Make them LAUGH!

The surprising—and winning—strategy to making persuasive points in any argument

- Mehdi Hasan

There is no bigger current affairs show on British television than the BBC’s Question Time. For more than 40 years, millions have tuned in week after week to watch the country’s leading politicians and pundits argue and debate the news in front of a live studio audience. In January 2015, I was invited to join the Question Time panel. It was the week after the Charlie Hebdo terror attack, in which two French Muslim brothers had murdered 12 people at the offices of the satirical newspaper in Paris. In the weeks and months running up to the attack, offensive and racist cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published by Charlie Hebdo had caused outrage and protests across Muslim-majority countries.

I knew the show’s producers were keen to have a Muslim voice on the panel—and, to be honest, I was keen to be that voice. In fact, I was beyond grateful to have access to such a huge media platform from which to try and push back against the usual Islamophobia that is unleashed in the wake of every ISIS- or al-Qaeda–linked terror attack. But I knew it wouldn’t be easy, and I knew I had to do it with a light touch.

That night, the opening question from the audience was about the violence in Paris and the Charlie Hebdo cartoons: “Free speech is good, but where do you draw the line before it becomes harmful and offensive?” And, for the opening response, host David Dimbleby handed the stage over to me.

I began by making clear that I was appalled—by the massacre in Paris, by homicidal maniacs abusing my religion to justify their crimes.