Usama describes growing up in the Salafi tradition to fighting on the front-lines of Afghanistan

Usama, who spent 20 years as part of the Islamist movement, describes growing up in a family with strong extremist beliefs, who felt fearful and excluded in Britain. Through the strong beliefs of his family, he was inducted into puritanical Islamist circles at a young age, and came to support the idea of an Islamic Caliphate. He became the follower of a charismatic Islamic teacher and was drawn into the movement, which gave him a sense of importance and power. He describes the sense of defeat and humiliation in the Muslim world which impacts upon young men, and how the idealism of young men is misused by powerful men. He believes that deradicalisation must be based in the sense of the humanity of those tempted into radical movements, and must recognise the strength of self-delusion that keeps people inside them.

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