Mufassil Islam
মুফাস্সিল ইসলাম
Born
Mufassil Mohammed Islam

(1966-10-10) 10 October 1966
Dhaka, Bangladesh
CitizenshipBritish
Occupation(s)Academic, activist, political analyst, ex-lawyer
SpouseIshrat Islam[1]

Mufassil Muhammed Mazhaarul Islam is a former British–Bangladeshi lawyer, academic, journalist,[2] activist,[3][4] political commentator,[5] and Islamic scholar known for his criticism of religious extremism. He is an advocate of the Bangladesh Bar Council. He was the chairman of the For Britain political party in Northern Ireland.

Early life and family

Mufassil Islam was born on 10 October 1966, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is the son of Muhammad Nazrul Islam, a lawyer and law professor at the Central Law College in Dhaka, and Niru Nahar.[6] His grandfather Muhamad Sulaiman was a Sufi saint.[7] His granduncle A. K. M. Nurul Islam was the Chief Justice of Bangladesh.[8]

Education

Islam received his LLB (Honors) and LL.M. from Dhaka University in 1991 and 1992, respectively, and later studied law at London Metropolitan University. He was pursuing his PhD in law at Trinity College Dublin when he was forced to suspend his studies due to threats from Islamists.[7][9] He received his training in immigration laws from Central Law Training and BPP in London, UK. He received training in cyber law from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University in the United States.[8]

Career

Islam moved from Bangladesh to the UK in 1993. He lived in the US from 1994 to 1995 and worked for migration law offices in Georgia and New York.[8]

Throughout his career, Islam has worked as a lawyer dealing in refugee law in Bangladesh, the UK,[10][11] and the US.[7] He has also served as a journalist, contributing to several national and international[12] newspapers and periodicals, including The Daily Star[13] and The Bangladesh Observer.[7] Islam has been critical of religious extremism.[7][14]

Islam was the founding executive editor of the first law journal of Bangladesh, Aain Porikroma.[7] He served as the elected representative at Dhaka University Law Faculty and the founder of the Dhaka University Moot Court Society.[7] He was an intern at KRW Law in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and the chairman of the For Britain political party in Northern Ireland. He is an advocate of the Bangladesh Bar Council, and leads a pressure group aimed at stopping cross-border killings by Indian Border Security Forces along the Bangladesh-India border.[7][9][15] He makes occasional TV appearances as a political and theologian commentator.[16] He also makes vlogs on social media.[17]

Controversies

Islam renounced his religion in 2016 and blamed Islamist extremism for his apostasy.[18][19] He later considered himself an apatheist and became a vocal critic of all religions. He often used to engage in debates with theologian scholars,[20][7][21][22] including David Wood[23] and Michael Nugent.[24] That same year, he posted a YouTube speech condemning the Paris atrocities,[25][26] and criticizing and opposing the attempts to impose Sharia law and radical Islam in the West.[27][28][29]

Since then, he has faced numerous death threats from radical Islamists, including from ISIS supporters.[25] One of his books, The Codex of a Murtad, was published in January 2017 from the UK and was met with criticism from Muslims.[9] The book details his journey from being a Muslim preacher to renouncing Islam in 2016 due to the threat of Islamist extremism, also the challenges and dangers he faced as he spoke out against radical Islam and attempted to reform the religion.[9]

In 2018, Islam announced that he had rejoined the Islamic faith.[9][5] His decision was met with mixed reactions: some praised him for finding his way back to religion, while others have questioned the sincerity of his conversion and accused him of pandering to the demands of his critics.[9][14] He revealed that he does not follow the conventional version of Islam, but a soft reformed unorthodox version.[9][30]

In 2019, Mufassil Islam was criticized for his controversial remarks on Rabindranath Tagore and the National Anthem of Bangladesh. According to him, Tagore was a 'Hindutwa fanatic' and thus "Tagore's song should not be the national anthem of Bangladesh".[31]

In 2021, Islam filed a lawsuit against Facebook Ireland Ltd, alleging that the company's failure to remove threatening content and censorship of his account constituted breaches of data protection, privacy, and harassment.[15][32] His case against Facebook was resolved under undisclosed terms.[15] Islam has announced that he plans to pursue separate legal action against other social media and online organizations for similar abuse.[33][3]

Reporting the incident for The Guardian Weekly, Dan Milmo wrote, "His [Mufassil Islam's] decision to pursue legal action against Facebook and other organizations shows a commitment to ensuring that individuals have the right to express themselves freely and safely online."[15]

Islam has been prohibited from being employed by any law firms which the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regulates since 2008.[34]

Personal life

Islam has been married thrice. He has two children,[25] and he resides in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.[35]

Views

Islam holds the view that wars should not be won through the use of force. Instead, he believes that patience, understanding, and diplomatic strategies are the keys to success in ideological struggles. He argues that the Soviet Union's victory over communism was achieved through ideological struggle and strategies, which he sees as an example of how history never forgives oppressors.[36] He believes that Muslim immigrants who come to Britain from the Middle East should be grateful for the protection and shelter the country offers. He also condemns those who try to impose Islamic law and says that they do not have the right to kill.[29]

References

  1. ↑ "Mufassil Islam Rejoining Islam Announcement, starring his wife". YouTube. 2 June 2022. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  2. ↑ "Debunked: Saudi authorities did not bulldoze bodies in Mecca". France 24. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2023. Another journalist points out that the photo showing the bulldozer can't have been taken in 2015. The left-hand side photo shows the ritual site after renovation works were carried out.
  3. 1 2 "Belfast-based high-profile political activist resolves legal action against Facebook over online death threats, court told". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  4. ↑ Islam, Mufassil; Advocate, Human Rights; UK (4 March 2009). "Harbouring terrorists". The Daily Star. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  5. 1 2 Kesvani, Hussein (2019). Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims. Oxford University Press. pp. 214–215. ISBN 978-1-78738-125-4. One public figure who caused a stir when they renounced Islam is the fifty-year-old blogger and political commentator Mufassil Islam
  6. ↑ "Mufassil Islam Bio Height Wiki Career & Net Worth | Famous Born". 24 June 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Islam, Arafat (1 October 2017). Europe in Spotlight: Activist Mufassil Islam faces death threats after apostasy. American Atheist Magazine. p. 27. eISSN 1935-8369. ISSN 0516-9623. OCLC 7067961.
  8. 1 2 3 "About Mufassil Islam– Human Rights and Social Media Lawyer". 8 January 2023. Archived from the original on 8 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Khan, Enayetullah (2 February 2018). Mufassil Islam....A purveyor of religious clout?. Vol. 34. Dhaka Courier.
  10. ↑ "Asylum seeker's 'vital' op battle, lawyered". BBC News. 23 August 2004. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  11. ↑ admin (4 September 2004). "New Labour's laws will let Dorcas die in agony". Socialist Worker. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  12. ↑ Taslima Nasrin. "Triumph for religion traders". Bangla Tribune (in Bengali). Retrieved 8 January 2023. মুফাসসিল ইসলাম নামের একজন ধার্মিক সৌদি আরব থেকে একটি পত্রিকায় লিখেছেন
  13. ↑ "Articles by Mufassil M M Islam". The Daily Star. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  14. 1 2 "Apostate Activist Mufassil Sparks Controversy Converting Again". European Atheist Alliance. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023. Mufassil Islam, the British Bangladeshi lawyer, journalist, and online activist who gained notoriety for his bold stance against attempts to impose Sharia law and radical Islam in the West, has recently caused a stir by announcing that he has rejoined the Islamic faith.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Milmo, Dan (15 October 2021). "Activist Mufassil Islam sues social media giants including Facebook, for death threats". The Guardian Weekly: 13. ISSN 0958-9996. OCLC 1060180436.
  16. ↑ "Mufassil Islam on British TV Islam Channel". YouTube. 13 January 2023. Archived from the original on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  17. ↑ 5Pillars. "Mufassil Islam - I have left Islam". 5Pillars. Retrieved 9 March 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ↑ "Bengali lawyer and scholar Mufassil Islam has left Islam after death threats – Michael Nugent". Michael Nugent. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  19. ↑ "Mufassil Islam: Doing Business Using Atheism". Bdnews24.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  20. ↑ "Chat with Lawyer and Activist Mufassil Islam (THE SAAD TRUTH_631)". Agnostic.com. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  21. ↑ David Wood (21 April 2020), Muslims Admit: "We Can't Answer David's Question!" (Featuring Adnan Rashid and Mufassil Islam!), retrieved 8 January 2023
  22. ↑ "Absolute Must Watch Interview of Ex-Muslim Scholar (Post 2015) Mufassil Islam By Gad Saad". Sherdog. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  23. ↑ "David Wood défie 1,6 milliard de musulmans avec une question simple sur le Coran". AgoraVox (in French). 2 May 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  24. ↑ Dave (13 March 2013). "Michael Nugent debates Shari'a with Mufassil Islam at TCD • Skeptical Science". Skeptical Science. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  25. 1 2 3 Perring, Rebecca (23 November 2015). "Brit Muslim who condemned Paris attacks receives DEATH THREATS from IS". Daily Express. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  26. ↑ Mills, Kelly-Ann (18 November 2015). "Muslim man: "ISIS if you don't like this country, why the F*** did you come?"". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  27. ↑ Willis, Amy (17 November 2015). "Muslim scholar tells ISIS terrorist to 'f*ck off' and leave the west alone". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  28. ↑ Okezone (20 November 2015). "Mahasiswa Muslim Minta ISIS Enyah dari Negara-Negara Barat". news.okezone.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  29. 1 2 Smith, Oli (18 November 2015). "British Muslim delivers incredible tirade against those sympathetic to ISIS in viral video | UK | News". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  30. ↑ Kupa (28 November 2020). "The backlash to the Mufassil Islam discussion". Abdullah Sameer. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  31. ↑ Basu, Subho (31 May 2023). Intimation of Revolution: Global Sixties and the Making of Bangladesh. Cambridge University Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-009-32987-3. More seriously, Mufassil Islam, a Dublin-based academic accused Tagore of being 'Hindutwa fanatic' and thus argued that Tagore's song should not be the national anthem of Bangladesh
  32. ↑ "Peter Girvan (Associate) | Doughty Street Chambers". Doughty Street Chambers. Retrieved 9 March 2023. Mufassil Islam v Facebook (2021) - Peter was led by Edward Fitzgerald in an action brought by a political activist/ spokesperson against extremist ideology including radical Islam. The plaintiff had been subjected to death threats and abuse posted by radical Islamic extremists. He also claimed against Facebook in respect of censorship and termination of his popular and verified Facebook accounts.
  33. ↑ "Political activist Mufassil Islam resolves legal action against Facebook over online death threats, court told". The Irish News. 24 September 2021. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  34. ↑ "Mufassil Islam". www.sra.org.uk. 24 June 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  35. ↑ "Mufassil Mohammed ISLAM personal appointments – Find and update company information – GOV.UK". Gov.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  36. ↑ "Should there be an assault on Falluja?". BBC News. 7 November 2004. Retrieved 14 March 2023. Patience, love and understanding with diplomatic strategies have always won on war of ideologies, Mufassil Islam, London, UK
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