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Past, Present & Future of Islam: Marina Mahathir, HE Omar Saif Ghobash & Reza Aslan
Date/Time: Saturday 4 February 2023 10:00-11:00
Venue: Al Baraha III, InterContinental, Dubai Festival City
Language: English
Session No: 151
With approximately two billion followers worldwide and growing, Islam is of global importance. Muslims are made up of countless ethnicities and nationalities, but the Ummah faces many internal and external tensions.
Muslim-majority countries are also on the front line of the climate crisis and, with large youth populations, are vulnerable to unrest in hard times.
Our panelists will explore the past and present, and discuss what they think the future of Islam may look like.
Marina Mahathir is a Malaysian social and political commentator who has challenged the rise of political Islam in her home country, in particular for the harm radicalism does to women’s rights. Her collection of essays Telling it Straight collects her writing on this and other topics, while her new book The Apple and the Tree is a memoir of living as the daughter of influential politician and former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir.
HE Omar Saif Ghobash is an Emirati diplomat currently serving as the Assistant Minister for Culture and Public Diplomacy and as the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the Holy See. He is the author of Letters to a Young Muslim, a passionate argument for moderate Islam. An advocate for youth, education and international cooperation, he serves on the advisory body of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London and the board of trustees for the Emirates Diplomatic Academy, while as a supporter of the arts he sponsors the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.
Reza Aslan is a renowned writer, commentator, professor, Emmy and Peabody-nominated producer, and scholar of religions. His most recent book is An American Martyr in Persia, the biography of an American missionary caught up in a student uprising; his previous works include Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in the Age of Globalization.
This session is moderated by Bilal Orfali
As you plan your day at the Festival, please take into consideration that it takes between 30-60 mins to commute between the Intercontinental, Festival City and Mohammed Bin Rashid Library.
