Hamza Tzortzis

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

Hamza Tzortzis
Hamza Andreas Tzortzis in 2017
Born
Andreas Tzortzis

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

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Islamic faith ‘should be killed.'"[12] He has since stated that he does not believe in apostasy laws, which he calls "outdated".[10] Tzortzis also criticises child marriage, opposes extremism, denounces the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), and tries to present a peaceful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
  • The Divine Reality: God, Islam and the Mirage of Atheism.[13] FB Publishing, 2016.

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. Baz17PhD.pdf
  2. 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. 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. 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. 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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