I eventually came to the conclusion that I'd grossly misunderstood Islam. And though I was never really devout, and still am NOT devout, one thing I did come to realize is I was abusing my religious heritage for political purposes.
Part 3 of theTED Radio Hour episode Turning Points.
About Maajid Nawaz's TEDTalk
For more than a decade, Maajid Nawaz recruited young Muslims to an extreme Islamist group. But while serving time in an Egyptian prison, he went through a complete ideological transformation. He left the group, his friends, his marriage for a new life as a democracy advocate.
About Maajid Nawaz
As a teenager, British-born Maajid Nawaz was recruited to an extremist global Islamist organization called Hizb ut-Tahrir, whose goal is to unite all Muslim countries into one caliphate ruled by Islamic law. He spent more than a decade recruiting other young Muslims to the group, until he was imprisoned in Egypt.
Four years later, Nawaz left prison feeling that Hizb ut-Tahrir was hijacking Islam for political purposes. He remained a Muslim, but he was no longer an Islamist.
He recently released a memoir, Radical: My Journey From Islamist Extremism To A Democratic Awakening. His goal now is to help Muslims work for a democratic culture that values peace and women's rights. He heads Quilliam, a think tank that engages in "counter-Islamist thought-generating."
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