Kalim Siddiqui

Kalim Siddiqui (15 September 1931 - 18 April 1996) was a Pakistani British writer and Islamic activist. He gained notability for his controversial support of the fatwa issued by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini, which called for the assassination of British author Sir Salman Rushdie amidst the Satanic Verses controversy.

Early life Siddiqui was born in the village of Dondi Lohara, CP, British India on 15 September 1931. He became increasing involved in politics as a teenager, when during a small demonstration close to his home town a bullet fired by a British soldier barely missed him, killing the youth behind him. After the creation of the state of Pakistan he briefly joined the Khilafat Movement in Karachi and became the editor of its newspaper, The Independent Leader. Along with other members of the movement, he moved to London in the early 1950s. In the mid 1960s he put himself through college and university, taking a degree in Economics and then, in 1972, a PhD in International Relations from University College, London. He founded the Muslim Institute for Research and Planning in London in 1972 and campaigned through his writings for political Islam.

Supporting Iran He publicly declared his support for the Islamic Revolution in Iran of 1979, and was later a defender of Ayatullah Khomeini's fatwa against Salman Rushdie.

Works Islamic development plan, Karachi: Umma Publishing House, 1970 Conflict, Crisis and War in Pakistan, London: Macmillan and New York, 1972 Towards a new destiny, London: Distributed by Newsmedia Book Service, 1974 The functions of international conflict : a socio-economic study of Pakistan, Karachi: The Royal Book Company, 1975 The state of the Muslim world today, London: Open Press in association with the Muslim Institute, 1980 Beyond the Muslim nation-states, London: Open Press Limited : Muslim Institute, 1980 The Islamic revolution : achievements, obstacles & goals, Open Press in association with the Muslim Institute, 1980 Political thought and behaviour of Muslims under colonialism, London: Muslim Institute, 1986 Issues in the Islamic Movement, London: Open Press, 1987 The implications of the Rushdie affair for Muslims in Britain, London : Muslim Institute, 1989