Maajid Nawaz

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Biographical Information

"Maajid Nawaz, Director of the Quilliam Foundation – formerly on the UK national leadership for the Islamist party Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT). Maajid served HT for around 13 years, being a founding member in Denmark and Pakistan and eventually serving four years in an Egyptian prison as an Amnesty International adopted ‘prisoner of conscience’. In prison, Maajid began changing his views until finally renouncing the Islamist Ideology for traditional Islam and inclusive politics. He now engages in counter Islamist thought generating, writing, debating and media appearances. He has spoken at various forums internationally ranging from the grassroots at City Circle London, to addressing the US Senate in Washington DC and regularly comments on national and international news and newspapers. Maajid holds 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’. " Maajid was the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for the May 2015 British General Election, and remains the Parliamentary spokesman for Camden Liberal Democrats in London.

His next book, Islam and the Future of Tolerance, is a collaboration with neuroscientist Sam Harris and is due to be published in October 2015.On youth radicalisation, Nawaz participated in a panel discussion titled "Engaging Youth" at the 2010 Google Zeitgeist event hosted by Jared Cohen, the director of Google Ideas.