Book Launch - Three Begums: The Women Who Shaped My Life + MORE

View this email in your browser APRIL 2025 Book Launch Three Begums: The Women Who Shaped My Life Wednesday 7th May, 6.45pm, Conway Hall, London. Ziauddin Sardar in conversation with Yasmin Alibhai-Brown RSVP your place here   Three Begums:The Women Who Shaped My Life revolves around the lives of three ordinary women—Hamida, Merryl and Saliha— who lived extraordinary, interwoven lives of fabulous joy, fierce pain, and untold trauma. Like many who came before them, they loved and dreamed. Although born in different times and places, they were united through their dedication to bettering the lives of all around them. Each fell victim to disease and premature death, without fulfilling their desires; but, like all desires, these continue beyond their lifetimes. Flowing seamlessly between the biographical and autobiographical, Ziauddin Sardar captures the complexities of everyday living, human relationships and raw emotion, weaving lives and ambitions together. The great story of human societies unfolds through the eyes of an individual, with each chapter struggling to fulfil the aspirations of the last. Sardar shows how his own life was shaped by these women, and how their collective life undulated, sea-like, to the rhythms of Urdu poetry. This special event, organised by the Muslim Institute in conjunction with Hurst Publishers, will be a unique opportunity to hear Muslim polymath and public intellectual Ziauddin Sardar, in conversation with renowned and award-winning journalist and commentator Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.  Copies of Three Begums will be available to purchase at a discount and a book signing will follow the event. Please note that all Muslim Institute fellows will receive a complimentary copy in the post. We will also be launching the latest edition of the Muslim Institute's quarterly journal Critical Muslim, edited by Ziauddin Sardar. Critical Muslim 53: Water will also be on sale at a 40% discount of £12.   This London event will take place in the beautiful library at Conway Hall, the historic meeting place just a few minutes walk from Holborn underground station. Teas and coffees will be served. The event is by invitation only. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. RSVP your place here Speakers:  Ziauddin Sardar is an award-winning, internationally renowned writer, futurist and cultural critic. His many books include Three Begums; Reading the Qur'an and A Person of Pakistani Origins (all published by Hurst); Mecca: The Sacred City; and Desperately Seeking Paradise: Journeys of a Sceptical Muslim. A former New Statesman columnist and UK equality and human rights commissioner, he is editor of the influential quarterly Critical Muslim and long time trustee of the Muslim Institute. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown was born in Uganda in 1949. She has a First Class degree in English Literature from Makerere University in 1972, which is the same year that she was exiled from her birthplace. She also holds an MPhil in Literature from the University of Oxford. Alibhai-Brown is known as a journalist, broadcaster, author and columnist for The Independent and The Sunday Times. She has also written for The Guardian, The Observer, The Mail on Sunday, The Daily Mail, The New York Times, Time Magazine and other publications. Alibhai-Brown has won several awards including The Orwell Prize for Political Writing and the National Press Awards Columnist of the Year in 2017. She has twice been voted the 10th Most Influential Asian in Britain and has eight honorary degrees.  ******************************** Second Annual Ibn Sīnā Lecture: 'Modern Medicine and the Legacy of Ibn Sīnā'. Saturday 31 May 2025, 6pm Bradford City Hall Council Chamber, Bradford Keynote speaker: Syma Khalid. Professor of Computational Microbiology at the University of Oxford. Awarded the Suffrage Science award for engineering and physical sciences in 2021.    Biography: Syma Khalid was born in Wolverhampton to a family of first-generation immigrants from Northern Pakistan. She was the eldest child and started school without being able to speak a word of English (but being fluent in Punjabi and Urdu). She was educated at a local comprehensive school followed by a girl's grammar school. Syma read Chemistry at Warwick, followed by a PhD at the same institution. She started her professional academic career in the Department of Chemistry at Southampton. In 2021 she was appointment as Professor of Computational Microbiology at the University of Oxford and Tutorial Fellow in Biochemistry at St Anne's College, Oxford. She's a keen supporter of Liverpool football club and a fan of qawalli music.   This year's Ibn Sina lecture is in Bradford to coincide with the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture year long programme of events. The event catering is kindly sponsored by My Lahore.   ********************************    10th Annual Ibn Rushd Lecture 'On the Margins: The Life and Contribution of Muhammad Asad' Wednesday 30th July, 5.30pm,  Art Workers' Guild, London Keynote: Dr Josef Linnhoff. Research Fellow and Editor-in-Chief at The Institute for Advanced Usuli Studies ("The Usuli Institute") in Columbus, Ohio. He holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Edinburgh (2020) and specializes in modern Islamic thought. Annual Muslim Institute Winter Gathering 2025 Friday 28 November – Sunday 30 November 2025. Sarum College, Salisbury. Theme to be announced. ******************************************** ALSO: Watch the video of the launch of CM 52: Genocide issue at the The Alwaleed Centre at the University of Edinburgh here.  Also watch the 9th Annual Ibn Rushd Lecture: The History of Muslim Women in Britain held in July 2024, the Inaugural Annual Ibn Sina Lecture held in April 2024 at Leeds Civic Hall, and the book launch held in March 2024 of the new ground-breaking The Qur'an: A Verse Translation. CM 53: WATER IN THIS ISSUE: Scott Jordan immerses himself in images of water: Ebrahim Moosa is drowned and then saved by water; Liam Mayo learns a few lessons about water and modernity from the animated film Rango; Luke Wilkinson explores the notion of sea in the Qur'an, Christopher Burr Jones investigates our complex relationship with water; Wietske Merison suggests that the Sharia has a great deal to say about sinking cities; Jeremy Henzell-Thomas has a dream (several actually) of oceans and divinity, Shani Alexander remembers the well in her Carriacou home; Naomi Foyle comes to terms with metaphors of water, John Liechty reveals his deep reverence for water; Alev Adil has a sinking feeling; and Khuda Bushq meanders around Kuala Lumpur trying to discover how water speaks. Also in this issue: James Brooks and Liam McKenna go to the cinema to see films about Palestine; Iftikhar Malik reads a book that venerates the British Empire; Ghazal Tipu visits halal dating apps; a short story by Steve Noyes; poems by Saadia Peerzada and Abigail George; and our list of refreshing bidets (travel options included!).  Free to Muslim Institute fellows. About Critical Muslim: A quarterly publication of ideas and issues showcasing groundbreaking thinking on Islam and what it means to be a Muslim in a rapidly changing, interconnected world. Each edition centers on a discrete theme, and contributions include reportage, academic analysis, cultural commentary, photography, poetry, and book reviews. Critical Muslim is edited by Ziauddin Sardar. To order this issue and subscriptions click here info@musliminstitute.org  |  www.musliminstitute.org Muslim Institute, 82 Tanner Street, London, SE1 3GN   Copyright © 2025 Muslim Institute, All rights reserved. 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