Maajid Nawaz Addresses London Probation Services

Tuesday 8th July 2008

In a lecture to the London Probation Services, to a packed a capacity crowd, Maajid Nawaz spoke of the importance distinction between finding religion and embracing Islamist ideology whilst in prisons. He drew from his experiences whilst being a political prisoner for 4 years in Egypt, and explained the difference between religious awakening and its manifestations, and embracing Islamist ideology which is a precursor to justifying and in many cases perpetrating acts of terror in the name of religion i.e. Jihadism.

He explained the different types of Islamist ideologues: entry-level Islamists i.e. all those with an Islamist agenda that believe that the all of the systems in the Muslim world and lands are systems of "kufr" (disbelief) and lands of "Kufr", but they can use whatever means are necessary and effective, whether by infiltration or violence when needed e.g. the brotherhood; revolutionary e.g. Hizb ut-Tahrir, who believe in the forceful and radical overthrow of all regimes and then the military incursion into all Muslim countries; actual Jihadist parties that believe in the tactical use of violence to overthrow all governments in the world and for political purposes e.g. al-Qaeda.

This was an important distinction, as it is only the latter that posed an immediate threat and legal restrictions and procedures were required to deal with them. The other two groups, needed civil society to stand against and dismantle their ideas, which laid down the foundations for al-Qaeda terror, so must be refuted, existence acknowledged and noted that they are often a precursor to acts of terror.

Maajid explained that it is important to understand key tenets of Islamist ideology and how to recognize them e.g. political sovereignty belongs to God i.e. our interpretation of Shariah is divinely ordained to be implemented as law over all society, the international movement known as the Ummah (global Islamist political community - analogous to the communist conception of the proletariat nation of workers), and a vision of the expansionist global caliphate with a Jihadist foreign policy.

He entertained questions and debates surrounding identity and religiosity, ethnic backgrounds and explained that whilst there are legitimate grievances there are no legitimate grounds for terrorism, and the ideology that supports/creates terrorists.