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Books The Divine Reality: God, Islam and the Mirage of Atheism Similar Abdur Raheem Green, Ismail ibn Musa Menk, Lawrence M Krauss, Yusuf Estes, Abu Ammaar Yasir Qad Profiles | ||
Hamza Andreas Tzortzis is a British public speaker and researcher on Islam. A British Muslim convert of Greek heritage, he has been associated with extreme positions and extremists. Tzortzis has tried to distance himself from allegations of extremism, and now says he preaches about peace and compassion.
Contents
Career
Tzortzis has been invited as a guest speaker at several universities and Muslim conferences. He has spoken in the United Kingdom and Australia. Tzortzis was involved in publishing a survey study in 2010 to gauge non-Muslims' views of Islam in the United Kingdom. In 2015 he was a finalist for Religious Advocate of the Year at the British Muslim Awards. Tzortzis has contributed to the BBC news programs The Big Questions and Newsnight.
Controversy
The Telegraph described Tzortzis in 2010 as "a former researcher for the hardline Hittin Institute and chaired the launch event of iERA, an umbrella organisation hosting many well-known British Muslim extremists who preach opposition to democracy and hatred against homosexuals and Jews." Tzortzis calls this misrepresentations and lies. Noting that Keele University had cancelled a speech by Tzortzis, the Stoke Sentinel called him a "radical Islamic speaker ... a former member of the radical group Hizb ut-Tahrir which believes in the idea of an Islamic state ... who supports Sharia law ... [and has] also been linked to controversial comments on homosexuality and a series of other issues." Tzortzis said in a 2016 interview that, whilst he still sees homosexuality as "sinful" in the eyes of God, he now condemns any violence towards the homosexual community. According to Metro, Tzortzis has "claimed that those who leave the Islamic faith ‘should be killed.'" He has since stated that he no longer believes in apostasy laws, which he calls "outdated". Tzortzis also now criticises child marriage, opposes extremism, denounces the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), and tries to present a peaceful case for Islam. Despite trying to distance himself from what observes call his extremism, in 2016 India's National Investigation Agency (NIA), in a chargesheet against the Islamic State , named Tzortzis as having directly or indirectly influenced suspects accused of having links with ISIS. Tzortzis says that he has influenced Muslims of all persuasions and cannot be blamed for extremists latching onto his words.