User:Quilliam Foundation/sandbox

Maajid Nawaz
Maajid Nawaz is Co-Founder and Chairman of Quilliam – a globally active think tank focusing on matters of Integration, Citizenship & Identity, Religious Freedom, Extremism and Immigration - and Founder of Khudi, a Pakistan based social movement campaigning to entrench democratic culture among the nation’s youth.

Human Rights and a respect for individual liberty are matters close to Maajid’s heart. His work is informed by years spent in his youth as a leadership member of a global Islamist group, and his gradual transformation towards liberal democratic values. Having served four years as an Amnesty International adopted ‘prisoner of conscience’ in Egypt, Maajid is now a leading critic of his former Islamist ideological dogma, while remaining a Muslim. He now encourages inclusive citizenship-based participation of Muslims in the West, while seeking to synergize a respect for human rights with the civic liberal imperative to defend those in danger of being stigmatized by extremists of all stripes due to their personal choices. Maajid has become a prominent counter-extremism consultant and a regular writer, debater and public commentator. In this regard, he has been called upon by heads of state, statesmen and international bodies for his professional opinion.

Maajid has spoken from various platforms internationally, ranging from universities across Pakistan to addressing the US Senate in Washington DC. He has been profiled by CBS 60 minutes, Larry King Live, BBC Newsnight, has spoken at the TED conference, and is regularly interviewed by prominent journalists across the world. His work is published by The London Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, India Times, Dawn Pakistan, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Guardian, and The New Statesman among many others.

As a British-Pakistani born in Essex, Maajid speaks English, Arabic and Urdu, and holds a BA (Hons) from SOAS in Arabic and Law and an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics (LSE). He is personally interested in Arabic grammar & morphology, Muslim Medieval jurisprudence, scholastics and poetry, and emerging modern political trends. Maajid is a proud father to his young son.

Maajid Nawaz’s autobiographical account of his life story ‘RADICAL’ is available on Amazon and most major bookstores. . He can be followed and contacted on Twitter: @maajidnawaz