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
expect mainstream society
Muslim communities themselves, as they expect mainstream society to stand down racists, must do more to also stand down the Islamist extremists.
against extremism prejudice pretend tackle
The way to tackle Muslimphobia is to tackle prejudice against Muslims. What it is not is to pretend that Islamist extremism does not exist.
assassins case former given life president prison
I was in prison with the assassins of the former president of Egypt, Anwar Sadat, who was killed in 1981. Those who weren't executed in that case were given life sentences, and two of those were with me in prison.
bigoted demands dominate extremism groups increase intolerant seeking society
Non-violent extremism is essentially the increase of intolerant and bigoted demands made by groups seeking to dominate society.
born imprisoned muslim previous religion torture understanding witnessed
I am a Muslim. I am born to Muslim parents. I have a Muslim son. I have been imprisoned and witnessed torture for my previous understanding of my religion.
consistent enforcing ignorant realised totally
I realised that the idea of enforcing sharia is not consistent with Islam as it's been practised from the beginning. In other words, Islam has always been secular, and I had been totally ignorant of the fact.
london moved teenage tower
During my teenage years as an Islamist recruiter, I moved to live in self-contained communities in the London boroughs of Newham and Tower Hamlets.
above beneath people society
In an open society, no idea can be above scrutiny, just as no people should be beneath dignity.
among societies
Societies should be judged by how they treat the weakest among them.
Academic institutions in Britain have been infiltrated for years by dangerous theocratic fantasists. I should know: I was one of them.
All my friends were non-Muslims. I actually knew very little about Islam - like, very little.
broaden delighted democrats liberal party positive supported work
The positive is I'm delighted at the way the Liberal Democrats as a party have supported me and the way in which the work I'm doing, through the Liberal Democrats, has abled to broaden some of the work I work on.
deny extremist
What we cannot deny is that there's an association between exclusion, segregation, non-violent extremist thinking, and jihadism.
break british course muslim received relatively society
What's my audience? British society. Am I received relatively well? Yes. Is there within that... if you break it down, challenges with Muslim communities? Of course there are.