Words matter. These are the best Mehdi Hasan Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
I have a long history of defending, and promoting, free speech and open debate – especially (especially!) within Muslim communities.
Religion is simply one of a multitude of factors – economic political, cultural, social, tribal, racial – which shape and drive human action and reaction and often is the least important of those factors.
The rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria has been a disaster for the public image of Islam – and a boon for the Islamophobia industry.
I’ve lost count of the number of websites that try to ‘out’ every Muslim in public life as an extremist or Islamist of some shape or form.
Always remember: You have to identify the disease before you can begin work on a cure. In the case of support for Donald Trump, the results are in: It isn’t the economy. It’s the racism, stupid.
Scepticism may be evidence of a healthy and independent mindset; but conspiracism is a virus that feeds off insecurity and bitterness.
It is man – whether believer or non-believer – who is responsible for global unrest. And it is human beings who have to learn to co-exist in the 21st century, outside of divisive social constructs, religious or otherwise.
One of the hardiest myths in British public life is that there is a conspiracy of silence on immigration. Liberals and leftists, it is alleged, have bandied together to prevent debate or discussion of ‘mass immigration’ into the U.K., caused by Labour’s ‘open door’ policies.
The reality is that far-right extremism is no longer dominated by loners.
When you demonize Muslims as a community, as an entire group of people based on the crimes or actions of a tiny minority within that community, you have very worrying, real world effects.
From a moral point of view, it is wrong… to smear or stereotype minority communities, to pretend or give credence to the idea that the actions of a minority within a community are somehow representative or the fault of the majority of members of that community. That is the very definition of bigotry.
Billionaires and corporations buy and sell politicians, while citizens struggle to exercise their right to vote or hold their elected representatives to account.
Every morning, I take a deep breath and then go online to discover what new insult or smear has been thrown in my direction. Whether it’s tweets, blogposts or comment threads, the abuse is as relentless as it is vicious.
Orthodox Islam, like orthodox interpretations of the other Abrahamic faiths, views homosexuality as sinful and usually defines marriage as only ever a heterosexual union. This isn’t to say that there is no debate on the subject.
Deficit, deficit, deficit. The political and media elites are obsessed with the D-word.
It is worth noting that Steve King of Iowa is far from the only Republican member of Congress to offer cover to white nationalists.
The public is to the left not simply of New Labour, but the political and media classes as a whole.
I think that the anti-Semitic problem in the British Muslim community is worse than among the community at large.
I love my job… but I find myself awkwardly straddling the divide between British Islam and the British media. I get pretty exhausted of having to constantly endure a barrage of lazy stereotypes, inflammatory headlines, disparaging generalisations, and often inaccurate and baseless stories.
Stop treating Muslims as if they’re some kind of foreign, alien entity rather than part of the fabric of Canadian society or American society or British society.
There are no authentic reports in any of the Muslim books of history of the Prophet Muhammad punishing anyone for same-sex acts.
The common stereotype of the Middle Eastern, Muslim-born terrorist is not just lazy and inaccurate but easy fodder for the anti-immigrant, anti-Islam far right.
Lampooning racism by reproducing brazenly racist imagery is a pretty dubious satirical tactic.
There are two Tory parties: the trendy, socially liberal Notting Hill set which dominates at the national level, and the unreconstructed, reactionary, and often bigoted members of Conservative associations at the local level. The latter have yet to reconcile themselves to the reality of modern, multiracial Britain.
Social media has emboldened an army of online Islamophobes; in the real world, mosques have been firebombed and politicians line up to condemn Muslim terrorism/clothing/meat/seating arrangements.
Republicans don’t give a damn about anti-Semitism. They just don’t care.
I am a believing and practising Muslim – but I am also a social democrat.
We have to find a way to try and reconcile our beliefs – and Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, has traditionally seen homosexuality as a sin – with the reality of life in modern, pluralistic, secular societies in which gay people cannot be wished away or banished from sight.
Bigotry and demonisation of difference are usually the hallmark of immature and childish minds.
The terrorists may want to try and legitimize their violence by cynically appealing to Islamic motifs or doctrines, but there is no reason the rest of us should help them do it.
Islam, for example, like so many other faiths, stresses the importance of mutual solidarity with our fellow man.
How is it that labels like ‘centrist’ and ‘moderate,’ which common sense tells us should reflect the views of a majority of Americans, have come to be applied to those who represent minority interests and opinions?
Even as evidence mounts that immigration is bolstering the British economy, the political consensus seems to be that bashing immigration boosts electoral fortunes.
There is no longer a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Anti-Semitism isn’t just tolerated in some sections of the British Muslim community; it’s routine and commonplace.
I’m the first person to say don’t equate between terrorism and Islam. But at the same time, I’m not going to pretend that there isn’t a threat from some British Muslim homegrown extremists.
Some have argued that the United States was designed to block majority rule; to be a ‘republic, not a democracy.’ This is ahistorical nonsense.
None of us believes in an untrammelled right to free speech. We all agree there are always going to be lines that, for the purposes of law and order, cannot be crossed; or for the purposes of taste and decency, should not be crossed. We differ only on where those lines should be drawn.
Let’s be clear: There is no doubt that the citizens of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea both fear and loathe the United States. Paranoia, resentment, and a crude anti-Americanism have been nurtured inside the Hermit Kingdom for decades.
Millions of ordinary Americans may suffer from a toxic combination of ignorance and amnesia, but the victims of U.S. coups, invasions, and bombing campaigns across the globe tend not to. Ask the Iraqis or the Iranians, ask the Cubans or the Chileans. And, yes, ask the North Koreans.
