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Q: Do you think you would have
become a Muslim if you had not been captured by the Taleban?
A: I very much doubt it. I think that I would have
continued to cover the Middle East as many journalists do without fully
understanding Islam. This is too bad since Islam is more a way of life
than a religion so journalists should make every attempt to understand it.
Had I not had the experience, I probably would have remained a Christian.
I have often said that I wore a veil before - a veil of bigotry and
prejudice concerning Islam and sadly, I guess that I would probably still
be wearing it had it not been for my experience.
Q: What do you think about the
way the Western media has written about your experience?
A:
The Western media is at a total loss as to how to explain my conversion to
Islam. Most critics point to Stockholm Syndrome and say that this is a
classic case of that syndrome. But the reality is that I did not bond with
my captors. I was abusive toward them, spat at them, and cursed them. The
only people I bonded with were the six Christian fundamentalists that I
was locked up with in prison in Kabul.
Q: You have spoken about
zero-tolerance regarding anti-Islamic attitudes. Please elaborate.
A: There should be zero-tolerance for people who are
blatantly Islamophobic. If someone shouts abuse at Muslims because they
are Muslims, they should be reported immediately as criminals.
Unfortunately too many Muslims in Europe are willing to walk away because
they do not want to make waves or make an issue. But they really should,
because, I think that people would be shocked by the amount of
Islamophobia. We keep hearing about the rise in anti-Semitism but a study
by the Islamic Human Rights Commission recently showed that 80 percent of
Muslims will at one time or another experience some form of Islamophobia
in Britain. Converts are exposed to higher amounts and it is only if we
report every single incident that the authorities will take the problem
seriously. We have to be well equipped to deal with critics and we have to
fight back logically and systemically.
Q: Are you planning a movie based
on your book "In the Hands of the Taleban?" What message would you want to
convey?
A: A Holywood director did express an interest
in making a film. I had a conversation with him and it became very clear,
very quickly, that the film would be total fiction and fantasy and would
have demonized the Taleban. I am not a supporter of the Taleban but I do
not want to see them being demonized and misunderstood .
Q: Where does the project stand
now?
A: It is still being talked about but until I see some
papers to sign, I am not taking it too seriously. I would like a faithful
portrayal of the events and a faithful portrayal of my treatement which
was nothing like Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo Bay. Let's face it: Hollywood is
not going to put a glossy image on my captivity. They would hijack the
story and turn into nonsense.
Q: What about your other book, "Ticket to Paradise?"
A: It is a fictional thriller. It is based on the
events of 9/11 and the characters are fictional. It opens in New York and
takes the reader on a journey through London and the Middle East with a
soul-searching look at the whole issue of martyrdom operations. It
features a Hamas fighter on the front cover and the dedication inside is
to the people of Jenin and their martyrs. It has been banned in Israel. I
often call for a boycott of Israeli goods so I guess the Israelis are just
getting their own back.
Q: Do you think Afghanistan is better off now than
before?
A: America has proved that it is
not a nation-builder. You have to look at
Afghanistan. It is fractured, lawless and unsafe. Even last year there
were kidnappings in the capital and attacks by the resistance. Hamid
Karzai cannot even trust his own people to protect him. He has to have
American bodyguards. There might be a few bits of hope in the capital, but
the rest of the country is a mess. I have been back four or five times and
wherever I have gone, women and men have said that they long for the
security they had under the Taleban. The first time I went back, the
prison cell where I was held in Kabul was packed with young girls aged
12-16 whose only crime was that they had run away from home because they
didn't want to be second and third wives for men twice their ages. The
Taleban stamped out the practice of child brides but it has obviously come
back. The country is still in crisis. The only success story concerns the
opium fields that have made Afghanistan the number one producer of opium
in the world. This translates into heroin on the streets of the West. The
pornography industry is thriving - pornography that one would expect to
find sold under the counter is now on display in Jalalabad and Kabul. The
Americans have given the Afghans liberation in the form of sex, drugs and
rock and roll.
Q: How do you think the events unleashed by 9/11 will
end? Or will they ever end?
A: I don't think 9/11 was the start of anything; it
was the continuation. I wish that the American people had stood back and
asked why 9/11 happened. I fear 9/11 is an indication of things to come.
Unless American foreign policy changes dramatically, I think that there
will unfortunately be more catastrophes. It is a never-ending war.
Q: How has 9/11 changed the world media, especially
in the West?
A: The American media has become
hysterical. The great days of American investigative journalism have all
but vanished. With the exception of people such as Seymour Hersh, the
American media is gutless. It is not giving the American people the truth.
Thankfully, the European media has not yet sunk so low but there are signs
that it could happen .
Q: What about the Muslim media?
A: The Arab world has got to begin accepting
journalism as a noble profession. There are many heroic journalists in the
Arab world. In fact, I have been pleasantly surprised by the reporting in
Saudi Arabia since I arrived. The newspapers seem fairly free, open and
robust in their reporting of events.
Q: You performed Haj very soon after accepting Islam.
Why?
A: My present job is with the Islam Channel, a European and
African satellite TV station based in London with global
ambitions. We sent a team of journalists and presenters to cover Haj and I
was lucky enough to be among them. I managed to perform Haj as well as do
a job. Haj itself was a very moving experience simply because of the huge
number of Muslims involved. It is incredible. Anyone who hasn't been on
Haj should do so. It makes you aware of your roots as a Muslim. The
experience was absolutely unforgettable and deeply moving for me.
One day I was running late for prayer and was going
down the winding streets toward the Haram. There were tens of thousands of
pilgrims in the streets. It was totally chaotic - everybody was pushing
and jostling and bumping in order to get to the Haram on time. Suddenly
there was the call to prayer and everybody stopped and out of the chaos,
people snapped into little lines straightaway. I thought there wasn't a
single army in the world that could have stood to attention so quickly.
And I just thought of Allah's army and that I am a part of it. My eyes
fill with tears when I think of what I witnessed.
It made me
very proud to belong to this huge family. There we all were, many
different languages, nationalities and skin colors. One prayer call and we
all understood and we were all united. Out of the chaos, a beautiful
uniformity. It also made me very sad, because I thought if we could be as
strong as that in only a few seconds, then why can't we do the same after
prayers as well.
Q: Tell us something about the Islam
Channel.
A: It was launched only a few months ago and is very
exciting English-language 24-hours-a-day television with a global vision.
It covers Europe and West Africa at the moment but it has a global vision
and plans to cover the entire world. Its main aim is religious propagation
and we have scholars who assist us in producing live English language
programs. We also plan to have international television news coverage.
Basically we are beating Al-Jazeera at their own game because they have
been talking about launching their own English service for a long time.
Well, we are doing it. We are not just talking about it. We are also
looking at making documentaries and current affairs programs. We have only
been up and running a few months and we have already had a stunning
success. Just before we left for Haj, we had an Irish woman call us during
a live discussion. She was so inspired by the Qur'an, she actually made
the shahada - profession of faith - on the telephone; it has been
described as the world's first hi-tech shahada. By happy coincidence we
had a Muslim religious scholar in the studio and he agreed that it was
perfectly acceptable for her to make her shahada by phone. I said to her,
"If you are still out there listening, pick up the telephone and do it.'
She did. It was an incredibly moving experience. I get quite emotional
when I see people making their shahada because it reminds me of when I
made mine on June 30, 2003 ; that was a very emotional experience for me.
Q: You have a daughter. How old is
she?
A: She is 12, at boarding school and she is
interested in Islam. That would be my greatest achievement next to
becoming a Muslim - to see my daughter become a Muslim. She is being
brought up by Muslim values. It is very difficult because I have only been
a Muslim for 18 months. That means it is very difficult for me to teach
her when I still have so much to learn.
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