The House of Islam

The first thing that strikes the reader is not the book’s title but the author’s name – being called after the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh), appears to be a great blessing and privilege. Why then forsake remembering the ‘praiseworthy’ and instead adopt the last two letters of this illustrious name as a moniker, Ed, that could be construed as, or mistaken for, an attempt to Anglicise/ mitigate a lauded Muslim name? Behind this oddity is a political activist who demonstrates considerable and calculable acumen through carving a lucrative career in counter-terrorism/radicalisation predominantly on the back of a largely non-eventful youthful dalliance with a spiritually redundant political organisation, Hizb ut-Tahrir, that led to the composition of his first bland text, The Islamist (2007), which won Husain the dubious accolade of gaining ardent supporters, such as Michael Gove and, until their dissociation, Melanie Phillips. Husain is not averse to blowing his own trumpet and the reader is rapidly familiarised with a range of high-brow connections and heavy-weight organisations to which he is aligned, alongside his personal appraisal of his own achievements.