Maajid Nawaz
AYM AMBASSADOR
DELEGATE YEARS: 2008, 2009, 2010
About Maajid
Maajid Nawaz is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of Quilliam, and was formerly involved with the UK national leadership and other capacities for the global Islamist party Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) for almost 14 years. He was a founding member of HT in Denmark and Pakistan, and eventually served four years in an Egyptian prison as an Amnesty International ‘prisoner of conscience’. In prison, Nawaz gradually began changing his views until finally renouncing the Islamist Ideology in favor of traditional Islam and inclusive politics. Nawaz now engages in counter-Islamist writing, debating and media appearances. He has spoken at various fora internationally ranging from the grassroots at City Circle London to addressing the U.S. Senate in Washington DC. Nawaz regularly comments on national and international news and newspapers. Nawaz holds a BA (Hons) from SOAS in Arabic and Law and an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics (LSE), with modules in ‘Religion and Politics’ and ‘Conflict, Violence and Terrorism’.
About Quilliam
Quilliam is the world’s first counter-extremism think tank set up to address the unique challenges of citizenship, identity, and belonging in a globalised world. Quilliam stands for religious freedom, human rights, democracy and developing a Muslim identity at home in, and with, the West.
About Khudi
Khudi is a counter-extremism social movement working to promote a democratic culture in Pakistan. The movement works to challenge and undermine the arguments used by extremists and to refute the religious justifications they put forward. It was founded on the belief that a credible solution to the presence of subversive ideologies can be found through a civil society response that will challenge extremist arguments in the ideas domain.
Website
http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/
Selected Press
Maajid's articles in The Guardian
Ex Extremist Fights Jihadist Ideology (60 Minutes)
People Were Begging for Mercy (The Guardian)
Why I joined the British jihad - and why I rejected it (Sunday Times)
