Muslims in the Media

There are many notable Muslim journalists in the UK. It is a hard profession to get into but some are very well-known such as:

Mehdi Hasan is graduate of Oxford University and a journalist with Indian roots; a senior politics editor at the New Statesman and a former news and current affairs editor at Channel 4. He is currently working for Al-Jazeera America and lives in Washington DC. There, he is busy with a popular weekly show called ‘Head to Head’. Occasionally, he appears on other television programmes such as the BBC’s Question Time. In his articles, one can find his sharp insights and opinions on various topics such as the article recently featured in the Guardian which critically argues for ‘Why Islam doesn’t need a reformation’ and another in the News Statement where he asks ‘How Islamic is Islamic State?’. Recently, Hasan became a presenter on Al-Jazeera English News Channel.
Miqdaad Versi is an Assistant Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, and one of their media spokespeople with numerous interviews including on the BBC News, BBC Newsnight, ITV, CNN, Sky News, BBC Arabic, The Times, The Guardian, AlJazeera English, the Independent and many others. He is also a contributor to opinion sections of the Guardian (CiF) and the Independent (Voices)
Rageh Omaar is a a Somali-born British journalist and writer. He used to be a BBC world affairs correspondent and was known to report during the Iraq war in 2003. From a world affairs correspondent, he became the person that narrated the story of Prophet Muhammad in the BBC’s 2011 three-part documentary miniseries on ‘The life of Muhammad’. Most of his journalistic work comes from Al-Jazeera English which is based in Qatar’s Doha. There, he presented the nightly weekday documentary series called Witness and the Rageh Omaar Report. Recently, he has joined ITV News as an International Affairs Editor, reporting on a range of news stories and producing in-depth reports. One of his articles that received a lot of attention was ‘The jihadists next door’, discussing how Somaliland has broken away from being the failed state to a success story.
Yvonne Ridley is an English convert to Islam, a well-known journalist and a Respect Party activists and strong advocate for a Zionist-Free Palestine. She mentions in some media platforms how, after her capture from the Afghani Taliban in 2001, she decided to become a Muslim. Before her conversation, she used to work for the Sunday Times, The Independent on Sunday, The Observer, The Mirror and the Rupert-Murdoch-owned News of the World. After her release, there seemed to be a change in her political stances as she began to work for Al-Jazeera English, Islam Channel and Press TV, although she has also been doing her own freelance work. At MAB, we view one of her greatest blog pieces to be the one where she talks about ‘How I Came to Love the Veil’ in the Washington Post.
Mishal Husain is a British news presenter for the BBC, currently appearing onToday, BBC World News and BBC Weekend News. She was previously a presenter on HARDtalk and BBC Breakfast. She was born in Northampton, England. After leaving the UK, Husain returned to the UK at the age of 12 to complete her education at Cobham Hall, an independent school in Cobham, Kent. She studied Law at New Hall, Cambridge (now Murray Edwards College, Cambridge), followed by a Master’s degree in International and Comparative Law at theEuropean University Institute in Florence, Italy.
Dr Anas Altikriti is the CEO and Founder of The Cordoba Foundation, a research and advisory group with the aim of “bridging the gap of understanding between the Muslim World and the West”. He is also the Chairman of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) and has obtained a PhD in Political Studies at Westminster University, London. Dr Anas is a specialist on Political Islamic Thought and a leading figure in the Anti-War movement. He is also a Global Strategist and international advisor on conflict resolution and peace-building. As a renowned international speaker, he has been talking to hundreds about many relevant political issues. Not long ago, he gave an analysis on what the future may hold for Muslims in Britain, Post-Brexit. Finally he often appears on the media and social media as a commentator and writer, in Arabic and English.
Faisal Islam is University of Cambridge graduate and a political and economics journalist with Bangladeshi roots, who has been the Political Editor of Sky News. He has also written for other newspapers and been a business correspondence for Channel 4 News. His journalism has been recognised in several awards, such as the Wincott Award for Young Financial Journalist of the Year.
Nadiya Jamir Hussain is not a journalist but has appeared a lot in the media after she became the first British Muslim woman to win the Great British Bake Off in 2015. A record 14.5 million viewers tuned in to watch her win the 2015 TV competition. Hussain has also given many interviews for different newspapers and TV shows. She has also published a cookbook for children, called “Bake me a story”. For the Queen’s 90th birthday, Hussain baked a cake. Following her win, she also appeared on a BBC show, exploring her identity, called ‘The Chronicles of Nadiya’. Finally, Hussain is known to have opened up about her identity in terms of the arranged marriage but also how it is to be a British Bangladeshi and Muslim. She has said: “I’m British, I’m Bangladeshi and, I’m Muslim, and I’m proud of all three.”
Ajmal Masroor is an Imam, fundraiser, broadcaster and Relationship Counsellor – will be speaking at the MAB Convention on Sat 15th October. In 2014, he was recognised in the Muslim 500 as one of the most influential Muslims in the world today. He is the co-founder of the Barefoot Institute for Muslim relationships. As part of his passion in community work; he has been involved in community development and cohesion work as well as capacity building programmes. In addition to being a public speaker; he is active on social media and expresses his ideas on various topics in articles, books and even media platforms.