I Refuse to Condemn

This book swims against the prevailing tide. It offers a collection of essays by a diverse selection of writers from a range of professions, backgrounds and countries, who are prepared to place their heads above the pulpit and speak their own hard won, often traumatically acquired, understanding of truth to power. This is set within environments steeped in and besmirched by racial injustice and often hostile perceptions of Islam, centred on erroneous assumptions of a religiously inspired propensity to violence and support for terrorism. Its genesis stems from a painful encounter which Asim Qureshi, a contributor and editor, reports during an interrogative interview by Channel 4 News presenter, Jon Snow, following the appalling and tragic death of aid worker, Alan Henning, brutally executed in Syria in 2014. Qureshi was seemingly backed into a corner and was asked what is frequently demanded of Muslims: to issue apologies and disavowal for events to which they play no part. Condemnation can be perceived as a disingenuous act, while silence is construed as complicity or support. As a retort, Qureshi gathers together a collection of eighteen likeminded thinkers to offer a robust rejoinder to orchestrated attempts at manipulation and dishonest attribution, linked together by a common refusal to condemn.