 | |
| Author | James Fergusson |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Islam in the United Kingdom |
| Published | London |
| Publisher | Bantam Press |
Publication date | 2017 |
| Pages | 385 |
| ISBN | 978-0-593-07737-5 (Hardcover) |
| 305.6970941 | |
Al-Britannia, My Country is a 2017 book by Scottish journalist and author James Fergusson investigating Islam in the United Kingdom.
Al-Britannia, My Country is an exploration of British Muslim communities amidst rising racial and religious tensions in the United Kingdom. It examines the links between Muslim communities and poverty, government surveillance and social and religious conflicts on issues such as sex and feminism.
Christopher de Bellaigue, writing for The Guardian described Al-Britannia, My Country as a "compelling and compassionate survey of British Islam" and describes Fergusson as "well placed to discuss the issues of identity, inclusion and the state that are central to the Muslim predicament." [1]
Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor of Sky News writing for the London Evening Standard depicted the book as "a meandering trek through British Muslim 'heartlands', from High Wycombe to Bradford, Whitechapel to Dewsbury and Glasgow." [2]
In contrast, writing in The Times , Douglas Murray, a neo-conservative writer known for his criticism of Islam, criticised the book as "unforgivably naive and insultingly thin" [3]
Ibn Warraq is the pen name of an anonymous author critical of Islam. He is the founder of the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society and used to be a senior research fellow at the Center for Inquiry, focusing on Quranic criticism. Warraq is the vice-president of the World Encounter Institute.
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Douglas Kear Murray is a British Intellectual, author, and political commentator. He founded the Centre for Social Cohesion in 2007, which became part of the Henry Jackson Society, where he was associate director from 2011 to 2018. He is also an associate editor of the conservative-leaning British political and cultural magazine The Spectator. Murray has also written columns for publications such as The Wall Street Journal.
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Shaykh Hasan al-Attar (1766–1835) was an Islamic scholar, Grand Imam of al-Azhar from 1830 to 1835. A "polymathic figure", he wrote on grammar, science, logic, medicine and history. Hassan al-Attar was appointed Sheikh of al-Azhar in 1830 and became one of the earliest reformist clerics in Ottoman Egypt. He was a forerunner of Egypt's national revival, and his legacy was a generation of Egyptian modernists like his disciple Rifa al-Tahtawi. He advocated the introduction of sciences such as logic and modern astronomy, and wrote the first modern history of Mohammed's tribe, the Quraish. He was to suffer greatly for his modernizing beliefs.
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Shakeel Begg is a prominent British Muslim, notable for losing a court case in which he challenged the BBC's description of him as an extremist. He has been imam of the Lewisham Islamic Centre in London since 1998. He has played a role in the British Muslim community, has been invited to speak at mosques and Islamic events, and has been a spokesman for the Muslim community at events and in press releases. Begg was instrumental in attempting to secure the release by ISIS of British hostage Alan Henning.
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