Speakers

Sohail Ahmed is a reformed former radical Islamist who was at one point on the cusp of carrying out violence in his home city, London. Raised in an extreme and austere form of Islam, he was taught to hate non-Muslims and even other Muslims who happened to follow a different form of Islam. Additionally, having discovered that he was gay at an early age, he turned this hatred inwards towards himself - a fact that ended up fuelling his radicalisation journey. Eventually he began to question the beliefs and worldview he had been raised with and self-deradicalised. He now works to raise awareness of the threat of extremism to society, and advocates for LGBT rights in Islam. He has appeared on the BBC, Channel 4, MSNBC, and CNN, and his testimony has been read out and presented in parliament.