in

• Issue 2
• Politics and Society
• Video

"Jesus is much more relevant than Muhammad for our time," shouts Jay Smith, an American evangelist, waving his hands with a small Penguin translation of Islam's holy book Quran.

The place is Hyde Park's Speakers Corner where people come every Sunday to witness live debates on colourful issues.

Another man is standing next to Smith with an Arab dress and a white turban. Holding lines from the gospels, he answers back: "No, this is nonsense and not what prophet Muhammad states in the glorious Quran."

For over 150 years, Speakers Corner has been one of London's most unique and eccentric attractions. On Sundays, anyone who has an opinion to air and anyone who is willing to listen gathers in the shadows of Marble Arch and carries on an oral tradition that has become somewhat lost to a modern culture of email and online chat rooms.

Yet in the last five years, Speakers Corner has turned into a civilisation battleground. Topics for debate are in no way preordained, but they will tend towards the more provocative subjects of politics and religion which inevitably attracts some of London's more colourful and flamboyant characters (continues below).

 

"I come here to correct the image of Islam and Muslims," says Abdullah Al-Andulasi draped in his black turban. "Too much has been covered up in the media about our religion in the wake of 9/11 and 7/7 and it is our duty to defend it and show the truth."

 

"Clashes are born out of ideas and this place demonstrates how these ideas are coming to people," he adds. "Although I know it is not going to bring in big changes, I am doing my bit at least."

Meanwhile Jay Smith, the American evangelist who arrived from Virginia 15 years ago, sees the debate as "both a clash of ideas and a clash of civilization."

"It is more a debate between Islam and Christianity as they are exclusive religions that prevail over other ideas," he said. "We are showing the aspects of these civilizations and pointing out the differences".

"The debate has become more peaceful and more sophisticated over the last ten years," Smith added. "It attracts more foreigners than the English."

Smith insists London is the most suitable place for these kinds of debates, highlighting its security and freedom. "The place is better for  Americans because it has a better gun control and much more freedom for Muslims to air their opinions."

Yet Sarah Weir, a British employee, thinks the topics remain interesting for the natives. "We, the English, love to see such debate here."

"I prefer to call it a free space for ideas and not a clash of civilization," she adds. "It is an open forum where one can really see democracy at work."

Mona Ahmed, a British Muslim wearing a blue hijab, agrees: "it is a free-wheeling verbal debate and not a clash of civilization. They come here to air their views regardless of the civilization they represent."

However you can taste the confrontation. Peter Jenkins, a regular of the Corner for five years, says the place has become a centre to attract tourists who can often be seen entering into heated discussion with locals and other visitors alike.

He regards the Speakers Corner as a "window on the ebb and flow of popular opinion, a microcosm of the popular ideas."

But probably the best definition comes from Ali Hussein, a British of Iraqi stock. "The Speakers Corner has made history through great patrons of ideas," he said. "Its most authentic and accessible experiences that any visitor to London could hope for."