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==Personal life, education, and career==
==Personal life, education, and career==


Husain's father mother originate from india and not bangladesh as is commonly stated. He grew up in the [[Limehouse]] area of [[London]] where there is a large [[Bengali people|Bengali]] community. Hussain attended Sir William Borough School, [http://www.stepneygreen.towerhamlets.sch.uk/ Stepney Green School], [http://www.tower.ac.uk Tower Hamlets College] and [http://www.newham.ac.uk Newham College]. He later worked for [[HSBC]] and the [[British Council]] in [[Saudi Arabia]] and [[Syria]] before enrolling at the [[School of Oriental and African Studies]]. He later joined the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]].
Husain's father and mother originate from india and not bangladesh as is commonly stated. He is unable to speak a word of bengali. and under no definition could he be classed as a bengali. He grew up in the [[Limehouse]] area of [[London]] where there is a large [[Bengali people|Bengali]] community. Hussain attended Sir William Borough School, [http://www.stepneygreen.towerhamlets.sch.uk/ Stepney Green School], [http://www.tower.ac.uk Tower Hamlets College] and [http://www.newham.ac.uk Newham College]. He later worked for [[HSBC]] and the [[British Council]] in [[Saudi Arabia]] and [[Syria]] before enrolling at the [[School of Oriental and African Studies]]. He later joined the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]].


He studied Arabic at the University of Damascus and has completed an MA in Middle Eastern Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is currently enrolled at the School’s Ph.D programme in Political Science. Husain is also a visiting fellow at Civitas, the independent think-tank.
He studied Arabic at the University of Damascus and has completed an MA in Middle Eastern Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is currently enrolled at the School’s Ph.D programme in Political Science. Husain is also a visiting fellow at Civitas, the independent think-tank.

Revision as of 20:36, 15 February 2008

Ed Husain (born 25th December 1975 in London) is the pen name of the British writer Mohammed Mahbub Hussain who is the author of The Islamist.

Personal life, education, and career

Husain's father and mother originate from india and not bangladesh as is commonly stated. He is unable to speak a word of bengali. and under no definition could he be classed as a bengali. He grew up in the Limehouse area of London where there is a large Bengali community. Hussain attended Sir William Borough School, Stepney Green School, Tower Hamlets College and Newham College. He later worked for HSBC and the British Council in Saudi Arabia and Syria before enrolling at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He later joined the Labour Party.

He studied Arabic at the University of Damascus and has completed an MA in Middle Eastern Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is currently enrolled at the School’s Ph.D programme in Political Science. Husain is also a visiting fellow at Civitas, the independent think-tank.

Husain states that in the early 1990s he was associated with Jamaat-e-Islami, East London Mosque, Young Muslims Organisation, Hizb ut-Tahrir and the Islamic Society of Britain. However, HT denies this. In an interview broadcast by CNN on May 3 2007, a spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir denied Husain's claim that he had been a member of the organisation.

Husain was a former associate of convicted terrorist Dhiren Barot, MCB media secretary Inayat Bunglawala and Omar Bakri Muhammad.[citation needed]

The Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips has described Husain as a "brave Muslim".[1] Guardian columnist Seamus Milne has called Husain a "British neocon pinup boy". [2] The journalist Ziauddin Sardar has criticized Husain's "critical faculties", arguing his case is far more unique than Husain claims, as "young Muslims are no more likely to join Hizb ut-Tahrir than young Christians are to join the Moonies."[3] The Muslim writer Andrew Booso "salutes" Husain for spending "so much of his time and energy" on the problem of "extremism" in the Muslim community but criticizes Husain for showing "a serious inadequacy of knowledge regarding theology and Sacred Law as expounded by the masters through the ages." [4]

Views

Husain is a member of the Labour Party and supports Amnesty International.

Husain supports a liberal interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence on issues such as homosexuality and Islamic marriage laws. Although labelling himself as a 'traditionalist' Husain rejects orthodox Islamic teaching in arguing that Muslim women should be allowed to marry non-Muslim men. In an interview in the New York Times Husain says,

In traditional circles, Muslim women are not allowed to marry non-Muslim men...But in a pluralistic world in 2007, where non-Muslim men and Muslim women are marrying, you can't say, 'You can’t do that.'

Husain also questions orthodox Islamic teaching in relation to the Caliphate, arguing,

But 'the state' is not a rukn of the deen and without it the deen is not lost. An individual can remain a firm believer, a mutadayyin, without the imam and the jama'ah.

Husain has also explained that he believes Muslim society is in need of modernisation. In an interview with Time Out, Husain says:

As I left extremism I realised that if you are born here and grow up here, then you belong here. The Islam that was preached 2,000 years ago isn’t going to work here in modern London. Muslims need to alter their lifestyles to a Western lifestyle. To criticise is not Islamaphobic. It’s about opposing certain ideas."[5]

The Islamist

Main article: The Islamist

In The Islamist, Husain describes how he became an Islamic fundamentalist at the age of 16. He explains that,

Five years later, after much emotional turmoil, I rejected fundamentalist teachings and returned to normal life and my family.

Husain says that his book explains

the appeal of extremist thought, how fanatics penetrate Muslim communities and the truth behind their agenda of subverting the West and moderate Islam.

Husain's book has been called "highly acclaimed" and received positive reviews from The Guardian [6][7], The Times [8] - which ran run two weeks’ worth of extracts[9] - and International Herald Tribune. [10] Other Muslims such as Hizb ut-Tahrir [11] the Salafimanhaj website [12] and the Muslim Council of Britain[13] have made strong criticism, alleging inaccuracy and flawed analysis by Husain.

Works

  • The Islamist (2007)

See also

References

  1. ^ Melanie Phillips’s Diary » Another brave Muslim speaks up
  2. ^ Denial of the link with Iraq is delusional and dangerous
  3. ^ The Islamist by Ed Husain, The Independent, 1 June 2007
  4. ^ Review of “The Islamist” : Ust. Andrew Booso [complete] « The Translators
  5. ^ Time Out London: 'Islamic extremists in the East End'
  6. ^ We were the brothers, Saturday May 12, 2007
  7. ^ Why should we have to justify ourselves to the people who want to bomb us? Thursday May 3, 2007
  8. ^ April 21, 2007, Rediscovering a kinder, gentler Islam
  9. ^ Review of “The Islamist” : Ust. Andrew Booso [complete May 21, 2007 ]
  10. ^ Ex-radical turns to Islam of tolerance By Jane Perlez, International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, Published: June 1, 2007
  11. ^ "The 'Islamist' bogeyman" by Taji Mustafa, executive committee of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain
  12. ^ The Charade of Ed Husain, Necon, Blairite author of the Islamist
  13. ^ Review of the Islamist by Inayat Bunglawala, The Muslim Council of Britain


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