Ed Husain: The Islamist
Religion and Family can be very large contributors to an individual’s life decisions. Ed Husain’s authorization of The Islamist, exploits the decisions made between beliefs and family members with intriguing detail and heart: which reverberates similar things in my life as well (less extreme obviously). Hussein talks about his life as a child and his relationship to his parents while growing up in a small Muslim community. As Husain grows from 16 to 20, so does his belief and interest in the Muslim faith. However, his faith develops into more of a fundamentalist view called Islamism, which in turn goes against most modernistic views in Islam today, and correlates sharia law with personal, political, and social life. Husain develops some realizations and faces a few personal hardships, which make him decide to return to a formalistic and normal lifestyle after 5 years as an Islamist.
Husain grew up in a small town in east London. His parents were transcended into London from Bangladesh and India. Husain encompasses the importance of family to him, and friends or individuals that seem to be just as close. He mentions his relationship with the family’s spiritual guide from Bengali, who he calls “Grandpa”.
Husain practiced his beliefs and kept to himself at a school nearby called Stepeny Green. However, he becomes acquaintances with an individual named Brother Falik. Falik helps him divulge into Islamic studies: However, I believe at this point in time, Husain was extremely vulnerable and willing to make friends and partake in beliefs with anybody that was not an influence in terms drugs or gang violence. He claims that he and Falik read a book by Ghulum Sarwr. It was the first book that was assigned to...
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...ndon. Here he finds happiness in his quest for normality in 2005. He continues to practice his Muslim culture while married. Life is a lot clearer to him in London where there is less hatred towards individuals as compared to the sophisticated ways of aggressive Wahhabism.
Throughout the journey of Hussain he finds himself in what seems to be a turn of events back to the original stage or point in life. I often feel that individuals with a small amount of acceptance are very prone to being extremists in anything that will welcome them. However, with age comes wisdom, which is what Husain has found. He is happy to be baack around his family and big brother. As well as the other miniscule problems that he originally faced.
Works Cited
Husain, Ed. The Islamist: Why I Joined Radical Islam in Britain, What I Saw inside and Why I Left. London: Penguin, 2007. Print
Hinson, Kathy. "Book Review: 'Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes'" The Oregonian. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013.
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