Maajid nawaz
“If there is a holy grail, it is embracing uncertainty, and not knowing what happens after death.”
Maajid Nawaz is an author, speaker, liberal activist and counter-extremism campaigner. A British-Pakistani born in Essex, Maajid speaks English, Arabic and Urdu, holds a BA in Arabic and Law and an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics (LSE).
A Founding Chairman of Quilliam – a global counter-extremism organization focused on religious freedom, integration, citizenship and identity, Nawaz is a frequent contributor to The Daily Beast, Jewish News UK and is a LBC Radio host, and has published columns in The Guardian, London Times, New York Times and Wall Street Journal. A Liberal Democrat candidate for Parliament in the British General Election in 2015, he has appeared on Larry King Live, BBC Hard Talk, 60 Minutes and Real Time with Bill Maher.
Nawaz is the author of the autobiographical RADICAL (2012) and co-author of Islam and the Future of Tolerance (2015) with prominent neuroscientist Sam Harris.
“The fear of death led me into the darkest of places. To my young, angry teenage mind, martyrdom was a one-way ticket to paradise.”