Dr. Osman Latiff, Author at Islam21c

Dr. Osman Latiff

Dr. Osman Latiff is a Senior Researcher and Instructor at Sapience Institute. He has a BA in History, an MA in Crusader Studies, and has completed a PhD in the "Place of Fada'il al-Quds (Merits of Jerusalem) and Religious Poetry in the Muslim effort to recapture Jerusalem in the Crusades". He has delivered many papers in the UK and internationally at renowned academic institutions. His book on the crusades, "The Cutting Edge of the Poet’s Sword: Muslim Poetic Responses to the Crusades" was published by Brill in 2018. He has also written and continues to write academic articles and book chapters in the field of history. Further to his PhD, he conducted post-doctorate research in Politics and International Relations ("The effect of war media iconography on US identity: disruptive images, counter hegemony and political syncretism") — considering bottom-up, grassroots humanistic values and affective principles of empathy and syncretism, and the power of the visual dimension in war and conflict. His second book, on the place of empathy in challenging attitudes of otherness in human societies, entitled "On Being Human: How Islam addresses othering, dehumanisation and empathy" was published in February 2020 and launched in Christchurch New Zealand on the anniversary of the Christchurch mosque shootings (2019). His post-doctorate research was published last year, "Navigating War, Dissent and Empathy in Arab/U.S relations: Seeing Our Others in Darkened Spaces" (Springer, 2021) is a comparative, multi-modal study that helps to explain shifting self-identities within the U.S and relationally through the representation of an Arab 'other'. His most recent work, "Divine Perfection: Christianity an Islam on Sin and Salvation" (Sapience Institute, 2022) is a theological response to Christian missionaries and in particular to Dr. William Lane Craig The work sieves through centuries of Christian misrepresentation of Islam and makes the case for the maximal perfection of Allah as reflected through the doctrines of sin and salvation in Islam. Dr. Latiff is a lecturer and teacher at Jamia Masjid and Islamic Centre, Slough, and is a regular speaker at mosques and universities in the UK and internationally.

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21 Articles

The day I felt the Earth shake

6 Rb1 47 ◦︎ 29 Aug 25 10 Min Read

I recently experienced my first earthquake and quickly realised that our collective conscience also needs awakening.

The first responders from the Crusades to Gaza

15 Muh 47 ◦︎ 10 Jul 25 15 Min Read

We need to recognise the true first responders to atrocities, both past (poets) and present (Gazans and students).

If we don’t tell these stories someone else will

4 Rb1 46 ◦︎ 7 Sep 24 0 Min Read

There is a need for Muslim authors to write fiction that incorporates ethics and values rooted in the Qur'ānic and Prophetic world-view.

Don’t let Israelis hijack the Holocaust

22 Raj 45 ◦︎ 3 Feb 24 1 Min Read

Dr. Osman Latiff shares profound insights from his visits to Auschwitz and Sarajevo, the poignant link between the Holocaust and Gaza, as well as the unsettling parallels in propaganda strategies employed by Nazis and the current situation in Palestine.

Media continues unfair reporting on Israeli invasion of Gaza

16 Raj 45 ◦︎ 28 Jan 24 8 Min Read

On the Gaza genocide, the BBC and others continue to focus on the oppressor as opposed to the oppressed.

How to re-humanise the Palestinians

12 Rb2 45 ◦︎ 27 Oct 23 2 Min Read

In this episode, we're joined by Dr. Osman Latiff, an esteemed scholar whose post-doctoral research focuses on empathy, 'othering', and conflict.

Lost in Time: Rediscovering our Spaces

15 Rb1 45 ◦︎ 30 Sep 23 16 Min Read

Time is akin to a mirror in which we must reflect on past peoples, their experiences, and lessons.

What made Hiroshima and Nagasaki possible?

19 Saf 45 ◦︎ 4 Sep 23 20 Min Read

In this piece, Dr. Osman Latiff argues that the dehumanisation of those different to us often causes much of the mass destruction in the world.

Have Charity Appeals made us War Photographers?

16 Ram 43 ◦︎ 17 Apr 22 8 Min Read

You have been seeing so many charity appeals... Have you become desensitised? Do you change the channel and forget? Have you become a War Photographer?

Arthur Labinjo-Hughes: The Kind of Death That Kills Us All

4 Jm1 43 ◦︎ 8 Dec 21 20 Min Read

Arthur’s death should serve as a bitter reminder about our collective human responsibility towards each other.

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