Ed Husain
Encyclopedia
Mohammed Mahbub Husain is the author of The Islamist
, a book about Islamic fundamentalism
, and an account of his five years as an Islamist
activist. Husain also helped to create, with Maajid Nawaz
, the counter-extremism organisation the Quilliam Foundation
. He is currently at senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
in New York
. He writes a blog titled The Arab Street and is active on Twitter.
, in a Bangladeshi Muslim
family. A descendent of the Shah family from north west India, he is also the uncle of a highly controversial figure, Naseem/Patrick Ghani, leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain and Bangladesh. Husain's father was born in British India and his mother in East Pakistan
(now Bangladesh
), from the region of Sylhet
. His father arrived to the United Kingdom in 1961, and started a small Indian takeaway business in Limehouse
. Husain's parents followed a spiritual form of Islam based on Sufi traditions, led by Sheikh Abdul Latif Chowdhury 'Fultali Saheb'
(whom he called 'Grandpa'), a renowned Islamic spiritual guru from Sylhet
.
In his early years, Husain was brought up in Limehouse and attended a local primary school called the Sir William Borough School, and he attended a predominantly Bangladeshi and Muslim secondary school called Stepney Green School. During his years in secondary school Husain was an outsider. He rejected the Bengali gang culture present in the school, and was sometimes oppressed by other students. Husain attended the Brick Lane Mosque
in his early years (the mosque follows a movement belonging to a Sufi order). He later drifted away from his parents teachings, and, at the age of sixteen, was encouraged by a student to attend classes at the East London Mosque
, and later joined the Young Muslim Organisation (YMO) part of the Islamic Forum Europe
.
, an Islamic group which calls for the Caliphate
, in whose activities he participated for around five years. Husain attended Tower Hamlets College
in Poplar, and it was during his studies at Newham College
in 1995 when he decided to leave the group. Later he joined the Islamic Society of Britain
(ISB), he attended a family camp in Worcester
in 1996, it was there when he was influenced again with the spiritual form of Islam and later by scholars which he left the Islamist groups. He was further influenced by Sufism while visiting mosques in Turkey
, exploring Sufis of the Naqshbandi
order in Istanbul
. After returning to London, he spent most of his time learning and memorizing the Qur'an
.
Husain now strongly criticizes these groups, although Hizb ut-Tahrir categorically denied that he was ever given membership in the party. A few years later, he created an organisation together with Maajid Nawaz
and Rashad Ali called the Quilliam Foundation
, the first counter-extremism organisation to be formed by former radical Islamists. The aim of this organisation is to confront groups which promote at is alleged to be dangerous and extremist interpretations of Islam
, and in particular to confront Hizb ut-Tahrir. The Quilliam Foundation describes itself as "the world’s first counter-extremism think tank set up to address the unique challenges of citizenship, identity, and belonging in a globalised world. Quilliam stands for religious freedom, equality, human rights and democracy." He was also a visiting fellow at the think-tank Civitas.
, University of London
, where he completed an MA
in Middle Eastern Studies
. He later joined the Labour Party
. He is married to a British Bengali woman, Faye (Fatima) since August 2000. Both moved to Syria
to study Arabic
at the University of Damascus
. They later they moved to Saudi Arabia
, where Ed worked for the British Council
. During his studies he was nicknamed 'Ed' because students preferred this to Mohamed or Mahbub. He eventually returned to the U.K. and moved outside Tower Hamlets, living in Redbridge
, and then in Essex
. He now lives in New York City.
for political writing.
Husain's book has been called "highly acclaimed" and received positive reviews from The Guardian, The Times—which found it worth to run extracts from it for two weeks—and the International Herald Tribune. Other sources such as the Islamist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir
, the Salafimanhaj.com website, and the Muslim Council of Britain
have made strong criticism, alleging inaccuracy and flawed analysis by Husain. The text has been supported by former Islamists such as Maajid Nawaz and others, however.
The Daily Mail
columnist Melanie Phillips
has described Husain as a "brave Muslim". Guardian columnist Seamus Milne has called Husain a "British neocon pinup boy".
Another Guardian contributor, Denis MacShane
, calls him and the new Quilliam Foundation "precisely the kind of witness to truth about evil that the left should embrace, not reject".
Ziauddin Sardar
, the British Muslim intellectual, called Husain's "critical faculties ... conspicuously absent", arguing that his case is far more atypical than Husain claims, as "young Muslims are no more likely to join Hizb ut-Tahrir
than young Christian
s are to join the Moonies
." Sardar suspects Husain "wants everyone (in Muslim organizations) locked up, leaving the terrain open for his brand of neocons to run amok." In another of his writings in The Guardian
, he strongly attacked the feting of Husain and his colleagues arguing that "Just because you have been an inmate of a mental hospital does not mean you are an expert in clinical psychology.....these repentant members of Islamist cults are part of the problem, not the solution".
The Muslim writer Andrew Booso "salutes" Husain for spending "so much of his time and energy" on the problem of "extremism" in the Muslim community, but criticizes Husain for showing "a serious inadequacy of knowledge regarding theology and Sacred Law as expounded by the masters through the ages." He has also been criticized by the Muslim Council of Britain for saying that "Saddam Hussein effectively invited the US army to invade Iraq by playing cat-and-mouse games with United Nations arms inspectors."
He has also been criticized for declining the opportunity to challenge a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir
live on air, on BBC's World Have Your Say programme saying that he did not want to give a platform to Islamists.
Husain supports a liberal interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence, telling a journalist
Husain also questions teachings relating to an Islamic state or Caliphate
, arguing
Husain has also explained that he believes Muslim society is in need of change. In an interview with Time Out, he said:
Husain supports a two-state solution
to end the Israel-Palestinian conflict. He has condemned the suicide bombing of Israeli civilians as well as the "killing of Palestinian civilians by the Hamas-led Gazan government".
Since joining the Council on Foreign Relations in 2010, Ed has commented on U.S. policy on issues ranging from the 2011 U.S. congressional hearings on radicalization spearheaded by Rep. Peter King (R-NY) to the events of the Arab Spring
and the death of Osama bin Laden
.
On the 'Arab Spring', he has said:
In a May 2011 Op-ed in The Times
he wrote:
The Islamist
The Islamist: Why I Joined Radical Islam in Britain, What I Saw Inside and Why I Left, is a book about Ed Husain's five years as an Islamic fundamentalist. Husain became an Islamist at the age of sixteen, but rejected fundamentalist teaching and returned to normal life and his family...
, a book about Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism is a term used to describe religious ideologies seen as advocating a return to the "fundamentals" of Islam: the Quran and the Sunnah. Definitions of the term vary. According to Christine L...
, and an account of his five years as an Islamist
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
activist. Husain also helped to create, with Maajid Nawaz
Maajid Nawaz
Maajid Nawaz is a British Pakistani and former member of the Islamic political group Hizb ut-Tahrir. He holds a B.A. from London University's School of Oriental and African Studies and a M.Sc. in Political Theory from the London School of Economics...
, the counter-extremism organisation the Quilliam Foundation
Quilliam Foundation
The Quilliam is a London-based think tank that focuses on "counter-extremism", specifically Islamism, which they argue is the cause of Muslim terrorism. They lobby government and public institutions for more nuanced policies regarding Islam and the need for greater democracy in the Muslim world...
. He is currently at senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. He writes a blog titled The Arab Street and is active on Twitter.
Early life
Husain was born and brought up in the East End of LondonEast End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
, in a Bangladeshi Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
family. A descendent of the Shah family from north west India, he is also the uncle of a highly controversial figure, Naseem/Patrick Ghani, leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain and Bangladesh. Husain's father was born in British India and his mother in East Pakistan
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...
(now Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
), from the region of Sylhet
Sylhet Division
Sylhet Division , also known as Greater Sylhet or Sylhet region, is the northeastern division of Bangladesh, named after its main city, Sylhet...
. His father arrived to the United Kingdom in 1961, and started a small Indian takeaway business in Limehouse
Limehouse
Limehouse is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is on the northern bank of the River Thames opposite Rotherhithe and between Ratcliff to the west and Millwall to the east....
. Husain's parents followed a spiritual form of Islam based on Sufi traditions, led by Sheikh Abdul Latif Chowdhury 'Fultali Saheb'
Saheb Qibla Fultali
Abdul Latif Chowdhury , widely known as Saheb Qiblah Fultali, was an Islamic scholar of theology, philosopher, qira'at/tajweed teacher, murshid/pir, spiritual esotericist, philanthropist, and spiritual leader.-Background:...
(whom he called 'Grandpa'), a renowned Islamic spiritual guru from Sylhet
Sylhet District
The district of Sylhet consists 6754 mosques, 453 temples, 96 churches and four Buddhist temples.-Places of Interests:-Historical:#The Shrine of Hazrat Shah Jalal#The Shrine of Hazrat Shah Paran#Shahi Eidgah#Gour Govinda Fort#Kean Bridge...
.
In his early years, Husain was brought up in Limehouse and attended a local primary school called the Sir William Borough School, and he attended a predominantly Bangladeshi and Muslim secondary school called Stepney Green School. During his years in secondary school Husain was an outsider. He rejected the Bengali gang culture present in the school, and was sometimes oppressed by other students. Husain attended the Brick Lane Mosque
Brick Lane Mosque
Brick Lane Jamme Masjid formerly known as the London Jamme Masjid , is located in the area of Spitalfields alongside the street of Brick Lane and Fournier Street in east London, England...
in his early years (the mosque follows a movement belonging to a Sufi order). He later drifted away from his parents teachings, and, at the age of sixteen, was encouraged by a student to attend classes at the East London Mosque
East London Mosque
The East London Mosque, situated in the inner London Borough of Tower Hamlets between Whitechapel and Aldgate, serves one of the UK's largest Muslim communities. It lies near the edge of the City of London, the capital's busy business area, and just a couple of miles from the fast-expanding London...
, and later joined the Young Muslim Organisation (YMO) part of the Islamic Forum Europe
Islamic Forum Europe
The Islamic Forum of Europe is an Islamic organisation based in London with branches throughout the United Kingdom. Its website states it has branches in "most of the European countries including: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden...
.
Islamism and Sufism
A few months later he was influenced to join a circle of Hizb ut-TahrirHizb ut-Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international Sunni. pan-Islamic political organisation but keeps it open for all including shias,some of its beliefs are against sunni school of thought, whose goal is for all Muslim countries to unify as an Islamic state or caliphate ruled by Islamic law and with a caliph...
, an Islamic group which calls for the Caliphate
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
, in whose activities he participated for around five years. Husain attended Tower Hamlets College
Tower Hamlets College
Tower Hamlets College is a large further education college in Tower Hamlets, London, England. The college has four different campuses: the largest is on Poplar High Street, about 700m north of Canary Wharf; the others are at Arbour Square, Bethnal Green and the Financial Skills Academy on the East...
in Poplar, and it was during his studies at Newham College
Newham College of Further Education
Newham College of Further Education is a college of further education in the London Borough of Newham, United Kingdom. Previously called Newham Community College, it was created from the merger of the former West Ham College and East Ham College. The main site is in East Ham, with a further site ...
in 1995 when he decided to leave the group. Later he joined the Islamic Society of Britain
Islamic Society of Britain
The Islamic Society of Britain was set up in 1990 for British Muslims to promote Islamic values.Its youth wing is The Young Muslims UK .-Methods of working:The Islamic Society of Britain directs its work into the following areas:...
(ISB), he attended a family camp in Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
in 1996, it was there when he was influenced again with the spiritual form of Islam and later by scholars which he left the Islamist groups. He was further influenced by Sufism while visiting mosques in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, exploring Sufis of the Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi is one of the major Sufi spiritual orders of Sufi Islam. It is considered to be a "Potent" order.The Naqshbandi order is over 1,300 years old, and is active today...
order in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. After returning to London, he spent most of his time learning and memorizing the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
.
Husain now strongly criticizes these groups, although Hizb ut-Tahrir categorically denied that he was ever given membership in the party. A few years later, he created an organisation together with Maajid Nawaz
Maajid Nawaz
Maajid Nawaz is a British Pakistani and former member of the Islamic political group Hizb ut-Tahrir. He holds a B.A. from London University's School of Oriental and African Studies and a M.Sc. in Political Theory from the London School of Economics...
and Rashad Ali called the Quilliam Foundation
Quilliam Foundation
The Quilliam is a London-based think tank that focuses on "counter-extremism", specifically Islamism, which they argue is the cause of Muslim terrorism. They lobby government and public institutions for more nuanced policies regarding Islam and the need for greater democracy in the Muslim world...
, the first counter-extremism organisation to be formed by former radical Islamists. The aim of this organisation is to confront groups which promote at is alleged to be dangerous and extremist interpretations of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, and in particular to confront Hizb ut-Tahrir. The Quilliam Foundation describes itself as "the world’s first counter-extremism think tank set up to address the unique challenges of citizenship, identity, and belonging in a globalised world. Quilliam stands for religious freedom, equality, human rights and democracy." He was also a visiting fellow at the think-tank Civitas.
Personal life
Husain studied at the School of Oriental and African StudiesSchool of Oriental and African Studies
The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...
, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, where he completed an MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in Middle Eastern Studies
Middle Eastern studies
Middle Eastern studies is a name given to a number of academic programs associated with the study of the history, culture, politics, economies, and geography of the Middle East, an area that is generally interpreted to cover a range of nations extending from North Africa in the west to the Chinese...
. He later joined the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. He is married to a British Bengali woman, Faye (Fatima) since August 2000. Both moved to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
to study Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
at the University of Damascus
University of Damascus
The University of Damascus is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus and has campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 through the merger of the School of Medicine and the Institute of Law , also making it the oldest university in modern-day Syria...
. They later they moved to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, where Ed worked for the British Council
British Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
. During his studies he was nicknamed 'Ed' because students preferred this to Mohamed or Mahbub. He eventually returned to the U.K. and moved outside Tower Hamlets, living in Redbridge
Redbridge, London
Redbridge is a district of Ilford in the London Borough of Redbridge in north-east London. It is home to Redbridge Institute of Adult Education and Redbridge Football Club.-Etymology:...
, and then in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. He now lives in New York City.
The Islamist
In The Islamist, Husain describes how he became an Islamic fundamentalist at the age of 16. He explains that,Five years later, after much emotional turmoil, I rejected fundamentalist teachings and returned to normal life and my family.Husain says that his book explains
the appeal of extremist thought, how fanatics penetrate Muslim communities and the truth behind their agenda of subverting the West and moderate Islam.The book was shortlisted for the 2008 Orwell Prize
Orwell Prize
The Orwell Prize used to be regarded as the pre-eminent British prize for political writing.Three prizes are awarded each year: one for a book, one for journalism and another for blogging...
for political writing.
Husain's book has been called "highly acclaimed" and received positive reviews from The Guardian, The Times—which found it worth to run extracts from it for two weeks—and the International Herald Tribune. Other sources such as the Islamist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international Sunni. pan-Islamic political organisation but keeps it open for all including shias,some of its beliefs are against sunni school of thought, whose goal is for all Muslim countries to unify as an Islamic state or caliphate ruled by Islamic law and with a caliph...
, the Salafimanhaj.com website, and the Muslim Council of Britain
Muslim Council of Britain
The Muslim Council of Britain is a self-appointed umbrella body for national, regional, local and specialist organisations and institutions from different ethnic and sectarian backgrounds within British Islamic society. It was established in 1997 to help Muslims, to increase education about the...
have made strong criticism, alleging inaccuracy and flawed analysis by Husain. The text has been supported by former Islamists such as Maajid Nawaz and others, however.
The Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
columnist Melanie Phillips
Melanie Phillips
Melanie Phillips is a British journalist and author. She began her career on the left of the political spectrum, writing for such publications as The Guardian and New Statesman. In the 1990s she moved to the right, and she now writes for the Daily Mail newspaper, covering political and social...
has described Husain as a "brave Muslim". Guardian columnist Seamus Milne has called Husain a "British neocon pinup boy".
Another Guardian contributor, Denis MacShane
Denis MacShane
Denis MacShane is a British politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Rotherham since the 1994 by-election and served as the Minister for Europe from 2002 until 2005, as well as being a current Policy Council member for Labour Friends of Israel.On 14 October 2010, it was announced...
, calls him and the new Quilliam Foundation "precisely the kind of witness to truth about evil that the left should embrace, not reject".
Ziauddin Sardar
Ziauddin Sardar
Ziauddin Sardar is a London-based scholar, writer and cultural-critic who specialises in Muslim thought, the future of Islam, futures studies and science and cultural relations...
, the British Muslim intellectual, called Husain's "critical faculties ... conspicuously absent", arguing that his case is far more atypical than Husain claims, as "young Muslims are no more likely to join Hizb ut-Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international Sunni. pan-Islamic political organisation but keeps it open for all including shias,some of its beliefs are against sunni school of thought, whose goal is for all Muslim countries to unify as an Islamic state or caliphate ruled by Islamic law and with a caliph...
than young Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s are to join the Moonies
Moonies
Moonie is a nickname sometimes used to refer to members of the Unification Church. This is derived from the name of the church's founder Sun Myung Moon, and was first used in 1974 by the American media. Church members have used the word "Moonie", including Sun Myung Moon, President of the...
." Sardar suspects Husain "wants everyone (in Muslim organizations) locked up, leaving the terrain open for his brand of neocons to run amok." In another of his writings in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, he strongly attacked the feting of Husain and his colleagues arguing that "Just because you have been an inmate of a mental hospital does not mean you are an expert in clinical psychology.....these repentant members of Islamist cults are part of the problem, not the solution".
The Muslim writer Andrew Booso "salutes" Husain for spending "so much of his time and energy" on the problem of "extremism" in the Muslim community, but criticizes Husain for showing "a serious inadequacy of knowledge regarding theology and Sacred Law as expounded by the masters through the ages." He has also been criticized by the Muslim Council of Britain for saying that "Saddam Hussein effectively invited the US army to invade Iraq by playing cat-and-mouse games with United Nations arms inspectors."
He has also been criticized for declining the opportunity to challenge a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international Sunni. pan-Islamic political organisation but keeps it open for all including shias,some of its beliefs are against sunni school of thought, whose goal is for all Muslim countries to unify as an Islamic state or caliphate ruled by Islamic law and with a caliph...
live on air, on BBC's World Have Your Say programme saying that he did not want to give a platform to Islamists.
Views
Husain's views have been very controversial. His book "has caused a ruckus in the newspapers, on television, on talks shows and in blogs" in Britain. He has been called a "traitor" by some Muslims, criticized by some on the left, while "others, mostly on the right, have hailed him as brave."Husain supports a liberal interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence, telling a journalist
In traditional circles, Muslim women are not allowed to marry non-Muslim men...But in a pluralistic world in 2007, where non-Muslim men and Muslim women are marrying, you can't say, 'You can’t do that.'
Husain also questions teachings relating to an Islamic state or Caliphate
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
, arguing
... a dawlah ([a state] not 'the' state) can and should preserve and protect the religion. But 'the state' is not a ruknFive Pillars of IslamThe Pillars of Islam are basic concepts and duties for accepting the religion for the Muslims.The Shi'i and Sunni both agree on the essential details for the performance of these acts, but the Shi'a do not refer to them by the same name .-Pillars of Shia:According to Shia Islam, the...
[pillar] of the deen (religion i.e. Islam) and without it the deen is not lost. And individual can remain a firm believer, a mutadayyin, without the imamImamAn imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
and the jama'ah.
Husain has also explained that he believes Muslim society is in need of change. In an interview with Time Out, he said:
As I left extremism I realised that if you are born here and grow up here, then you belong here. The Islam that was preached 2,000 years ago isn’t going to work here in modern London. Muslims need to alter their lifestyles to a Western lifestyle. To criticise is not Islamaphobic. It's about opposing certain ideas.
Husain supports a two-state solution
Two-state solution
The two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the consensus solution that is currently under discussion by the key parties to the conflict, most recently at the Annapolis Conference in November 2007...
to end the Israel-Palestinian conflict. He has condemned the suicide bombing of Israeli civilians as well as the "killing of Palestinian civilians by the Hamas-led Gazan government".
Since joining the Council on Foreign Relations in 2010, Ed has commented on U.S. policy on issues ranging from the 2011 U.S. congressional hearings on radicalization spearheaded by Rep. Peter King (R-NY) to the events of the Arab Spring
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
and the death of Osama bin Laden
Death of Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden, then head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1 a.m. local time by a United States special forces military unit....
.
On the 'Arab Spring', he has said:
The Arab world is no longer across the oceans. It is also on our streets here. Millions of American citizens are of Arab descent. Millions more are here as workers and students. What happens over there matters here. Can America make these people proud and empower them against Muslim extremists by changing the American story and making us all safer? Yes, it can. It must.
In a May 2011 Op-ed in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
he wrote:
Without doubt, the US was right to remove bin Laden, but it is wrong to think that his death will weaken al-Qaeda. Yes, a colossal psychological blow has been dealt, but al-Qaeda is no longer a mere organisation, but a global brand, an idea, a philosophy that now has its first Saudi martyr from the holy lands of Islam.
See also
- The IslamistThe IslamistThe Islamist: Why I Joined Radical Islam in Britain, What I Saw Inside and Why I Left, is a book about Ed Husain's five years as an Islamic fundamentalist. Husain became an Islamist at the age of sixteen, but rejected fundamentalist teaching and returned to normal life and his family...
- IslamismIslamismIslamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
- ExtremismExtremismExtremism is any ideology or political act far outside the perceived political center of a society; or otherwise claimed to violate common moral standards...
- East London MosqueEast London MosqueThe East London Mosque, situated in the inner London Borough of Tower Hamlets between Whitechapel and Aldgate, serves one of the UK's largest Muslim communities. It lies near the edge of the City of London, the capital's busy business area, and just a couple of miles from the fast-expanding London...
- Brick Lane MosqueBrick Lane MosqueBrick Lane Jamme Masjid formerly known as the London Jamme Masjid , is located in the area of Spitalfields alongside the street of Brick Lane and Fournier Street in east London, England...
- Hizb ut-TahrirHizb ut-TahrirHizb ut-Tahrir is an international Sunni. pan-Islamic political organisation but keeps it open for all including shias,some of its beliefs are against sunni school of thought, whose goal is for all Muslim countries to unify as an Islamic state or caliphate ruled by Islamic law and with a caliph...
- Council on Foreign RelationsCouncil on Foreign RelationsThe Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
- List of British Bangladeshis
External links
- Bio page at CFR.org
- The Islamist - Penguin Books
- The Quilliam Foundation website
- Hizb ut-Tahrir website
- BBC World Have Your Say with Ed Husain
- The Charade of Ed Husain
- CNN Interview with Ed Husain (Video)
- All mod cons
- CNN Interview Transcripts
- To lionise former extremists feeds anti-Muslim prejudice
- "The 'Islamist' bogeyman" by Taji Mustafa, executive committee of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain
- Satire of Ed Husain
- Does Saudi Arabia Preach Intolerance in the UK?
- The Quilliam take on Islam: fascinating but flawed
- Promotion of clients and stooges will get us nowhere
- ED HUSAIN’S RESPONSE TO MUSLIM CONCERNS