British 'anti-extremism' pundit caught in strip club scandal

An aspiring British Member of Parliament and head of the self-styled anti-extremism foundation Quilliam has been caught up in a scandal with a naked lap dancer, UK media reported on Friday.

Maajid Nawaz, a member of the Liberal Democrat party, and a regular commentator on Muslim affairs and relations as well as extremism in the UK, was caught on CCTV trying to touch a dancer during a private lap dance. The action is prohibited by the club owners and according to the owners caused bouncers to be warned about his behaviour.

Nawaz, who has been married for nine months and has previously described himself as a “feminist”, had reportedly been drinking heavily according to the reports. Conservative politicians have already called for him to step down.

Abdul Malik, the club’s owner, said he leaked the footage to the media because Nawaz often portrayed himself as a “spokesman for Islam” but visited the club during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“He’s always talking about religion on TV and I thought, what a hypocrite,” Malik told the Daily Mail.

Nawaz has admitted to attending the club as part of a stag night last summer, but has disputed many of the details.

A spokesperson for Nawaz said he was never inappropriate with the dancer, had not been warned about his behaviour, and was not “out of control” drunk as management has claimed.

The spokesperson added that Nawaz’s advocacy for women’s rights was only “in the context of Islamic extremism”.

British-born Nawaz says that he became a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir a group which advocates for the reintroduction of the Caliphate and the strict introduction of Sharia law while a student at SOAS university in London. During his compulsory year abroad to Egypt in 2001, he was arrested and jailed for his activities with the group, which allegedly included recruiting other youths.

He was sentenced to 20 years in prison but only spent four year behind bars before returning to the UK. There are differing accounts of whether he renounced his views while in prison or only later several months upon his return to the UK.

He has since penned a books about his experiences, Radical: My Journey from Islamist Extremism to a Democratic Awakening and co-founded Quilliam, which has become an often-quoted voice in the extremism debate in the UK.

However, Nawaz has long been controversial within the Muslim community, parts of which have said they feel misrepresented by him and his views.