Quilliam Foundation

Michael Petrou on the tweet landed a British politician in hot water

A confidential briefing paper for the British government, prepared by a Muslim “counter-extremism” think tank has identified a large number of mosques and Muslim organizations in Britain — especially those that seek to partner with local and national governments — as sharing the same Islamist ideology as al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

Johaan Hari has an excellent piece about former Islamists in Britain who have renounced their past beliefs for something more humane and liberal. Last summer I spent a lot of time with Usama Hasan, featured in Hari’s article. My take on Hasan and some of his colleagues is here. I think one of the things I like most about Hasan is his love of astronomy. In addition to working as an imam, Hasan teaches artificial intelligence at Middlesex University. He helped launch the  remarkable Quilliam Foundation with Maajid Nawaz and Ed Husain. My take on Husain and his book, can be read here.

British Muslims are in a race to defeat Islamist extremists in their midst, before terror can strike again