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
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.
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.
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.
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.
arrive bloody committed descend enforce invariably organize power seek worldly
The only certainty we have is that those who are certain of a way to arrive at worldly salvation, are committed enough to organize around this, and seek power to enforce it, will invariably descend into a bloody totalitarian fascism.
case
Traditionally, open-minded secular liberal rationalists have not made a case for tolerance.
entirely homes islamic male muslim possible single society visited
As I went between the Islamic Society in my college and university, the mosque, the halal takeaway, and visited the homes of my male Muslim friends, it was entirely possible for me to get through my day without interacting in any meaningful way with a single non-Muslim.
happened ideology
Back when I was an Islamist, I thought our ideology was like communism - and I still do. That makes me optimistic. Because what happened to communism? It was discredited as an idea. It lost.
continued extremism increases information online prejudices seeking succumb
As people's opportunities to succumb to confirmation bias increases online - only seeking out information that confirms their prejudices - ignorance, extremism and close-mindedness have continued to rise unabated.
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.
clothing covers identify item open
Any item of clothing that covers the face and makes it impossible to identify individuals is open to abuse.