Asim Qureshi - A Virtue Of Disobedience

Dr Asim Qureshi graduated in Law (LLB Hons, LLM), specialising in International Law and Islamic Law. He completed his PhD in International Conflict Analysis from the University of Kent.

He is the Research Director at the advocacy group CAGE, and since 2003 has specialised in investigating the impact of counterterrorism practices worldwide. He has published a wide range of NGO reports, academic journals and articles. He has written the book Rules of the Game: Detention, Deportation, Disappearance (Hurst, Columbia UP, 2009); a chapter in What is Islamophobia? (Pluto Press, Chicago UP, 2017); and the first edition of A Virtue of Disobedience (Byline Books, 2018). Since 2010, he has been advising legal teams involved in defending terrorism trials in the US and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

What should be done when protest does not right state oppression and persecution of dissent and minorities? Drawing mostly on Islamic history but also on more recent African American and Jewish experiences, Asim Qureshi argues that, in this circumstance, disobedience to injustice becomes a virtue. I hope that this short thought-provoking meditation on rightful responses to injustice will trigger a societal discussion for the conscience and future of liberal democracies.

Marc Sageman, former CIA officer and author of Misunderstanding Terrorism, Leaderless Jihad and Turning to Political Violence

A first and foremost beautiful read, as a critical theorist, as an auto-ethnographer, and writer, I find Qureshis personal tone profound and loud, and it does what all good works of politics and anti-racism should. It makes visible the most intimate ways white power impacts us, destroys us, and has us dream about our futures.

Yassir Morsi, author of Radical Skin, Moderate Masks

Both Muslims and non-Muslims can learn a great deal from veteran Muslim activist Asim Qureshis erudite and moving reflections on resistance, identity, knowledge and justice. Drawing on an extraordinary range of influences that includes Primo Levi, Tupac Shakur, fourteenth century Islamic jurists and the Quran, Qureshi weaves a moving account of his personal political journey through the horrors of the early 21st century into an inspirational call for racial and political justice and critical Islamic scholarship.

Matthew Carr, author of The Devils of Cardona and Blood & Faith: The Purging of Muslim Spain

As oppressive political forces cultivate and harness the seeds of fear and division, threatening to take away liberties many of us have come to take for granted, Qureshi has produced a critical antidote in a critical time, urging us to becoming more than mere spectators to injustice and oppression.

C.J. Werleman, journalist and author of The New Atheist Threat

Many in positions of power argue that radical thinking of any kind is potentially a path towards extremist and ultimately dangerous action. Inspired by Eastern, Western and black political philosophy, Asim Qureshi of CAGE has written a gallant exposition on the modes of oppression and its resistance, weaving his ideas through past and recent historical events. A Virtue of Disobedience is an honest and personal account of the patterns of racism, discrimination and criminalisation that afflict black and Muslim groups in Britain and North America a must-read for activists and intellectuals in a world often guided by hate, disdain and partisanship.

Tahir Abbas, author of Islamic Radicalism and Multicultural Politics and Beyond Islamophobia, Radicalisation and the Culture of Violence

Asim Qureshis book restores and centres the human in todays dominant, hyper-securitised society, capturing its effects through an intertwining narrative developed through his personal experiences, Islamic understanding and a breadth of literature. It is a book which asks cutting questions of our living context, including our very own community that is simultaneously afflicted by trauma of a warring, domestic securitisation and contending with sections that perpetuate it. An important and pressing contribution to understanding our place in society today.

Shaykh Zahir Mahmood, Islamic scholar

Reflective and promoting reflection in equal measures, it is a welcome intervention during these times of uncertainty and entrenchment of positions and views. If it receives the exposure and engagement that it deserves, A Virtue of Disobedience will enrich conversations firstly within Muslim communities, but also among anyone who is serious about understanding the impact of oppressive power structures on our communities and ethically-centred approaches in the pursuit of justice.

Khadijah Elshayyal, author of Muslim Identity Politics: Islam, activism and equality in Britain

This edition first published in 2019

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Asim Qureshi, 2019

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ISBN (eBook): 978-1-78965-076-1
ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-78965-075-4

Cover design by Mecob

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A.