The Iqra Book Festival brings together a range of contemporary authors to explore literature of interest to Muslim culture and heritage, including the lives of historical figures, the modern Muslim experience, fantasy, fiction, mindfulness, and leadership.
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This event is supported by
Al-Khair Foundation
Al-Khair Foundation (AKF) began with a school, and education was the best thing we knew to give. After our UK schools proved to be a success, AKF started building schools overseas. Our orphan projects soon led to our work with widows and vulnerable women, and then to the establishment of the AKF shelters. AKF has now undertaken emergency aid missions all over the world. Our support of the Haiti earthquake survivors was recognised by the United Nations in 2010. While during the Japan earthquake of 2011, we were the only UK Muslim charity working with survivors on the ground. We hope you will support us to ensure we can continue helping vulnerable people worldwide. For further information and to support our work please visit www.alkhair.org Human Relief Foundation
PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST It’s what we’ve been doing since we took our first steps into the world of humanitarian aid, some 3 decades ago. In all that time we have been supporting the powerless against the inconstancy of world events and ecological disaster. Helping people get back on their feet. Helping them thrive. Whilst we have carried out aid work in many countries over the years, we have developed an expertise for work in Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Ghana, and with Rohingya in Bangladesh, and Syrians in both Lebanon and Jordan. This has involved the bread and butter projects of food programmes and emergency disaster response, to community support work – such as building hospitals, health centres, and orphanages. To support us visit HRF.org.uk |
Dr Aria CAmpbell DaneshDr Aria Campbell-Danesh, DClinPsy, CPsychol, is a doctor in clinical psychology and an expert in the fields of behavior change and long-term health (dr-aria.com). A mindfulness specialist and creator of the FIT Method, he works internationally with clients on their mindset, exercise, and nutrition. He is regularly featured in popular lifestyle publications such as Men’s Health, Women’s Health and Marie Claire. Dr. Aria is an Associate Fellow with the British Psychological Society and Senior Associate Member of the Royal Society of Medicine.
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Ausma Zehanat KhanAusma Zehanat Khan is the author of The Unquiet Dead, published by St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books, and winner of the Barry Award, the Arthur Ellis Award and the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for Best First Novel, as well as a 2016 Macavity Award finalist. Works in Khan's critically acclaimed Esa Khattak/Rachel Getty mystery series include The Language of Secrets, A Death in Sarajevo, Among the Ruins, and A Dangerous Crossing. In A Deadly Divide, the fifth and latest book in the series, Detectives Khattak and Getty investigate a mosque shooting in Quebec, and explore the after-effects of a rising tide of Islamophobia in both the province and the nation. CrimeReads named Khan one of the Rising Stars of Crime Fiction in the 2010s, and both CrimeReads and Library Journal named A Deadly Divide one of the best crime novels of 2019.
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Shrabani BasuShrabani Basu is a journalist and Sunday Times best-selling author. Her books include Victoria & Abdul, The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant and For King and Another Country, Indian Soldiers on the Western Front 1914-18. She is a frequent commentator on television and radio documentaries on BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Her book Victoria & Abdul was recently adapted into a major Oscar-nominated feature film starring Judi Dench and Ali Fazal. Spy Princess is being adapted for a play at the National Theatre and a television series. She is the founder and chair of the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust which successfully campaigned for a memorial for Noor in London. It was unveiled in 2012 by Princess Anne. She also applied for a Blue Plaque for Noor which was unveiled in August 2020 outside her London house.
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Diana DarkeAuthor of Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe. The book uncovers a long yet often overlooked history of architectural ‘borrowing’, revealing the Arab and Islamic roots of Europe’s architectural heritage. Ideas and styles are traced as they passed from vibrant Middle Eastern centres like Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo, entering Europe via gateways like Muslim Spain, Sicily and Venice through the movement of pilgrims, bishops, merchants and medieval Crusaders. It is a rich tale of cultural exchange, shedding new light on the backstory of some of Europe’s iconic landmarks.
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Shaheena Ayub BhattiDr Shaheena Ayub Bhatti is currently the Director of the Women Research and Resource Center at Fatima Jinnah Women University. She was formerly an Associate Professor of English and Director of Research at the National University of Modern Languages in Islamabad, Pakistan. Her area of interest is contemporary American literature with a special focus on literature of color. She has taught English to speakers of other languages and English and American literature to students of all levels.
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Etsko SchuitemaEtsko Schuitema is a renowned business consultant who has authored numerous books including 'Leadership' and 'The Millenium Discourses'. He is a senior partner in Schuitema, a transformational consultancy operating worldwide.
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Author of The Invisible Muslim: Journeys Through Whiteness and Islam. Medina Tenour Whiteman stands at the margins of whiteness and Islam. An Anglo-American born to Sufi converts, she feels perennially out of place-not fully at home in Western or Muslim cultures. In this searingly honest memoir, Whiteman contemplates what it means to be an invisible Muslim, examining the pernicious effects of white Muslim privilege and exploring what Muslim identity can mean the world over-in lands of religious diversity and cultural insularity, from Andalusia, Bosnia and Turkey to Zanzibar, India and Iran. Through her travels, she unearths experiences familiar to both Western Muslims and anyone of mixed heritage: a life-long search for belonging and the joys and crises of inhabiting more than one identity.
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Safina Mazhar is the author of the Power of Four series. The first book, Run To Earth is her debut novel. Safina lives in Glasgow, Scotland with her husband and three daughters.
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Author of The Indian Contingent: The Forgotten Muslim Soldiers of Dunkirk. On 28 May 1940, Major Akbar Khan marched at the head of 299 soldiers along a beach in northern France. They were the only Indians in the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk. With Stuka sirens wailing, shells falling in the water and Tommies lining up to be evacuated, these soldiers of the British Indian Army, carrying their disabled imam, found their way to the East Mole and embarked for England in the dead of night. On reaching Dover, they borrowed brass trays and started playing Punjabi folk music, upon which even ‘many British spectators joined in the dance’.
What journey had brought these men to Europe? What became of them – and of comrades captured by the Germans? With the engaging style of a true storyteller, Ghee Bowman reveals in full, for the first time, the astonishing story of the Indian Contingent, from their arrival in France on 26 December 1939 to their return to an India on the verge of partition. It is one of the war’s hidden stories that casts fresh light on Britain and its empire. |
Shaykh Abdul Aziz Ahmed Fredericks |
Author of the Sacred Path of Love, which, in 2019, celebrated its 10th year anniversary of guidance, inspiration and empowerment of individuals from all walks of lives, through being the platform for Islamic Spirituality, Psychology and Traditional Islamic Sciences. It contains anecdotes and pearls of wisdom from esteemed Islamic scholars and educators from past Sacred Path of Love events are archived in this work. The book is completed with a series of stories and accounts from the organisers and volunteers.
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