On Sunday’s edition of The Big Questions Nicky Campbell signed off thus:
“We’re in Uxbridge next Sunday for a special asking ‘Are we facing the end of the world?’ So we’ll see you then, Inshallah. For now, goodbye. Have a great Sunday.”
I don’t think Nicky Campbell’s wry and robust style is quite captured in Robert Spencer’s response:
A conquered, colonized people adopts the language and practices of its conquerors.
Please withhold the “Arabic-speaking Christians say this as well” remarks. That is undoubtedly true. But Nicky Campbell is not an Arabic-speaking Christian. He is a man who, with a wry smile, knows that it behooves him to acknowledge the strong horse, even in the style of an affectionate joke.
Accusations of Islamophobia are frequently levelled at The Big Questions. In fact when I caught the closing moments of the show (having tuned in to watch Andrew Neill) I wondered whether some Muslims might find that ‘Inshallah’ a bit facetious. What I hadn’t anticipated were the quite bizarre attacks on Campbell from the Islamorealist set. Not surprisingly Breitbart was the first to pick up on the supposed scandal. Here’s Raheem Kassam’s weird take on the story – and Tom Holland’s droll response.
And finally …
