Walid al-Kubaisi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Author
- writer
- journalist
- translator
Walid al-Kubaisi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 9 February 1958 |
| Died | 31 July 2018 (aged 60) |
| Alma mater | University of Baghdad |
| Occupations |
|
| Notable work | Freedom, Equality and the Muslim Brotherhood (2010) |
| Awards | Fritt Ord Honorary Award Skjervheim Award |
Walid al-Kubaisi (9 February 1958 – 31 July 2018) was a Norwegian-Iraqi author, writer, journalist, translator and government scholar. A public intellectual of Muslim background, he was noted for his social commentary on the integration of immigrants in Norway, and for his broad-based, vocal criticism of political Islam—he notably criticised the alleged influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe in the documentary film Freedom, Equality and the Muslim Brotherhood in 2010.[1]
Al-Kubaisi was born in Baghdad, Iraq, and received a bachelor's degree in electronic engineering at the University of Baghdad.[2] He fled Iraq as a political refugee in 1981 owing to war,[3] first to Syria and Lebanon, before he arrived in Norway in 1986[4] and gained Norwegian citizenship.[5] He had by then been imprisoned in Syria, and been attempted to be recruited for a suicide attack as a soldier in the Palestinian resistance,[6] while working as a journalist for newspapers controlled by the PLO.[7] While stating that he came from a Sufi tradition within Islam,[4][8] he regarded himself as an "apostate" shortly after his arrival in Norway, and was later on the record as an "atheist",[2] but also a "secular Muslim".[8]
In Norway, he was nominated to the Brage Prize for his debut book Min tro, din myte. Islam møter norsk hverdag in 1996, and won the Skjervheim Award in 2003 for his "fearless" cultural work.[9] He was known for his active participation as an intellectual in the Norwegian public debate about immigration and integration, and for his criticism of Islam, which sparked controversy.[10][11][12] While living in Arendal in the early 1990s, he was violently attacked twice after having a fatwa declared against him in 1993; he thereafter moved to Oslo.[11][12][13] He was appointed a government scholar in 2007, and received the Fritt Ord Honorary Award in 2016 for his "insightful contributions to the Norwegian public for two decades".[14]
Al-Kubaisi's literature included novels, nonfiction, essay collections and children's books.[15] In addition to writing books himself, he translated selected Norwegian literature by Erling Kittelsen, Håvard Rem, Jan Olav Brynjulfsen, Kirsti Blom, Camilla Juel Eide, Arnljot Eggen, Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Kjell Askildsen and Dag Solstad to Arabic.[16] He also translated Arabic poetry to Norwegian, including poems by Muhammad al-Maghut,[17] Muniam Alfaker,[18] Faisal Hashmi,[19] and Eftikhar Ismaeil.[20]
He worked as a journalist for the weekly newspaper Dag og Tid for the last fifteen years of his life. Like the written form used by the newspaper, he was very fond of the written standard Nynorsk.[4] He was also known for writing poetry,[21][22] and from 2011 published his own anti-Islamist blog with support from Fritt Ord.[23] He was a board member of Ex-Muslims of Norway from 2016.[24]
In 2010, he wrote the script for and narrated the documentary film Freedom, Equality and the Muslim Brotherhood.[1][25] He wrote the book Blekk og blod: ei familiekrønike fra Midtausten og Noreg, a part autobiography, in 2016.[26] He was working on a second film, about Norwegian values and identity at the time of his death.[4]
