Hamza Tzortzis

Hamza Andreas Tzortzis (born 1980)[1] is a British public speaker and researcher on Islam.[2] A British Muslim convert of Greek heritage, he was at one time associated with extreme positions and extremists.[3][4] Tzortzis has tried to distance himself from allegations of extremism, and now says he preaches about peace and compassion.[5] He considers himself just Muslim.[6]

Hamza Tzortzis
Giving a speech
Born
Andreas Tzortzis

1980
NationalityBritish
OccupationSpeaker
OrganizationiERA
HonoursBritish Muslim Awards
Website

Career

Tzortzis has been invited as a guest speaker at several universities and Muslim conferences.[3][5] He has spoken in the United Kingdom and Australia.[3][5] Tzortzis was involved in publishing a survey study in 2010 to gauge non-Muslims' views of Islam in the United Kingdom.[2] In 2015 he was a finalist for Religious Advocate of the Year at the British Muslim Awards.[7] Tzortzis has contributed to the BBC news programs: The Big Questions and Newsnight.[8][9]

Controversy

Andrew Gilligan described Tzortzis in a 2010 The Telegraph article 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."[3] Tzortzis calls this misrepresentations and lies.[10] 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."[11] 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.[10] According to Metro, Tzortzis has "claimed that those who leave the Islamic faith ‘should be killed.'"[12] He has since stated that he no longer believes in apostasy laws, which he calls "outdated".[10] Tzortzis also now criticises child marriage, opposes extremism, denounces the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), and tries to present a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.[5] 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.[10] Tzortzis says that he has influenced Muslims of all persuasions and cannot be blamed for extremists latching onto his words.[10] He further stated that ISIS are "spiritually diseased, sick people".[10]

Publications

Books
  • The Divine Reality: God, Islam and the Mirage of Atheism.[13] FB Publishing, 2016.

Translations

Bengali
  • The Divine Reality: Allah, Islam o Nastikkobader Morichika. Tr. Masud Shorif, Sean Publications, 2020.
  • Liberalism o Muslim Somaj (Liberalism and Muslim Society). Tr. Hossain Shakil, Minarah Publications, Unpublished.

Arabic
  • al-Haqiqah al-Ilahiyyah: Allah wal-Islam wa Sarab al-Ilhad[14] (The Divine Reality). Tr. Naif al-Mal, Markaz Dalil, 2016.

Papers and Articles

References
  1. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/7235/1/Baz17PhD.pdf
  2. Haroon Siddique. "Three-quarters of non-Muslims believe Islam negative for Britain". The Guardian, 2 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  3. Andrew Gilligan (18 January 2010). "Speaker with extremist links to address Detroit bomber's former student group". The Telegraph, 18 January 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  4. Zeyno Baran with Emmet Tuohy (2011). Citizen Islam: The Future of Muslim Integration in the West. Continuum Publishing Group. p. 127. ISBN 9781441130501. Retrieved 28 June 2016.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  5. Rohan Smith (17 February 2016). "So-called radical aiming to speak at Australian Muslim conference declares: 'I'm a peaceful hippie'". news.com.au, 17 February 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  6. Karagiannis, Emmanuel (2 January 2018). The New Political Islam: Human Rights, Democracy, and Justice. ISBN 9780812249729.
  7. "British Muslim Awards 2015 finalists unveiled". Asian Image, 23 January 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  8. "BBC One - The Big Questions, Series 8, Episode 2 - Credits". BBC. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  9. "Is clash between Islam and the West inevitable?". BBC. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  10. Ayaz Farooqui (9 August 2016). "ISIS are spiritually diseased, sick people: Hamza Tzortzis, UK preacher named in NIA charges". ABP News, 12 August 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  11. Kathie McInnes. "Keele University cancels visit from radical Islamic speaker Hamza Tzortzis". The Sentinel, 1 March 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  12. Nicholas Reilly (23 August 2015). "Islamic preacher 'named' on the leaked list of Ashley Madison members". Metro, 23 August 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  13. Tzortzis, Hamza Andreas (2016-12-10). The Divine Reality: God, Islam and the Mirage of Atheism. FB Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9965453-8-9.
  14. "الحقيقة الإلهية". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
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