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
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.
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.
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.
ideology impose seeks society
Islamism is an ideology that seeks to impose any version of Islam over society.
bind option regarded religious seek seeking
A fatwa is a religious edict. Such edicts bind only those who seek to follow the Imam issuing them but can be regarded as an option for others seeking an alternative view.
appeal attention competing failure grasp narratives
There has been a failure to grasp how competing narratives fight for the attention of angry young Muslims, and we have grossly underestimated the appeal of the jihadist brand.
cannot extremism hope online
We cannot hope to effectively counter extremism if we just focus on schools, universities and prisons: we need to take this online as well.
conveying defend forced inherently oneself
To be forced to defend oneself is an inherently undesirable position to be in. The focus shifts from ideas to the person conveying them.
incident sounds suggest
To suggest that a Muslim cannot think for himself sounds to me very much like an incident of anti-Muslim bigotry.
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.
banks civil contrary cover expect faces identify islam nor rest teachings women
Yes, women should be free to cover their faces when walking down the street. But in our schools, hospitals, airports, banks and civil institutions, it is not unreasonable - nor contrary to the teachings of Islam - to expect women to show the one thing that allows the rest of us to identify them... namely, their face.
expressing
Expressing myself through language was always something that I had had to learn to do more so than others.
broader concerns treated
Broader social concerns within Muslim communities, such as discrimination, integration or socio-economic disadvantages, should be treated distinctively and not as part of counterterrorism agenda, which has been counter-productive.
anymore close dear family fell immediate marriage members simply talking
There are members - very, very close and dear members - of my family - I'm talking immediate family - who simply don't speak to me anymore and haven't done so for years. My marriage fell apart.