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Hamza Tzortzis

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Hamza Tzortzis
Hamza Andreas Tzortzis in 2017
Born
Andreas Tzortzis

1980
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Religious (Islamic) apologist, Speaker, Author
Notable workThe Divine Reality: God, Islam and the Mirage of Atheism
HonoursBritish Muslim Awards
Websitehamzatzortzis.com

Hamza Andreas Tzortzis (Greek: Χάμζα Ανδρέας Τζώρτζης; born 1980[1]) is a British Muslim apologist, public speaker and a researcher on Islam.[2][3] He is a British Muslim convert of Greek descent. He wrote The Divine Reality: God, Islam and The Mirage of Atheism.

Career

Tzortzis has been a guest speaker in the United Kingdom, Turkey and Australia.[4][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.[6] Tzortzis has contributed to the BBC news programs: The Big Questions and Newsnight.[7][8] Tzortzis stepped down from his role at iERA and joined the Sapience Institute as of 2020.[9]

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."[4] Tzortzis calls this misrepresentations and lies.[10] After Keele University 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, while he still sees homosexuality as "sinful" in the eyes of God, he 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Islamic faith ‘should be killed.'"[12] He has since stated that he does not believe in apostasy laws, which he calls "outdated".[10] Tzortzis also criticises child marriage, opposes extremism, denounces the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), and tries to present a peaceful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] 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

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.

References

  1. ^ Baz17PhD.pdf
  2. ^ a b Haroon Siddique (2 August 2010). "Three-quarters of non-Muslims believe Islam negative for Britain". The Guardian, 2 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  3. ^ Lataster, Raphael (July 2021). "A Refutation of Several Muslim Apologetic Arguments and a Powerful Argument Against God's Authorship of the Quran". Perichoresis. 19 (3): 29–37. doi:10.2478/perc-2021-0015. S2CID 239770161.
  4. ^ a b 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.
  5. ^ a b 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. ^ "British Muslim Awards 2015 finalists unveiled". Asian Image, 23 January 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  7. ^ "BBC One - The Big Questions, Series 8, Episode 2 - Credits". BBC. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  8. ^ "Is clash between Islam and the West inevitable?". BBC. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  9. ^ Musa Adnan (15 July 2020). "Hamza Tzortzis leaves iERA". www.iera.org/blog/rerooted (Podcast). ReRooted (iERA). Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d e f 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.[permanent dead link‍]
  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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