Ishtiaq Hussain

Ishtiaq Hussain (born 1976 in England) is a British Pakistani. In his teenage years he was an activist for the radical group Hizb-ut-Tahrir, later leaving over ideological and moral differences. In the early 2000s, alongside his full-time job, he also worked as a Youth and Community Worker.

In 2008, Hussain joined the counter-extremism organisation Quilliam (think tank) as a Senior Trainer. He was responsible for delivering training to local authorities, police forces and government departments. He was also a media spokesman for the organisation and appeared on: Sky News, BBC, CNN and Fox News to discuss radicalisation as a phenomenon. In August 2009, he spoke to LBC radio about the Liquid Bomb Plot. He has also given interviews in the Urdu language to Asian media outlets, including: Venus TV and Sunrise Radio. Hussain left Quilliam in late 2009. Hussain has featured as a keynote speaker at various conferences, universities, schools and community events. In November 2009, he spoke at The Holocaust Centre in Nottinghamshire alongside a WW2 Holocaust survivor.

In 2010, Hussain was featured in the award winning BBC television documentary 'The Virtual Revolution' and the German television documentary 'Wohin treibt der Islam'. He was also interviewed by the Arabic television channel Al-Hurra for a documentary on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Hussain has written articles for the Guardian newspaper, specialist Blogs and featured in various print media internationally.

Hussain currently works as a policy maker and advisor to the UK government. In July 2011, he spoke at a conference organised by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) on policy implementation and stakeholder engagement. In October 2011, the think tank "Faith Matters" published a counter-extremism research paper written by Hussain titled 'The Tanzimat: Secular Reforms in the Ottoman Empire'. The paper received positive coverage in the national media and attracted 43'000 hits (including 12'000 downloads) in the first three months of its release.

In June 2012, Hussain joined the Board of Trustees for Breaking the Cycle; a charity that aims to help young girls access secondary education in third world countries.