Dr Tawfik Hamid and Roddy Gow at New Club, Edinburgh

Dr Tawfik Hamid is widely recognised as an authority on radical Islam, and has devoted his career to promoting peaceful interpretations of the Quran. Recruited into Jamaa Islamiya while he studied medicine in Egypt, Tawfik eventually had a moment of clarity while burying a police officer alive in the desert, causing him to reject the violent and un-Islamic radical interpretations of his faith.

As a former jihadi, Dr Hamid has a unique insight into the mindset and methods of radicalised groups and ideologies. His opinions are often controversial, but being based on personal experience they are certainly worth listening to. Radical Islam is an ideology, not a country, so defeating it must be achieved by understanding it rather than military intervention.

This photo is from an Asia Scotland Institute event where he addressed audiences in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and gave a brief interview with Roddy Gow at the New Club to summarise his story. Asia Scotland Institute’s USP is the quality of its speakers, and the fact that by attending the events you will get a chance to meet them and learn from them in person, so we took this photo to emphasise connection between Roddy and Tawfik.