Raficq Abdulla is a South African born Muslim. He has written and presented numerous radio programs about Islam for the BBC, including a series of talks on the Prophet Muhammad and the Four Caliphs, and programs on the life and work of Jalaluddin Rumi. He has written award-winning screenplays for Channel 4 in Britain, poetry and articles for a range of journals, and he is a frequent book reviewer. Raficq Abdulla describes himself as a secular Muslim and a lover of the arts, particularly music and poetry. He is the author of Words of Paradise, a collection of new interpretations of poems by Rumi and has gained popularity as an accomplished public speaker and performer of his own poetry.