#51 Ashur Shamis | Sayyid Qutb, Gaddafi hitlist, Malcolm X, UK Muslim Students, Arab Spring, Improving our relationship with Quran

Ashur Shamis is a Libyan who lived in exile for decades in the UK during the reign of Gaddafi. He set up an opposition party at the risk to his own life. His student days in the UK were formative and he provides an insight into the Muslim community in the 1960s, especially within Universities.

 

He is well known for translating a number of works into English, including co-translating volumes of In the Shade of the Quran by Sayyid Qutb.

 

Topics discussed in this episode:

• My relationship with Malcolm X
• Early life growing up in Libya
• Developing a relationship with the Quran
• Encountering ‘In the Shade of the Quran’ by Sayyid Qutb
• Islamic Societies and FOSIS (Federation of Student Islamic Societies)
• Sayyid Qutb, Milestones and In the Shade of the Quran
• The roots of Islamic activism in the UK (1960s+)
• Do Muslims read enough?
• Muslim students today
• Being placed on Gaddafi’s liquidation list
• Witnessing the assassination of his friend
• Opposing Gaddafi and accepting his life will be in danger
• Reflections on the Arab Spring
• South Africa and the legacy of Imam Abdullah Haron
• Advice on deepening our relationship with the Quran

 

Interview recorded 8 March 2020.

 

USEFUL LINKS

 

About Ashur

http://ashurshamis.com/personal/about-ashur/

 

The Colonel’s Stray Dogs (Trailer)

https://youtu.be/WxRs6DmLAUY

 

In the Shade of the Quran

https://www.kubepublishing.com/collections/vendors?q=Sayyid%20Qutb&contributorID=100063

 

Imam Abdullah Haron

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_Haron

 

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