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The Imam of Peace

The story of John Butt, the hippy turned Islamic scholar who has made it his life's work to spread a message of peace and tolerance in the tribal regions that straddle Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Back in the 1960s, a young English hippy arrived in Kabul, looking for a good time and cheap drugs. Instead he found there a tribal culture that entranced him.

Forty years on, he's still there - now a Muslim, a trained Imam, a journalist, a Pashtu speaker and a man with a mission.

His name is John Mohammed Butt and he's made it his life's work to spread a message of peace and tolerance in the tribal regions that straddle Afghanistan and Pakistan.

But as reporter Nadene Ghouri discovers in this week's Assignment, that message has made him a target for militants.

Available now

25 minutes

Last on

Sat 5 Mar 2011 06:05GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 3 Mar 2011 09:05GMT
  • Thu 3 Mar 2011 12:05GMT
  • Thu 3 Mar 2011 15:05GMT
  • Thu 3 Mar 2011 20:05GMT
  • Fri 4 Mar 2011 01:05GMT
  • Sat 5 Mar 2011 06:05GMT

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