Maajid Nawaz Quotes

No idea is above scrutiny. No idea whatsoever. To criticize, to scrutinize and to satirize my own religion [Islam] is not Islamophobia.

There are no globalized, youth-led, grassroots social movements advocating for democratic culture across Muslim-majority societies. There is no equivalent of Al-Qaeda without the terrorism.

Does freedom of speech give the right to offend?

Once you subscribe to an ideological dogma as a solution to certain grievances, it then frames your mindset.

I believe that preventing radicalisation is far more efficient than de-radicalisation, meaning stopping someone joining is a lot easier than trying to pull someone out once they've joined.

After much soul searching I was able to renounce my past Islamist ideology, challenging everything I was once prepared to die for.

Islamism is not Islam. Islamism is the politicisation of Islam, the desire to impose a version of this ancient faith over society.

In prison I had the opportunity to debate and discuss people that had subscribed to all forms of Islamism.

We have to render Islamist extremism as unattractive as communism has become today.

I am everything I am today, because of my past.

Within our lifetime, we can remember a time when Islamism wasn't the dominant form of discourse or the aim should be to minimise the absolutists within any religious community and contain them.

The Bosnian Genocide was something that triggered my consciousness and led to an awakening politically for me.

I'm yet to discover any form of theocracy that isn't homophobic, that isn't bigoted to the out group.

Amnesty International adopted me as a prisoner of conscience, and that led to my - it touched me in a way that really led to me opening up my heart, I've called it the re-humanisation process.

When I returned to the United Kingdom, I found that I could no longer justify Islamist extremism as the antidote.

Ironically, xenophobic nationalists are utilizing the benefits of globalization.

If we look at Abdel Nasser in Egypt as an Arab leader, he was secular.

Preying on the grievances of disaffected young men is the bedrock of Islamism.

It's not always the case that Muslims have been theocrats.

I can now say that the more I learnt about Islam, the more tolerant I became.

My feminism, as intended by me, extends to empowering women to make legal choices, not to judge the legal choices they make. My fight is for rights.

In an open society, no idea can be above scrutiny, just as no people should be beneath dignity.

Hizb ut-Tahrir spearheaded the radicalization of the 1990s and cultivated an atmosphere of anger.

There are members - very, very close and dear members - of my family - I'm talking immediate family - who simply don't speak to me anymore and haven't done so for years. My marriage fell apart.

Unity in faith is theocracy unity in politics is fascism.

I say I haven't lost my religion. I've lost my ideology.

There has been a failure to grasp how competing narratives fight for the attention of angry young Muslims, and we have grossly underestimated the appeal of the jihadist brand.

We’re currently faced with two entirely different challenges – facing down Islamism and jihadism on the one hand, and advancing human rights and democratic culture on the other.

We can’t remain silent on gender rights and personal freedoms.

More violence does not necessarily equate with greater religious conviction.

Now I think that a true liberal will always prioritize individuals over the group, will always prioritize heresy over orthodoxy, will always prioritize the dissenting voice over the status quo.

No idea is above scrutiny and no people are beneath dignity.