Quotes from book
Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism

Maajid Nawaz

Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism is a 2012 memoir by the British activist and former Islamist Maajid Nawaz. First published in the UK, the book describes Nawaz's journey "from Muslim extremist to taking tea at Number 10".. The US edition contains a preface for US readers and a new, updated epilogue.Radical was described by The Daily Telegraph as a "horrifying reflection on modern Britain". It was entered for the 2013 Orwell Prize for political writing of outstanding quality.The book has been translated into Portuguese, and published by Texto Publishers. In 2015, the author announced on Twitter that the book was being translated into Arabic.

Maajid Nawaz photo

“As he continued to talk to me, I realized one of the fundamental points about Islamism that so many people fail to understand. The way Osman was speaking wasn’t in the orthodox, religious way of the imam with a stick; he was talking about politics, about events that were happening now. That’s crucial to understanding what Islamism is all about: it isn’t a religious movement with political consequences, it is a political movement with religious consequences.”

Maajid Nawaz book Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism

Source: Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism (2012), p. 62

Maajid Nawaz photo

“If the dangers of racism are apparent, even in a non-violent form, then it was the same for Islamism. Communalist identity politics, self-segregation and group-think are far more damaging to societies in the long run than the odd bomb going off here or there, because it is such a milieu that keeps breeding bomb-makers.”

Maajid Nawaz book Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism

Source: Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism (2012), p. 211

Maajid Nawaz photo

“The one reason that I could not ignore, the one reason that grew deep inside me till it consumed me with guilt, was the realisation that I was abusing my faith for a mere political project. After learning in prison that Islamism was not the religion of Islam, but rather a political ideology dressed up as Islam, I no longer felt guilty simply for criticising a political system inspired by modern European constructs, while justified by seventh-century norms.”

Maajid Nawaz book Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism

Source: Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism (2012), p. 210

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