Navid Kermani

(b.1967) is an orientalist and lecturer, who until 2003 was a Long-Term Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin. Since then he has been living in Cologne as a freelance writer. His publications include: Gott ist schön. Das ästhetische Erleben des Koran [God is beautiul. The aesthetic experience of the Koran] (2000); Schöner neuer Orient. Berichte von Städten und Kriegen [Brave new Orient. Reports from cities and wars] (2003); Iran. Die Revolution der Kinder [Iran. The children’s revolution] (2005); Der Schrecken Gottes. Attar, Hiob und die metaphysische Revolte [The terror of God. Attar, Hiob, and the metaphysical Revolt] (2005); Kurzmitteilung [Short message] (2007).

Articles

"I won't be an Uncle Tom"

A conversation with Navid Kermani

“My real task is criticism, not justification. I have to choose: either I play my part and become a defender of Islam or multiculturalism – or indeed a denouncer of Islam, whatever role I get landed with. Or else I write my books, with a view to people still reading them in twenty years, fifty years, hoping that they won’t be too affected by debates that we will hopefully have forgotten all about in a couple of years.” Prominent German-Iranian author Navid Kermani speaks to Ali Fathollah-Nejad about Islam and Iran, European values, and why he won’t have anything to do with the Islam industry.