maajid nawaz

Maajid Usman Nawaz was born on November 2, 1977, in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, to a British Pakistani family. He attended Westcliff High School for Boys and later studied Law and Arabic at SOAS, University of London, and earned a Master’s degree in Political Theory from the London School of Economics. During his youth, Nawaz joined the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, influenced by experiences with racism. He rapidly ascended within the organization, becoming a national speaker and international recruiter, traveling to Pakistan and Denmark to promote its ideology.

His activism with Hizb ut-Tahrir led to his arrest in Egypt in December 2001, where he was imprisoned for five years. During this period, he was adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, which assisted in his eventual return to London. While incarcerated, interactions with a diverse group of prisoners, including jihadists, Islamic scholars, and liberal political figures, coupled with reading George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm,’ prompted a profound change in his ideological perspective. By 2007, Nawaz had renounced his Islamist past and embraced a secular liberal viewpoint.

Following his release, Nawaz co-founded Quilliam, a counter-extremism think tank, with other former Islamists in 2008. He became a significant voice against Islamism in the United Kingdom, publishing his autobiography, “Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism,” in 2012. He further co-authored “Islam and the Future of Tolerance” with Sam Harris in 2015. Nawaz played a role in the departure of Tommy Robinson from the English Defence League in 2013, demonstrating his commitment to combating all forms of extremism. He also served as a Liberal Democrats parliamentary candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn in the 2015 UK general election and hosted an LBC radio show until January 2022. Across his career, Nawaz has advised governments and delivered talks on counter-radicalization strategies, emphasizing the importance of human rights and civil liberties.