct
I thought that readers might be interested in this new piece from me on Islam, the Koran and Richard Dawkins’s survival instinct.
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Christians persecuted this Christmas
I hope all readers had a happy and peaceful Christmas. As this is the first day back at the office for most of us, I thought I would cheer everyone… Continue reading
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Today's easy question: Why won't minorities support right-wing parties? - Spectator Blogs
I’m afraid that I can’t help but feel some of the comments left responding to this post go some way towards answering a question Daniel Hannan asked recently: why do… Continue reading
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Zoe Heller versus Salman Rushdie and Joseph Anton
The literary world anticipates Salman Rushdie’s response to Zoe Heller’s cauterisation of his memoir, Joseph Anton, in the New York Review of Books. Heller’s pointed review is deeply considered. It… Continue reading
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Muslims and the Republican vote
Will American Muslims swing the US Presidential election? It seems highly unlikely, if not improbable, but that’s the line being pushed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a not uncontroversial… Continue reading
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The government kicks the Sharia debate into the long grass
Because our Parliament discusses little of significance anymore, most of the public tend to ignore it. The perception that the weekly silliness of Prime Minister’s Questions constitutes Parliamentary business is… Continue reading
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‘Arab Spring’ is a misnomer
What do you do when confronted with a prejudice so strong it takes your breath away? In my case, I did what was immediately necessary. I took a deep breath… Continue reading
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Better elected Islamists than dictators?
If readers have a couple of hours to spare can I recommend watching a debate which took place in America last week? Not the predictably unenlightening Presidential one, but a… Continue reading
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The Pineapple of Hate
We have had the dreaded cartoons, films, teddy-bear and more. But I bet that until now nobody imagined we would ever see a (cue dreaded music) ‘Pineapple of Hate’. Yet… Continue reading
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Freedom betrayed
I have a piece in the magazine this week on the disgraceful behaviour of Hillary Clinton and other US officials in the latest round of cartoon wars. During the last… Continue reading
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No surrender for Salman
As the Middle East reels and Parisian satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo up their security, one man who knows more than most about the absurd over-reaction of vast swathes of the… Continue reading
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Britain should call for reform of existing blasphemy laws
Around the time that speculation was mounting about Tony Blair’s possible return to British politics last month, I went to a public discussion about faith and public life by the… Continue reading
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Salman Rushdie, A Hero for Our Time - Spectator Blogs
It’s twenty years since I read The Satanic Verses. I didn’t much care for it back then, chiefly, as I recall, because Rushdie’s satirical and comic scenes left me untickled.… Continue reading
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Channel 4 cancels Tom Holland’s history of Islam, but the extremists will not win
In what may prove to be the most depressingly predictable story of the year, we learn that Channel 4 has chosen to cancel a screening of Tom Holland’s programme ‘Islam:… Continue reading
149 CommentsGeorge Galloway’s awfulness
George Galloway’s awfulness falls into two categories. First there is the serial dictator-licking. This is a man so profligate, not to say promiscuous, in his affections that he has in… Continue reading
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The history of Islam is not off-limits
I’ve only just got around to watching Tom Holland’s documentary for Channel 4 from earlier this week: ‘Islam: the untold story.’ It had some good things in it, despite suffering… Continue reading
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The marriage plot: The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger reviewed
Few could accuse literary fiction of not doing its best to perk up the US export sector recently. It has been a truly remarkable year. A quick glance at my… Continue reading
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Chariots of fire
When the contestants were lining up for last night’s sensational 5,000 metre race, both of the American contestants waited until the cameras were on them, then crossed themselves and held… Continue reading
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