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Ed Husain
Edmund “Ed” (Mohamed) Husain (born 25 December 1974) is a British author based in the US, self-described former extremist, co-founder of the counter-extremism think tank Quilliam Foundation, Professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). As a political advisor he has worked with leaders and governments across the world. Husain's work at CFR focuses primarily on U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East generally, and specifically at the intersection of Arab-Israeli relations after the Abraham Accords, the geopolitical interplay of Arab Gulf states, China-Muslim world dynamics, and Islamist terrorism. At Columbia and Georgetown Universities, he teaches classes on global security, Arab-Israeli peace, Race, Religion, and Terrorism, and the shared intellectual roots of the West and Islam.
He was previously a senior fellow and director of the Atlantic Council’s N7 Initiative which is focused on peace in the Middle East and broadening and strengthening relationships between Israel and its Arab and Muslim neighbours. He has held senior fellowships at think tanks in London and New York, including at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) at the height of the Arab uprisings (2010–2015). While at CFR, his policy innovation memo led to the US-led creation of a Geneva-based global fund to help counter terrorism: the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF). GCERF continues to combat terrorism-inspiring ideologies around the world. He is also a member of the editorial board of the Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on terrorism and insurgency.
Husain was a senior advisor at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. From 2018 to 2021, he completed his doctoral studies on Western philosophy and Islam under the direction of the English philosopher Sir Roger Scruton. He is the author of The Islamist (Penguin, 2007), The House of Islam: A Global History (Bloomsbury, 2018), and Among the Mosques (Bloomsbury, 2021). His writing has been shortlisted for the George Orwell Prize. A regular contributor to Spectator Magazine, he has appeared on the BBC and CNN and has written for the Telegraph, The Times, the New York Times, the Guardian and other publications.
A native of London’s East End, Husain was born to a Saudi Arabian mother and Bengali Muslim father who was a descendant of the saint Shah Jalal from the Hadramout region of Yemen. Husain’s father migrated from India to England in 1957. In his first book, The Islamist, Husain explains that "in ethnic terms [he] considers himself Indian", adding that in his family line there is "Arab ancestry; some say from Yemen and others the Hijaz." Today, Husain maintains familial connection to Arabia as his maternal cousins teach Hadith literature to students and worshippers in the Prophet Mohamed’s Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
Husain has a BA in history from the University of London, and later studied at SOAS, University of London, where he completed an MA in Middle Eastern Studies under Professor Gerald Hawting and Professor Charles Tripp. He also spent two years studying at the University of Damascus in Syria.
His doctoral research on The Common Intellectual Inheritance of Islam and the West was under the supervision of Sir Roger Scruton at The University of Buckingham. While many interpret Scruton as anti-Muslim, Husain saw Scruton as a friend of classical Islam.
After completing his undergraduate degree, Husain worked for HSBC in London for several years. He then moved to Damascus, where he worked for the British Council teaching English whilst studying Arabic at the University of Damascus. After two years in Syria, Husain and his wife moved to Jeddah to be closer to the Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina while continuing to work for the British Council.
Upon his return to Britain, Husain co-founded a think tank, the Quilliam Foundation, with Maajid Usman Nawaz. The aim of the organisation was to "challenge extremist narratives while advocating pluralistic, democratic alternatives that are consistent with universal human rights standards" and to stand "for religious freedom, equality, human rights and democracy". Husain then worked as a senior advisor at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
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Ed Husain
Edmund “Ed” (Mohamed) Husain (born 25 December 1974) is a British author based in the US, self-described former extremist, co-founder of the counter-extremism think tank Quilliam Foundation, Professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). As a political advisor he has worked with leaders and governments across the world. Husain's work at CFR focuses primarily on U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East generally, and specifically at the intersection of Arab-Israeli relations after the Abraham Accords, the geopolitical interplay of Arab Gulf states, China-Muslim world dynamics, and Islamist terrorism. At Columbia and Georgetown Universities, he teaches classes on global security, Arab-Israeli peace, Race, Religion, and Terrorism, and the shared intellectual roots of the West and Islam.
He was previously a senior fellow and director of the Atlantic Council’s N7 Initiative which is focused on peace in the Middle East and broadening and strengthening relationships between Israel and its Arab and Muslim neighbours. He has held senior fellowships at think tanks in London and New York, including at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) at the height of the Arab uprisings (2010–2015). While at CFR, his policy innovation memo led to the US-led creation of a Geneva-based global fund to help counter terrorism: the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF). GCERF continues to combat terrorism-inspiring ideologies around the world. He is also a member of the editorial board of the Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on terrorism and insurgency.
Husain was a senior advisor at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. From 2018 to 2021, he completed his doctoral studies on Western philosophy and Islam under the direction of the English philosopher Sir Roger Scruton. He is the author of The Islamist (Penguin, 2007), The House of Islam: A Global History (Bloomsbury, 2018), and Among the Mosques (Bloomsbury, 2021). His writing has been shortlisted for the George Orwell Prize. A regular contributor to Spectator Magazine, he has appeared on the BBC and CNN and has written for the Telegraph, The Times, the New York Times, the Guardian and other publications.
A native of London’s East End, Husain was born to a Saudi Arabian mother and Bengali Muslim father who was a descendant of the saint Shah Jalal from the Hadramout region of Yemen. Husain’s father migrated from India to England in 1957. In his first book, The Islamist, Husain explains that "in ethnic terms [he] considers himself Indian", adding that in his family line there is "Arab ancestry; some say from Yemen and others the Hijaz." Today, Husain maintains familial connection to Arabia as his maternal cousins teach Hadith literature to students and worshippers in the Prophet Mohamed’s Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
Husain has a BA in history from the University of London, and later studied at SOAS, University of London, where he completed an MA in Middle Eastern Studies under Professor Gerald Hawting and Professor Charles Tripp. He also spent two years studying at the University of Damascus in Syria.
His doctoral research on The Common Intellectual Inheritance of Islam and the West was under the supervision of Sir Roger Scruton at The University of Buckingham. While many interpret Scruton as anti-Muslim, Husain saw Scruton as a friend of classical Islam.
After completing his undergraduate degree, Husain worked for HSBC in London for several years. He then moved to Damascus, where he worked for the British Council teaching English whilst studying Arabic at the University of Damascus. After two years in Syria, Husain and his wife moved to Jeddah to be closer to the Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina while continuing to work for the British Council.
Upon his return to Britain, Husain co-founded a think tank, the Quilliam Foundation, with Maajid Usman Nawaz. The aim of the organisation was to "challenge extremist narratives while advocating pluralistic, democratic alternatives that are consistent with universal human rights standards" and to stand "for religious freedom, equality, human rights and democracy". Husain then worked as a senior advisor at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
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