Maajid Nawaz | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Nawaz in October 2018 | |
| Born | Maajid Usman Nawaz 2 November 1977 Southend-on-Sea, England |
| Occupation | Author · Founder of Quilliam |
| Education | SOAS, University of London (BA) London School of Economics (MSc) |
| Genre | Nonfiction |
| Subject | Islamism · Liberalism |
| Notable works | Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism On Blasphemy Islam and the Future of Tolerance |
| Spouse | Fellow activist
(m. 1999; div. 2008)Rachel Maggart (m. 2014) |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
Maajid Usman Nawaz (Urdu: [ˈmaːdʒɪd̪ nəwaːz]; born 2 November 1977)[1] is a British activist and former radio presenter. He was the founding chairman of the think tank Quilliam. Until January 2022, he was the host of an LBC radio show on Saturdays and Sundays. Born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, to a British Pakistani family, Nawaz is a former member of the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir. His membership led to his December 2001 arrest in Egypt, where he remained imprisoned until 2006. While there, he read books about human rights and made contact with Amnesty International who adopted him as a prisoner of conscience. He left Hizb-ut-Tahrir in 2007, renounced his Islamist past, and called for a secular Islam. Later, Nawaz co-founded Quilliam with former Islamists, including Ed Husain.[2]
In 2012, Nawaz published an autobiography, Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism, and has since become a prominent critic of Islamism in the United Kingdom. His second book, Islam and the Future of Tolerance (2015), co-authored with atheist author Sam Harris, was published in October 2015. He was the Liberal Democrats parliamentary candidate for London's Hampstead and Kilburn constituency in the 2015 United Kingdom general election.[3] Since 2020, Nawaz has been accused of promoting false claims and conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 and the 2020 United States presidential election.[4][5][6]
- ^ "The Quilliam Foundation Ltd. – Annual Return" (PDF). BizDb. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
- ^ Nawaz, Maajid (26 February 2015). "I was radicalised. So I understand how extremists exploit grievances". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ^ "UK vote could create cross-border dynasty". Al Jazeera. 15 January 2014. Archived from the original on 17 January 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Nick Cohen (4 August 2022). "How Maajid Nawaz went from hero to conspiracy theorist". The JC.
- ^ "Maajid Nawaz got Covid-19 facts wrong on the Joe Rogan podcast". Full Fact. 25 February 2022.