Islamism is not Islam. Islamism is the politicisation of Islam, the desire to impose a version of this ancient faith over society.

I'm yet to discover any form of theocracy that isn't homophobic, that isn't bigoted to the out group.

I am everything I am today, because of my past.

There was a genocide unfolding against Bosnian Muslims and we, in the United Kingdom, were incredibly angered - a teenager at the time, 15 years old, so my young teenage mind processed that in a way typical to the very passionate and angry and black-and-white way that teenagers often can do.

After much soul searching I was able to renounce my past Islamist ideology, challenging everything I was once prepared to die for.

There are no globalized, youth-led, grassroots social movements advocating for democratic culture across Muslim-majority societies. There is no equivalent of Al-Qaeda without the terrorism.

Preying on the grievances of disaffected young men is the bedrock of Islamism.