‘No Shakespeare’ without Islam?

Pity the Bard of Avon. William Shakespeare has long been the subject of conspiracy theories, including some emanating from the Muslim world. Libyan dictator Moammar Qaddafi claimed in 1989 that Shakespeare was an Arab whose real name was “Sheikh Zabir.” Turkish conspiracy theorist Kadir Mısıroğlu made news in 2016 by claiming that “Shakespeare was not English and his original name is ‘Sheikh Pir.’ Even more, he was a secret Muslim.”

The latest salvo from the grassy knoll of literary criticism came last month from TRT World — an Ankara-based Islamist outlet controlled by Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) — in an article by Nadia Khan declaring absurdly that “there would have been no Shakespeare were it not for Islam.”