Walid al-Kubaisi
| Walid al-Kubaisi | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 9, 1958 Baghdad, Iraq |
| Citizenship | Norwegian[1] |
| Alma mater | University of Baghdad[2] |
| Occupation | Author, civil engineer[3] |
| Known for | Criticism of Islamism |
| Notable work | Frihet, likhet og det muslimske brorskap (Freedom, Equality, and the Muslim Brotherhood) (2010) |
Walid al-Kubaisi (born February 9, 1958) is a Norwegian-Iraqi author, journalist, translator, film director and government scholar. He has notably criticized Islamism in the documentary film Frihet, likhet og Det muslimske brorskap. He is an engineer by education.
Personal life and career
Al-Kubaisi was born in Baghdad, Iraq[2] where he got a degree in engineering at Baghdad University of Baghdad. He emigrated from the country to Norway as a political refugee in 1981 owing to war.[3] He regards himself as a "secular Muslim".[4]
In addition to writing non-fiction books, he has translated Arabic poetry to Norwegian: poems by Faisal Hashmi in 2008 and by Eftikhar Ismaeil in 2010.[5][6]
He was nominated to the Brage Prize in 1996.[7]
He wrote the script for the 2010 film Freedom, Equality, and the Muslim Brotherhood which he directed together with Per Christian Magnus.[8]
Views
Al-Kubaisi argues that the hijab is a political uniform for the militant Islamist movement. He maintains, that if Islamists will be successful in making the hijab synonymous with Islam, they will achieve a victory in the West which they have not been able to accomplish in Muslim countries. He also claims that the hijab was only created in the 1980s after Ayatollah Khomeini's Iranian revolution, and that it unlike national Islamic dresses like the burqa, is a dress exclusively created for the universal political Islamist movement.[9]
He claims that Tariq Ramadan is an Islamist, who "speaks with two tongues": smoothly and articulate in the West, yet purely Islamist in the Muslim community and the suburbs. He holds that Ramadan seeks to Islamize the West, but in a more patient manner than the likes of Osama bin Laden.[4]
He believes that the Muslim Brotherhood is the "mother organization" for the world's Islamist political ideology. He says that the Muslim Brotherhood has a plan to conquer Europe by the hijab, high birth rates and democracy; Islamists are exploiting Western democracy to reach their own anti-democratic goals.[9] His 2010 documentary Frihet, likhet og det muslimske brorskap discusses this, in which he also interviews several Arab intellectuals who espouse his views.[10] He also claims that notable Norwegian Muslims such as Mohammad Usman Rana, Lena Larsen and Basim Ghozlan represent the ideology of the Brotherhood in Norway, and that Abid Raja of the Norwegian Liberal Party is a "running boy" for Islamists.[11]
Works
Books
- Allahs lille brune : Koranen og profetens ord i utvalg, editors Walid al-Kubaisi and Ronnie Johanson, Religionskritisk forlag, 2004, ISBN 82-7265-015-0
- Min tro, din myte. Aventura, 1996
- Sinbads verden. Children's book. Pantagruel, 1997
- Gleden er ikke mitt yrke. Pantagruel, 1998
- Halvmånens hemmeligheter. Pantagruel, 1998
- Rasisme forklart for barn : en bok for barn i alle aldre, og med alle hudfarger, Pantagruel, 2001, ISBN 82-7900-127-1
Documentary films
- Frihet, likhet og Det muslimske brorskap, 2010
Articles (selection)
- Vestens bin Laden (Aftenposten, 01.04.03)
- Islamforskerne har sviktet (Aftenposten, 03.12.03)
- Ytringsfrihetens grenser og islamforskernes dilemma (Aftenposten, 15.12.03)
- Den sanne historien om slør og skaut i islam (Aftenposten, 03.02.04)
- Iraks skakkjørte grunnlov (Aftenposten, 24.10.05)
- Integrering er å være trygg (Aftenposten, 08.06.06)
- Wergelands toleranse (Aftenposten, 03.05.08)
References
- ↑ Leer-Salvesen, Tarjei (12 April 2003). "Våger ikke å juble". Klassekampen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- 1 2 "Walid al-Kubaisi forfatter". Volapük Litteratur og Kulturforum (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- 1 2 "Walid al-Kubaisi". Morgenbladet (in Norwegian). 3 December 2010. Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- 1 2 Brandvold, Åse (12 February 2010). "- Ikke glem de sekulære". Klassekampen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ↑ Entry for Som en forvirret i en viss tid by Faisal Hashmi in BIBSYS
- ↑ Entry for De første dråper by Eftikhar Ismaeil in BIBSYS
- ↑ Walid al-Kubaisi Volapuk.no, retrieved 3 March 2013 (Norwegian)
- ↑ Anne Grete Nilsen: Walid al-Kubaisi Store Norske Leksikon, retrieved 3 March 2013 (Norwegian)
- 1 2 al-Kubaisi, Walid (3 February 2004). "Den sanne historien om slør og skaut i islam". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ↑ Persen, Kjell (28 November 2010). "Muslimleder: – Vi vil danne en samlet islamsk stat". TV 2 (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 December 2010.
- ↑ Bisgaard, Anders Breivik (3 December 2010). "Vil spre "sunn frykt"". Morgenbladet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 December 2010.