Oxford lecturer negates critical questions on Islam by convert

A trainee Church of England priest at Oxford University has accused the university of discrimination and bias, claiming that he was not allowed to ask critical questions about Islam during a seminar, reported Heat Street.

The student, Shahriar Ashrafkhorasani, 33, in a formal complaint said that a lecturer pointed at him during the seminar and said: “Everybody can ask a question except you.” 

Ashrafkhorasani, who will become a Church of England priest in July, is an Iranian-born convert from Islam. And the lecturer, Minlib Dallh, is a research fellow at Regent’s Park College in Oxford. 

A master’s student in applied theology, Ashrafkhorasani claims the lecturer refused to let him ask critical questions about his description of Islam as a religion of peace and love after Dallh discovered that he was a convert who had been persecuted in Iran.

“The lecture was at best a very poor Islamic apologetic, and at worst academically dishonest and misleading. While the government is rightly concerned about Islamophobia, there is no concern whatsoever for Christianophobia,” Ashrafkhorasani told the website.

According to The Sunday Times of London, three fellow students confirmed this version of events.