Maajid Nawaz
Maajid Nawaz
Maajid Usman Nawazis a British activist, author, columnist and politician. He was the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for London's Hampstead and Kilburn constituency in the 2015 general election. He is also the founding chairman of Quilliam, a counter-extremism think tank that seeks to challenge the narratives of Islamist extremists...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionActivist
confidence inherent islam level majority muslims peace religion subscribe tells text war
I can say with a level of confidence that Islam is not a religion of war, only because the majority of Muslims don't subscribe to that perspective, not because there's something inherent in the text that tells me it's a religion of peace.
bound duty heretic hesitation individual liberalism mean speech
If liberalism is to mean anything at all, it is duty bound to support without hesitation the dissenting individual over the group, the heretic over the orthodox, innovation over stagnation, and free speech over offense.
began chorus people rap songs
There were people who had sampled my voice from speeches when I was an Islamist and made them the chorus of pro-Islamist rap songs who then began talking about me as an apostate.
total
Islam will be what Muslims make of it. And it is the sum total of the interpretation that Muslims give to it.
acquainted against liberals pitfalls
Being veterans of the struggle to push back against fundamentalist Christians, American liberals are well acquainted with the pitfalls of the neoconservative flirtation with the religious-right.
clothing covers identify item open
Any item of clothing that covers the face and makes it impossible to identify individuals is open to abuse.
designed language
Language that is designed to dehumanize has consequences.
breaking feed hard hateful islamists seemed
De-radicalisation begins by breaking down the logic which once seemed unassailable and rethinking what you are fighting for and why. That is hard to do when Islamists and Islamophobes feed off each other's hateful cliches.
priority remain
Quilliam will remain a priority for me because its values shape my beliefs and outlook.
decades ideology took within
The Islamist ideology took decades to incubate within our communities, and it will take decades to debunk.
born raised
I was, by the way - I'm an Essex lad, born and raised in Essex in the U.K.
began cradle scene time
I was in prison with pretty much the who's who of the jihadist and Islamist scene of Egypt at the time, and Egypt was the cradle of Islamism for the world - it's where it began and where jihadism began as well.
choices empowering fight intended judge legal women
My feminism, as intended by me, extends to empowering women to make legal choices, not to judge the legal choices they make. My fight is for rights.
adopt public wearing
Let me make this clear: it is our duty to adopt a policy barring the wearing of niqabs in these public buildings.