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
both feed suffice
I care not to debate which came first, Islamism or anti-Muslim bigotry; suffice to say that both feed into each other symbiotically.
adopted amnesty anger approach consider decisive feeling fighting filled prisoner seriously
I was filled with hate and anger. But during my trial, something decisive happened: Amnesty International adopted me as a prisoner of conscience, and it was an unbelievable feeling to know that there is someone fighting for you on the outside. Amnesty's 'soft' approach made me seriously consider alternatives to revenge.
age attempting convicted countries egyptian five found overthrow prisoner sentenced subjected three
By the age of 24, I found myself convicted in prison in Egypt, being blacklisted from three countries in the world for attempting to overthrow their governments, being subjected to torture in Egyptian jails, and sentenced to five years as a prisoner of conscience.
Dogma not only blinds its protagonist, but it muzzles all other opposition.
meant satire scratch
Satire is, by definition, offensive. It is meant to make us feel uncomfortable. It is meant to make us scratch our heads, think, do a double-take, and then think again.
abhorrent angry engage muslims stem tide turn
The only way we can challenge Islamism is to engage with one another. We need to make it as abhorrent as racism has become today. Only then will we stem the tide of angry young Muslims who turn to hate.
domestic entity foreign nor truth
The truth is that just as the 'West' is not a homogenous entity with one view on foreign and domestic policy, nor are Muslims.
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.
liberal potential
The only way that we can win over potential jihadists to liberal democracy is by winning the battle of ideas.
extremism fact groups minority muslim problem serious within
The fact is that there is a serious problem of extremism with minority groups within Muslim communities.
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.