Maryam Namazie (Persian: مریم نمازی; born 1966)[1] is a British-Iranian secularist, communist and human rights activist, commentator, and broadcaster.

[5] Most of her early work focused on refugee rights, especially in Sudan, Turkey, and Iran,[5] and she has actively campaigned against sharia law.

[10] During the Danish cartoon riots, she was one of the twelve signatories of Manifesto: Together Facing the New Totalitarianism together with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Chahla Chafiq, Caroline Fourest, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Irshad Manji, Mehdi Mozaffari, Taslima Nasreen, Salman Rushdie, Antoine Sfeir, Philippe Val, and Ibn Warraq.

[15][16] Maryam Namazie was also the spokesman of Fitnah- Movement for Women's Liberation, a protest movement which is, according to their website, "demanding freedom, equality, and secularism and calling for an end to misogynist cultural, religious, and moral laws and customs, compulsory veiling, sex apartheid, sex trafficking, and violence against women.

[19][20] The rise of ex-Muslim organisations have been described by MEP Sophie in 't Veld as a "new Renaissance"; Namazie herself compared the breaking of taboos and the 'coming out' of Muslim apostates with the emancipation of homosexuals.

[21] In February 2008, Namazie and Ahadi were selected among of the top 45 "Women of the Year 2007" by Elle Quebec for their role in the foundation of the ex-Muslim councils.

[6] She deems sharia law is discriminatory and unjust, especially against women and children: "Rights and justice are meant for people, not for religions and cultures", said Namazie.

[29] Namazie was keynote speaker at the World Atheist Convention 2011 in Dublin, where she stated that there is currently an "Islamic Inquisition" going on; that labeling people and countries as being first and foremost 'Islamic' or 'Muslim' denies the diversity of individuals and societies and gives Islamists more influence; that human rights are not 'Western' but universal; and that the word "Islamophobia" is wrong because it is not a form of racism, because fear of Islam and opposition against it is not unfounded, but even necessary.

[30] A similar speech she made in Salt Lake City at the 2014 American Atheists National Convention opposed the wearing of the veil.

[34] Namazie emphasizes the difference between Muslims on the one hand, believers like any other, and Islamists on the other, who are dangerous because they form repressive political movements that have seized power in some countries.

In an interview with the Coventry Telegraph's Simon Gilbert, she was quoted as saying: "It angers me that we're all put in a little box and that anyone who criticises Islam is labelled racist.

During her talk, members of the university's Islamic Society caused a disruption by heckling and switching off her PowerPoint presentation when Namazie displayed a cartoon from the series Jesus and Mo.

Central Committee secretary Hamid Taqvaie regretfully accepted their resignation, saying the party would 'continue to support [their] social activities and campaigns against political Islam', and expressed hope that Namazie and Pooya would continue to work on the Bread and Roses programme.

[30][45][46] At the World Atheist Conference in Dublin in 2011, referring to the far-right, she said "they are like the Islamists" and that Muslims need equal protection under the law, while she stressed the need to be able to criticize religion.

[30] She strongly condemned the far-right movements after the terrorist attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, which took away 50 victims' lives, stating that "We stand with Muslims everywhere who face discrimination, violence and terror".