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
liberal upbringing
My upbringing was completely liberal from the start. In fact, I didn't even have a Muslim identity.
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.
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.
liberal potential
The only way that we can win over potential jihadists to liberal democracy is by winning the battle of ideas.
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.
born raised
I was, by the way - I'm an Essex lad, born and raised in Essex in the U.K.
designed language
Language that is designed to dehumanize has consequences.
lost religion
I say I haven't lost my religion. I've lost my ideology.
encourage order
I think I would encourage leaders to start working with communities in order to inoculate angry, young teenagers.
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.
damaging joined left people society
Wherever I've been, I've left people who joined Hizb ut-Tahrir. I have to make amends. What I did was damaging to British society and the world at large.
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.
held
I was held in the Mazra Tora Prison for my role as leader of the pan-Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir in Alexandria.
aftermath imprisoned people september state
I was imprisoned in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks, when Egypt's state security was rounding people up in unprecedented numbers.