Syed Neaz Ahmad
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Syed Neaz Ahmad ( bn, সৈয়দ নিয়াজ আহমেদ) is a Bangladeshi-born British academic, writer, journalist, and critic based in London. He is best known for anchoring
NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televis ...
Europe current affairs talk show ''Talking Point''.


Education

Ahmad obtained a first class BA (Honours) and a first class MA from Dhaka University during the Bangladesh freedom movement. Later he graduated with an MA in comparative linguistics from the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
to pursue higher studies and research. His main area of research and interest is comparative linguistics in Arabic and English.


Career

From September 1975 until June 2008, Ahmad was senior lecturer at
Umm al-Qura University Umm Al-Qura University (UQU; ar, جامعة أم القرى ) is a public university in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The university was established as the College of Sharia (Islamic Law) in 1949 before being joined by new colleges and renamed as Umm Al- ...
and taught English language, creative writing and applied linguistics. While at Umm al-Qura University, he authored a series of three textbooks on writing for students of engineering and Islamic architecture which are used at Middle East universities. His research has featured in many textbooks. He contributed articles, features, book reviews and weekly columns to Jeddah-based daily newspapers: ''
Saudi Gazette Saudi Gazette is an English-language daily newspaper launched in 1976 and published in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is only available online, as the print version was discontinued in 2019. It is the second English-language daily newspaper in Saud ...
'' and '' Arab News''. His weekly column, Viewpoint was published for 25 years, a record in the Middle East. He was also editor of ''Saudi Gazette'' for five years. He has also appeared on Saudi television chat shows and was often interviewed on Jeddah FM radio. After leaving his job at the Umm al-Qura University, Ahmad was editorial consultant for Saudi NGO
Muslim World League The Muslim World League (MWL; ar, رابطة العالم الاسلامي, Rabitat al-Alam al-Islami, ) is an International Islamic NGO based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia that promotes what it calls the true message of Islam by advancing moderate ...
's English Journal. Ahmad writes for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' on Muslim and Middle East issues. He has also been published in the ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
'', ''
Asian Tribune The ''Asian Tribune'' is an online newspaper. Their funding is unknown, and critics, such as the Sri Lanka Guardian, consider their journalism to be of poor quality. The publication is owned by K.T. Rajasingham, who is also a writer for the publi ...
'', ''
BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
'', ''BioScience Encyclopedia'',
UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrat ...
reports published by the United Nations, the Virginia-based Institute on Religion and Public Policy publications. He currently writes editorial articles for the ''Dhaka Daily'', ''
New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...
'' and Jeddah newspaper, ''Arab News''. His articles are carried by websites worldwide including ''Middle East Online'', ''Newspeg.com'', '' Journalisted.com'', ''World Political Report'', ''Medarabnews'' and ''US National Public Radio''. His articles have been translated into Arabic, Bulgarian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, Bengali, Hindi and Japanese. Ahmad presents ''Talking Point'', a current affairs talk show which airs every Tuesday at 8 pm on
NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televis ...
Europe. He has interviewed several prime ministers, ministers, MPs, Oscar winners, Nobel laureates and has edited academic journals. He has given over 50 talks on BBC World Service Radio on topics related to Islamic rituals, practices and education and social norms. During his stay in Saudi Arabia he was often a guest on Saudi television talk shows and Jeddah FM Radio. Since January 2000, Ahmad has been a chief executive of a resource and research organisation, Media World. He is currently working on his memoir, ''Saudi Arabia: A Holy Country That Was''. Syed Neaz Ahmad was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts FRSA in May 2019.


Personal life

Ahmad lives in London with his wife, Rina Musharraf, and four children, Faisal, Talal, Tania and Anzar.


See also

*
British Bangladeshi British Bangladeshis ( bn, বিলাতী বাংলাদেশী, Bilatī Bangladeshī) are people of Bangladeshi origin who have attained citizenship in the United Kingdom, through immigration and historical naturalisation. The term c ...
*
List of British Bangladeshis This is a list of notable British Bangladeshis ( bn, উল্লেখযোগ্য বিলাতী বাংলাদেশীদের তালিকা). This includes Bangladeshi immigrants settled or residing in the United Kingdom a ...


References


External links

*
Syed Neaz Ahmad
on ''
theguardian.com TheGuardian.com, formerly known as Guardian.co.uk and ''Guardian Unlimited'', is a British news and media website owned by the Guardian Media Group. It contains nearly all of the content of the newspapers ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'', ...
'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmad, Syed Neaz 1950s births Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Bangladeshi Muslims Bangladeshi emigrants to England Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom British male journalists British columnists Muslim writers British Asian writers 21st-century British writers The Guardian journalists British television talk show hosts Journalists from London University of Dhaka alumni Alumni of the University of London Academic staff of Umm al-Qura University