Shiraz Maher (born 12 July 1981) is a British writer and analyst, and Director at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) at King's College London.
The son of Pakistani immigrants, for several years after 9/11 Maher was a member of the Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir, but left the movement after the 2005 London bombings and became an outspoken critic of radical Islam.
[1] He has written for leading newspapers in Britain and elsewhere, produced reports and studies on counterterrorism strategy, and appeared in the international news media as a commentator on jihad and radicalisation.
He stated he had never been very concerned about Saudi culture, noting he "lived in a Western compound, with everything you could want: tennis courts, swimming pools, cricket, basketball, bike races, all gender-mixed.” One day when he was eleven, he was wearing a Daffy Duck T-shirt bearing the slogan "I Support Operation Desert Storm" and a Saudi man challenged him about the sentiment.
By the time the US invaded Afghanistan, Maher had recovered his Muslim faith and moved into an apartment across the street from a local mosque.
His report on reforming the government's counter-terrorism strategy was praised by both Michael Gove, then Britain's Secretary of State for Education, and Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, former Chief of the Defence Staff.
[3] Maher is today a senior fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, King's College London, where "he researches Europe's homegrown Islamist movement and profiles the droves of young Britons who are decamping for Syria and Iraq to wage jihad with ISIS, aka the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.
"In the late 1980s, early '90s," he said, "this country opened its doors to radical Islamist preachers from around the world who began to preach a very hard-line, totalitarian message about what Islam should look like.
[3] Maher's articles have appeared in Standpoint, Foreign Affairs, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Spectator, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, The Daily Mail, Haaretz, The Jewish Chronicle, and The New Statesman, and on the websites of BBC News and the Gatestone Institute.