Radical: My Journey Out Of Islamist Extremism by Maajid Nawaz (PDF)

Description

Maajid Nawaz spent his teenage years listening to American hip-hop and learning about the radical Islamist movement spreading throughout Europe and Asia in the 1980s and 90s. At 16, he was already a ranking member in Hizb ut-Tahrir, a London-based Islamist group. He quickly rose through the ranks to become a top recruiter, a charismatic spokesman for the cause of uniting Islam’s political power across the world. Nawaz was setting up satellite groups in Pakistan, Denmark, and Egypt when he was rounded up in the aftermath of 9/11 along with many other radical Muslims. He was sent to an Egyptian prison where he was, fortuitously, jailed along with the assassins of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. The 20 years in prison had changed the assassins’ views on Islam and violence; Maajid went into prison preaching to them about the Islamist cause, but the lessons ended up going the other way. He came out of prison four years later completely changed, convinced that his entire belief system had been wrong, and determined to do something about it. He met with activists and heads of state, built a network, and started a foundation, Quilliam, to combat the rising Islamist tide in Europe and elsewhere, using his intimate knowledge of recruitment tactics in order to reverse extremism and persuade Muslims that the ‘narrative’ used to recruit them (that the West is evil and the cause of all of Muslim suffering), is false. Radical, first published in the UK, is a fascinating and important look into one man’s journey out of extremism and into something else entirely.This U.S. edition contains a “Preface for US readers” and a new, updated epilogue.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “Riveting” – Christian Science Monitor“Maajid Nawaz’s Radical is fascinating, and essential if you want to understand in a visceral way why some young Muslims embrace extremist ideology. Nawaz went from being a hip-hop loving youngster to a radical Islamist before finally renouncing extremism. He now works to prevent others from choosing such a dangerous path and his is a voice I urge you to hear.” – Anderson Cooper”A British Muslim reveals a harrowing tale of violence, imprisonment and torture…A lively and convincing antidote to hatred.” – Kirkus Reviews“This is a book for our times. It should be read by anyone who wants to understand how the extremism that stalks our world is created and how it can be overcome. It could only be written by someone who has lived this story. And Maajid has.” – Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair”Maajid Nawaz has an extraordinary personal story about his journey out of Islamist extremism which reads like a novel. It’s a coming of age story for our post-9/11 world that is pacy, well written and thoughtful.” – Peter Bergen, author of Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden from 9/11 to Abbottabad “[Maajid] brings the insight of an insider to Radical – an absorbing story of the making and unmaking of a young, radicalized Muslim. The book is candid, dynamic, important…and brave.” – Lesley Stahl, 60 Minutes”One of the essential books to understanding the path to radicalism…[it] will fill one with hope that others can find their way back as Maajid Nawaz relates so movingly.” – Tina Brown, editor-in-chief of Newsweek and The Daily Beast “Everyone should read it” – Nicola Jeal, Saturday editor, The Times of London”This book is more powerful than America’s drone attacks because it helps kill the ideas that inspire terrorists. Ultimately, it is by defeating the extremists’ worldview that we will make our world safer. Maajid’s compelling story from hatred to hope shows us how this can be done’ –Ed Husain, author of The Islamist”This book is the account of a redemptive journey through innocence, bigotry, hardline radicalism and beyond to a passionate advocacy of human rights and all that this can mean … I was moved beyond measure.’ –Kate Allen, Director, Amnesty International UK”Imagine Homeland crossed with Skins, and you will get some idea of what a gripping, revelatory book this is. Unputdownable.” – Tom Holland, author of In the Shadow of the Sword“One of the most compelling descriptions of radical and political immersion of recent times” – Mail on Sunday (UK) About the Author Maajid Nawaz is the co-founder of Quilliam. He holds a BA in Arabic and Law and an MSc in Political Theory. Maajid has addressed the U.S. Senate, been interviewed by 60 Minutes and the New York Times, and has written for The London Times, The Wall Street Journal, and others.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Nawaz chronicles his journey from a not so religious youth to an islamist muslim to eventually a reformer. The book starts out with him as a normal youth and the various social changes that were occuring in the U.K. that eventually led him to become more observant and turn to islamism. I felt the journey to islamism and his career as an islamist leading to his arrest and imprisonment were very detailed and the most compelling part of the book. He provides you a detailed look into a world most people would never have heard of and closely details the working of an extremely powerful organization that has the power and actively seeks to take over entire governments.The second half of the book that covered his de-radicalization I felt was unevenly executed and lacked many details, to the point that it was difficult at times to figure out what was going on. For example, in interviews he often discusses the influence meeting former terrorists who were now de-radicalized had on him but he fails to go into any details what they said to him at all but merely mentions that they taught him everything he had thought was wrong.After he is released, the book is even more uneven and reads more like an outline of what he did and how he founded quillium, as opposed to a story about what he went through and what his family’s reactions were etc.Overall it is a very compelling story by an extremely interesting and inspirational figure, but the second half of the book suffers from uneven writing and lack of detail.

⭐Great story, really shares his life events and how they shaped his views and beliefs.

⭐Those living in countries such as the U.S., U.K. tend to believe our world views and values, are shared by the majority of people and nations outside of our own boundaries. This book provides deep insight into how values are adopted as children and young adults, and how often we do not seek to challenge those views, based on personal perceptions and world views that are heavily influenced by our own maturity, life experiences, knowledge, resiliency from childhood and throughout the various cycles of adulthood. We maybe so entrenched in our views, that it takes a large wakeup call to shake us out of our discomfort to see things differently. Thus, well entrenched prejudices (race, religion, culture, etc.) can lead to faulty judgment, actions and justification of actions, which are often rewarded and further entrenched by group-think, especially those tending to reside on the far “left” or “right” that leave little flexibility for the “rights” of others, especially if it tends to differ from one’s own comfort zone.Inequality and/or feelings of superiority are not created nor fed by happenstance, by rather by family, religion, social, economic, education and culture causes, and age (teen and adulthood) does not merely dictate personal maturity nor resilience . Nawaz takes the reader on a fascinating journey of a child becoming a man and the multiple stages of ‘adulthood’ that one walks through in thought processes, values, understanding, compassion, empathy and recognizing that even long held beliefs may no longer serve one well and/or may be ineffective or damaging to one’s personal growth as emotionally intelligent and responsible human being.

⭐Nawaz paints for us a developmental arc from troubled and bullied minority youth in the West, to a politically active Islamist who fully anchored his personal identity in the building of a hoped-for international Islamist theocracy, to a liberal activist who now works to address those in both of the previous camps. The mental processes that led a youth seeking an identity to find it in the darker recesses of the Qur’an and its associated political movements were fascinating. Just as interesting was Nawaz’s later long, honest look in the mirror that led him back to embracing liberal values and reaching out to allies of different stripes than his own, to help Islam and Islamic culture adapt to a modern era of personal freedom. Despite the challenges Muslims face in modernity, such as the bullying Nawaz faced in his youth in England, Nawaz calls for civility, reason, and mutual respect. Especially interesting are Nawaz’s experiences of being incarcerated as a terrorist in an Egyptian prison under a regime that the West allied itself with under the premise of “the enemy of my enemy,” and how his thought was shaped by his experiences there. This book helps Western minds understand how someone becomes an extremist and how one can come back from it.

⭐A fascinating autobiographical account of a young English man growing up in the 80s and 90s, becoming radicalized through his love for hip-hop, then joining an Islamist group and finally withdrawing. While he may not be typical of all young people growing up in Western countries who join radical Islamist movements, Nawaz provides useful insights into how this young man and his friends became enmeshed in the movement. Nawaz is clear-eyed and self-critical and he provides a good explanation of what attracted him to Islamism and what eventually repelled him. The book constitutes a valuable antidote to some of the simplistic explanations of Islamic radicalization. It reminds me a bit of the rise of Students for Democratic Society (SDS) and the Weathermen in the U.S. during the 1960s, although the latter movements did not arise so much out of exclusion and prejudice as did Islamism in Europe and the U.S. What links them was a frustrated desire to engage with a political system that seemed incapable of hearing their ideas and unable to understand the roots of revolutionary movements in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

⭐Amazing read and a brilliant book. Took an awful lot longer than expected to arrive. Perhaps due to overseas shipping but was still a great read.

⭐good

⭐From confused B-boy in England to tortured Islamist in Egyptian prison to confident spokesman for Liberal Democracy worldwide, Maajid Nawaz is a gifted writer who describes his personal odyssey in fascinating detail. Along the way, Nawaz’s thoughtful deconstruction of radical Islamism provides the reader with theoretical insight — and practical basis for counterattack.

⭐This was a fascinating read. I picked the book up and could not put it down.It gives a great insight into the motivations of Jihadists and how people even in today’s world can become radicalized, and more importantly, the steps that can be taken to reverse that.

⭐Amazing personal story, well argued and thought-provoking analysis as well as history lesson that sets one on the path to read and research more on the topic and beyond. Great prose as well. Would highly recommend for helping to understand involvement in violence of any religious flavor and also many other kinds.

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