Scholar, Critic, Futurist

Muslim scholar, critic, futurist, journalist and a prolific writer. Considered a pioneering thinker on contemporary Islam, he has been described by the Independent newspaper as ‘Britain’s own polymath’ [1]. His intellectual output, published in some 45 books, ranges from the future of Islam to critiques of postmodernism, science policy, contemporary aspects of science in Muslim societies, colonialism, cultural relations, literary criticism, travel and autobiography. He was worked as a science correspondent for Nature and New Scientist and in the early 1980’s he became a television reporter for the London Weekend Television. He has made numerous television programmes, including Battle for Islam, a 90-minute documentary for BBC2 and Dispatches for Channel 4 on Pakistan. In 1999, he became the editor of Futures, the monthly journal of policy, planning and future studies. He co-edited edited Third Text, the critical journal of visual art and culture, from to 1999 to 2008. In 2006 he was appointed a Commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission of Britain.
He received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of East London in 2005.