steven ray orr

More from Susanna Rustin’s interview with Wadah Khanfar:

He talks about journalism with a joy and sincerity wonderful to hear for a fellow journalist toiling away in an organisation battling multimillion-pound losses in a British media landscape poisoned by the cynicism of some of its owners. Since I don’t want to think he’s not telling the truth, I believe him.

Rustin is a poet and, for this piece at least, Khanfar is her subject.

He describes the mosque as a crucial part of village life. “Yes, I am a practising Muslim and I go to mosque whenever I have time – not every day, as you see. For me, Islam is a moral reference point, a source of inspiration to work collectively with people, to love people and to help them, to concentrate on universal values of mercy, co-operation and tolerance.”

She is one of those journalists who deftly pulls apart a person through an interview and is able to piece them back together better than they were before. Susanna Rustin is a writer who makes me want to write. From me, there is no higher praise.

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