The Islamist: Why I Became an Islamic Fundamentalist, What I Saw Inside, and Why I Left [Paperback]

We've all seen their pictures. Mostly blank and white. Usually they're taken from surveillance cameras or driver's licenses. They seem ordinary enough. Young to early middle age men. A few are smiling, but most are expressionless. How many of us have sat and stared at those photos and wondered what goes through the mind of mass murderer? What were they thinking when they set the timer of payload of death and then pulled the pin while screaming "Allah Akbar"? Did they look into the eyes of the unsuspecting victims? Did they see mothers with their children off to the grocery or school? Did they see ordinary people going about their lives in peace? Did they give any consideration to their families waiting for them at home before murdering them?

How do they justify the carnage they about to bring on innocent lives? Did God promise them some sort of "get-out-of-Hell-free" card in exchange for murdering a pregnant woman or maiming some school child? How does one turn a religion which historically has been one of the most peaceful and tolerate of religions into a one based on hatred and death? These are but a few of the questions I've often pondered, be about the SS Death Squads, Pol Pot, Charles Manson, or more recently, the terror attacks by Muslim extremists. Author Ed Husain was in a unique position to answer some of those questions, and more. He grew up in London's East Side; the product of a strong, loving, Westernized Muslim family (surprisingly, not uncommon characteristics of many other mass murders).

Through short, sometimes quite innocent steps, he slowly found himself drawn into a web of radicalism which promoted a self-anointed "holier-than-thou" sense of religious superiority, even (and perhaps especially) fellow Muslims, including his family and friends. From there, the steps down the hole of free and rational thought to hatred and murder become shorter and ever more slippery with the blood of the innocent. Husain, however, was fortunate. He found his way back from the insanity of the radicalism before it was too late.

As we are forced to come to grips with the new reality of a post 9/11 world, stories like the one told by Mr. Husain in his book, "The Islamist" should become required reading of anyone trying to come to terms with the mindset of those who seek to murder in the name of God. The book is both well written, and at the same time, chilling in portrayal of an ordinary young man drawn little by little into this dark world.

I read the original edition of this book. Here is what I wrote about it:

Ed Husain has written a highly informative, personal account of his experiences as a young man who became radical, and who then saw the real consequences of violent radicalism, and changed his mind. Mr. Husain is very honest and deserves a lot of credit for how well he tells his story. He clearly has thought and felt deeply about all these issues. He shares his personal journey and gives the reader a real glimpse into the process by which people are drawn to violent radical theories about how to change and improve society. He shares many insights: for example, the ways in which radical Islam copies the methods of other radical theories, such as socialism, communism and Marxism.

His description of his parents, and of his father's spiritual teacher, whom he calls "Grandfather," and other wonderful people of Islamic faith, such as his wife, Faye, and his Sufi teachers, made me love them and feel so grateful for the opportunity to learn about these highly spiritual, sincere, wise, devout people, practicing this beautiful faith. It was an opportunity to learn about what non-radical Islam is like. I am from a Christian background, and other than some reading I have done about the Sufis, for the first time (with all due respect for everyone's religion and no disrespect of any other religion), I could see why people would call Islam "the religion of peace." I felt that there is something sublime in the sincerity of their relationship with God. It seemed very beautiful. I felt it was a privilege to read about these things.

I also appreciated the descriptions of the devoted people in Syria, and the descriptions of Christians and Muslims getting along there, and his descriptions of Saudi Arabia, which dovetailed with other things I have read about Saudi Arabia. I was so interested to read about Mecca, and sorry to learn that the strict Wahhabi Muslims destroyed the birthplace of the Prophet and threaten other Muslims who may seem too devoted to the Prophet, or devoted in some "unacceptable" way.

I learned a lot from this book. I came away feeling hopeful. He says that the parents of the young radicals he knew did not support the radical violence the young people were proposing. He said many educated people who lived in Saudi Arabia responded to the extreme repression there by making arrangements to leave because they wanted their children to have a better life. He said he learned a lot about America from an actual American he met in an Arabic language class - Kelly, the first non-Muslim American he had ever known, who now is his friend.

Many people around the world have an angry feeling toward the United States. Some of that may be justified, because the United States is not perfect and does not always do the right thing. However, the United States is meant to stand for freedom, and in some ways, the United States does successfully stand for freedom. I think if more people could get to know each other as Kelly and Ed, did, our world would be a happier place, with less anger and violence. If we could get to know one another, maybe we could like and understand each other, and maybe forgive each other and find a way to live in peace.

The Dalai Lama has said that totalitarian governments cannot succeed, in the end, because they go against what all humans want: freedom to live in safety and peace, and freedom to express ourselves, and to offer something of value to others, and to prosper in our chosen activities. That is the pursuit of happiness. Life lived that way looks different for each of us, but the desire to seek fulfillment of our deepest wishes and highest goals is in each of us. Ed Husain's insightful and honest analysis of his journey shows that we all have that in common unless we are under the influence of an "ISM" of some kind. The dictatorships are pushing in the wrong direction, swimming against the current of the human spirit. Therefore, in the end, all these efforts to control, control, control will fail.

I have heard Deepak Chopra say that when something gives you a problem, it needs your blessing. I think we humans of the East and the West and the Middle East are giving each other problems. What we need from each other is our blessing. Ed Husain has shown me portraits of real people who understand this. The beautiful descriptions of his teachers, including the Sufis, is heartening, reassuring, admirable and utterly appealing. The sincerity and devotion of so many of the people he describes is touching. I loved them.

I want to thank Mr. Husain for his courage, integrity and honesty in writing this book. It is clear that even as a radical young man, he was trying to find a way to make the world better. After he saw the results of a violent path, he changed; and yet, he continued learning and studying, on his quest to make things better, to be someone who makes a difference, to offer something of value. In writing this book, he is continuing his quest. He is offering to us what he learned, reflected in what is best in his spirit, so that we can all understand each other better, and ultimately, have a better, more peaceful world. I would like to thank Ed Husain right now. Thank you!

This book would be an excellent choice for a discussion group, a book club, a high school class, a college class. Our political leaders, or anyone interested in politics, current events or international peace would benefit from reading this book. Really, anyone interested in making this a better world would benefit from reading this book. I highly, highly recommend this book.

In "The Islamist," author and scholar Ed Husain serves up himself as an example of how a moderate Muslim, born and raised in a secular Western society, (England in the 1990's), becomes a radical Islamist.

Beginning at about the age of 16, Ed Husain starts to travel a road of rising radical Islam. This is in part, his journey of teenage rebellion against his parents and family, a counterpoint to his father in particular. In his case, this teenage rebellion is no mere teenage phase in which one rebels against middle-class, moderate practices and values.

Ed Husain is increasingly drawn into an aggressive and violent form of Islam, an intolerant Islam that advocates global jihad. This is in-your-face Islam, belligerent and hostile to others and to other faiths: Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, even atheism and especially, to moderate and traditional Islam. This violent form of Islam or "Islamism" as Husain prefers to call it, is hostile to the values of Western society, to democracy, pluralism and to core principles of freedom, choice, religious tolerance and mutual respect.

What makes "The Islamist" an important work is that the author takes you down this path, his path, explaining its appeal to young and isolated Muslims living in a secular Western society. Having embraced radical Islam, Ed Husain leads the life of a radical Islamist, believing in and fully engaged in radical, violent activities. By his mid-twenties, certain events including a murder, maturation, study, insight and having certain key people come into his life lead him to disavow the actions and beliefs of his late teen and early twenties--and to change his life's course. "The Islamist" is a fine work by a thoughful man.

"The Islamist" should be required reading for people who value tolerance and freedom in Western cultures and who want to understand the process by which a young man (or a young woman) coming from a Muslim background may become radicalized.