Product Description

When I was sixteen I became an Islamic fundamentalist. Five years later, after much emotional turmoil, I rejected fundamentalist teachings and returned to normal life and my family. I tried to put my experiences behind me, but as the events of 7/7 unfolded it became clear to me that Islamist groups pose a threat to this country that we — Muslims and non-Muslims alike — do not yet understand. Why are young British Muslims becoming extremists? What are the risks of another home-grown terrorist attack on British soil? By describing my experiences inside these groups, the reasons I joined them and how, after leaving I recovered my faith and mind, I hope to explain the appeal of extremist thought, how fanatics penetrate Muslim communities and the truth behind their agenda of subverting the West and moderate Islam. Writing candidly about life after extremism, I illustrate the depth of the problem that now grips Muslim hearts and minds. I will lay bare what politicians and Muslim 'community leaders' do not want you to know. This is the first time an ex-member openly discusses life within radical Islamic organisations. This is my story.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5392 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Sunday Times
Insightful and gripping

Simon Jenkins, Sunday Times
All who glibly generalise about the no-man's-land between terrorism and multiculturalism should read this articulate and impassioned book.

Martin Amis
A persuasive and stimulating book.

Customer Reviews

Pandora's box
I couldn't stop thinking about this book when I had read it. I thank Ed Husain for being brave enough to write it. A difficult and compelling read, it scared the heck out of me, but I think everyone should read it - it will open your eyes.

A Damning Indictment From a True Believer
The author is probably the most religiously sincere man I have ever come across, and his current faith is revealed by the end of the book in a way which managed to impress even me, a life-long atheist with a very cynical view of all religion.

It is Husain's journey to this point that provides the narrative, and in his calm and transparent prose the author has managed to pen the most terrifying story I have ever read.

Here was an ordinary British Muslim with a loving and supportive family who started life a poster-boy for integration as a colour and faith-blind student at a multi-ethnic primary school. Without personal tragedy or disaster, without any poor experiences at the hands of the "Establishment", this happy schoolboy found himself recruiting "soldiers of Islam" to destroy his country, and toppled on the brink of taking that route himself.

So complete was his indoctrination that even years after his epiphany he found himself experiencing a uniquely Islamic doublethink when it came to the traditions and institutions of his country.

What terrifies about this book is the sheer ordinariness of Hussain's experience. Through no great genius or inspiration on the part of those who recruited him to the Islamist cause he found himself turning his back on family and nation, burning with a hatred for everyone outside his own small clique.

Husain was bright enough to see the cracks in Islamism - the lack of genuine Koranic scholarship, the transmutation of religion into politics, the racism at the heart of Saudi Arabia, and the exploitation of ignorance and disillusionment among young men. It is clear from his experience that most are not so well equipped.

This book provides an explanation not only for recent events in the UK but also across the wider world. A must-read for anyone with an interest in the future.

Prepare for more of these in the future.
For those of us with long memories,this sort of confessional autobiography is reminiscent of Cold War-era accounts such as those by Arthur Koestler and other disillusioned ex-Marxists.Ideologues who reject their previous faith very rarely have a good word to say for it,and Ed Hussein dosen't disappoint in his account of Islamist politics.
For me,the best part of the book was the story of his life before Islamism,a coming of age story set in East London.I was fascinated by the similarities and differences between his and my family.
The next segment,his introduction,activism and eventual break with radical Islamism,is interesting,but tells little about Hussein's motivations.It's as though he turned into a robot,only around to advance his political agenda and with little personal growth.
That comes in the next part,his break with Islamism and his attempts to reintergrate with religious Islam.He is aware enough to realise that while he conciously wanted to break with his past,previous patterns of thought and behaviour aren't as easy to shake off as you may think.
The final part,Hussein's living and working in Syria and Saudi Arabia,the latter being the dream of wannabe Islamists,are fascinating.His depiction of Saudi racism,sexism,bigotry and ignorance goes beyond a recital of facts,and points out that any Islamist government anywhere would,in his opinion,be much the same as the Saudi dictatorship.
Ed Hussein is far from the only disillusioned ex-Islamist who eventually became repelled by his pet project.So,I predict many more books like this in the not too distant future.