SEMINAR ISLAMOPHOBIA

AT Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS)

University of London 20 APRIL 2015 4:30pm -7pm

London Institute of South Asia (LISA) Seminar – Islam on Trial – Islamophobia - 20th April 2015

Institute of Advance Legal Studies University of London PROGRAM 4.30 pm – REGISTRAION (Tea / Coffee Snacks) 5 pm:

Welcome address by Dr Shahid Qureshi 5.05 pm:

Introduction by Executive Director (LISA) Mr Saeed Ismat 5.10 pm

Opening remarks by the Chair Kristiane Backer Each speaker gets 15-17 Minutes to speak 6.35 pm:Q&A

LIST OF SPEAKERS

Dr Ahmad Al-Dubayan

Dr Ahmad Al-Dubayan is the Director General of the Islamic Cultural Centre in London . He worked as Head of Research and Translation Unit at the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Studies in Jakarta from 1988 to 1990. Formerly, he was a lecturer in Arabic at University of Imam and University of Indonesia in Jakarta. Dr Ahmad Al-Dubayan completed his PhD at Ruhr University in Bochum ( Germany ) in Arabic Philosophy, in 1999. He has written extensively and his writing on “How to influence the Image of Islam in the West” were highly appreciated.. He is a member of the High Council of Experts at the ISESCO. He has delivered many papers on culture, education, Islamic Studies, Linguistics and interfaith relations in different conferences in Moscow, Rabat, Fez, Riyadh, Beirut,Morroco, London and Paris. He has numerous publications to his credit.

Kristiane Backer

Kristiane Backer is a TV presenter, journalist and voice over artist based in London with a pan-European career. In 2012 Kristiane published her best- selling memoir “From MTV to Mecca” in the UK with Arcadia and Awakening. Arabic, Indonesian and Malaysian editions are forth coming. The original book was published in 2009 in Germany and 2010 in the Netherlands. Kristiane is engaged in intercultural and interfaith dialogue and was nominated Global Ambassador for the Exploring Islam Foundation. In 2010 she was the face of the ‘Inspired by Muhammad’ media campaign. Kristiane was awarded Germany’s most prestigious TV award, the »Golden Camera«, for her television work. In March Kristiane spoke at the House of Commons in London in front of various MPs and community leaders on „British values and Islam?. She chaired a discussion at the House of Lords In February she was part of a panel at SOAS discussing “Pakistan beyond the Headlines and Homeland?. Engaged with local and international media including BBC Question Time, Sky News, Al Jazeera and Die Welt in order to challenge.

Soraya Boyd

She is the founder and CEO of Faciltate Global. Boyd is also a steering committee member of Rights and Humanity (a leading Human Rights NGO), a member of the British Institute of Human Rights andEuropean Civil Liberties Network. Soraya’s interest in ethics, human rights, philosophy, politics, law, economics, history and health informs her work. Soraya acts in an Emissary capacity to His Grace The Right Reverend Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal (former Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem and the Middle East). She works alongside many voluntary organisations, communities, groups and individuals bringing together the secular, faith and inter faith sectors together focusing on the highest common denominators: our shared humanity and binding inter-dependence. Soraya tutors in English literacy, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), French, health, nutrition and fitness.

Catherine Heseltine

Catherine Heseltine is an English Muslim convert. She was elected as the CEO of Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK (MPACUK). She has appeared regularly in newspapers and on TV discussing issues impacting the British Muslim community as well as encouraging British Muslims to get involved in mainstream politics and to engage with the community. Heseltine joined MPACUK because she believed it would help in "empowering Muslims in mainstream politics and media, dealing with Islamophobia" and lead campaign against ". With her work at, Heseltine was ranked By Time Out (London) at position 17 in London's 100 top movers and shakers. She is the first Muslim leader elected by MPACUK.

Catherine Heseltine appears regularly on media like BBC or Sky News representing Islam and the Muslims. She is now running a ‘Stop Islamophobia’ campaign to focus on the lobbying for MPs to take the issue more seriously, and for the police forces to monitor Islamophobic hate crime,.

Dr Abdullah Rahim

Dr Abdullah Rahim is an eminent academic, scholar and adviser . He is considered an authority in Islam. Abdullah’s main area of work is in interpretation of the Qur’an and understanding the premises of spiritual purification. His first PhD was in Organisational Analysis to remain financially independent, Abdullah has studied Islam during the past 30 years: His areas of expertise include classical Arabic, Science of Logic, Principles of Jurisprudence, Jurisprudence and Intra-faith Islamic beliefs and debates. His second PhD in Britain is on different approaches to understanding the Qur'an. The objective is to compare and illustrate the methodologies of different schools of thought when deriving conclusions from the Qur'an and to analyse their strengths and weaknesses. Abdullah is an associate fellow of Al-Mawrid Foundation for Islamic Research and Education. He is the founder of Exploring Islam website which aims to provide a rational approach to understanding Islam and answering questions on Islam and Islamic law. Abdullah served as the president of the Understanding Islam UK