My Journey to Overcoming Islamist Extremism: A Personal Story of Transformation

SHP: Masjid Nawaz tells his story succinctly in this book. He gives intellectual reasoning to how ideas become movements that can change our world. I wish this was required reading in our universities.

United States on Jan 16, 2024

Sandy: If you are interested in world affairs and learning about Islam this is the perfect book. He tells his story from being radicalized to finding the truth. It is amazing that he lived through it. His bravery and dedication to truth is inspiring.

United States on Jan 12, 2024

Momma Mayhem: Interesting so far...about 1/4 in

Canada on Jun 07, 2022

BeWhereUWannaBe: Si on veut comprendre l'islamisme, il faut lire ce livre. Pour une fois, on voit comment les groupes islamistes fonctionnent de l'intérieur, et on comprend ce qui les motive! En plus, l'auteur est un personnage impressionnant, qui lutte depuis contre ce courant. Bravo, au livre et à l'auteur!

France on Feb 08, 2022

Mariusz Kulesza: good

United Kingdom on Sep 25, 2017

Amazon Customer: Amazing read and a brilliant book. Took an awful lot longer than expected to arrive. Perhaps due to overseas shipping but was still a great read.

United Kingdom on Sep 21, 2017

Max Layton: From confused B-boy in England to tortured Islamist in Egyptian prison to confident spokesman for Liberal Democracy worldwide, Maajid Nawaz is a gifted writer who describes his personal odyssey in fascinating detail. Along the way, Nawaz's thoughtful deconstruction of radical Islamism provides the reader with theoretical insight -- and practical basis for counterattack.

Canada on Jun 16, 2016

Cap'n Dan: A fascinating autobiographical account of a young English man growing up in the 80s and 90s, becoming radicalized through his love for hip-hop, then joining an Islamist group and finally withdrawing. While he may not be typical of all young people growing up in Western countries who join radical Islamist movements, Nawaz provides useful insights into how this young man and his friends became enmeshed in the movement. Nawaz is clear-eyed and self-critical and he provides a good explanation of what attracted him to Islamism and what eventually repelled him. The book constitutes a valuable antidote to some of the simplistic explanations of Islamic radicalization. It reminds me a bit of the rise of Students for Democratic Society (SDS) and the Weathermen in the U.S. during the 1960s, although the latter movements did not arise so much out of exclusion and prejudice as did Islamism in Europe and the U.S. What links them was a frustrated desire to engage with a political system that seemed incapable of hearing their ideas and unable to understand the roots of revolutionary movements in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

United States on Feb 26, 2015

Doug Jones: Nawaz's life is a search for deeper meaning. Like many of today's youth, who don't understand why their existence is not absurd, they become easily led down destructive paths. Maajid paid a heavy price for is poor choices. He is one of the lucky ones that brought about change in his own life. People do have the capacity to change. No matter our varied circumstances, life has meaning. Nawaz's experiences are singular and unique. I gained insight to a slice of the world that is dark and misdirected. There are evil forces at work anxious to destroy even the participants. Maajid was nearly one of those casualties. The book was good. I'd recommend it.

United States on Oct 23, 2014

RLC: Those living in countries such as the U.S., U.K. tend to believe our world views and values, are shared by the majority of people and nations outside of our own boundaries. This book provides deep insight into how values are adopted as children and young adults, and how often we do not seek to challenge those views, based on personal perceptions and world views that are heavily influenced by our own maturity, life experiences, knowledge, resiliency from childhood and throughout the various cycles of adulthood. We maybe so entrenched in our views, that it takes a large wakeup call to shake us out of our discomfort to see things differently. Thus, well entrenched prejudices (race, religion, culture, etc.) can lead to faulty judgment, actions and justification of actions, which are often rewarded and further entrenched by group-think, especially those tending to reside on the far "left" or "right" that leave little flexibility for the "rights" of others, especially if it tends to differ from one's own comfort zone.

Inequality and/or feelings of superiority are not created nor fed by happenstance, by rather by family, religion, social, economic, education and culture causes,...

United States on Feb 09, 2014