Haras Rafiq

Haras Rafiq is managing director of the Quilliam Foundation think tank.

Background

From his Quilliam biography:

Formerly a member of the UK Government task force looking at countering extremism in response to the 2005 terrorist bombings in London, as well as being a peer mentor for IDeA – advising regional government.

in addition to this, he has worked on and delivered a number of projects relating to the analysis of radicalisation, as well as the deradicalisation of extremists, and has presented on a number of academic and political platforms, nationally and internationally.

As part of his work, Haras is committed to countering xenophobia and hatred, and has spoken at many conferences and events, including the Global Forum on combating anti-Semitism (December 2009), as well as being a Chair of a working group of the Global Experts’ Forum on anti-Semitism in Ottawa in 2010.

Haras is regularly featured in the media as a commentator and has been a cultural ambassador through the UK Government’s “Projecting British Islam” initiative.

As well as the above, Haras has also served on the North West Board of the Mosaic initiative, which was initiated by HRH Prince Charles, and aimed at mentoring youngsters to become contributing members of society.

Affiliations

• CENTRI - director of this organisation which 'focused on countering extremism at the operational level'
• Middle East Forum
• Sufi Muslim Council - co-founder

Articles

• Haras Rafiq, 'Detoxifying Islamists', Middle East Forum, 27 January 2010