Lannan Foundation

Tariq Ali was born in Lahore, now in Pakistan, then part of British-ruled India, in 1944. While at Punjab University, Ali organized public demonstrations against Pakistan’s military dictatorship, and was consequently banned from participating in student politics.

At the urging of his uncle, a member of the Pakistani Military Intelligence, Ali was sent abroad to continue his studies as his radicalism put him at risk of imprisonment. In Britain he studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Exeter College, Oxford. During the height of the Vietnam War, Ali earned a national reputation through debates with figures like Henry Kissinger.

In recent years Ali has turned his attention to writing books, newspaper articles, and commentaries on social and political matters.  His “Islam Quintet” series of historical novels begins with Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree and portrays Islamic civilization in a way that he says, “runs counter to the standard views.”

His most recent book, The Clash of Fundalmentalism:  Crusades, Jihad, and Modernity deals with the political history of Islam as it relates to the events of September 11, 2001.