Haras Rafiq

Quilliam

CEO

Since May 2014, Haras Rafiq has been CEO of Quilliam, which focuses on researching and discussing counter-extremism, with a particular focus on Islamism. Rafiq co-founded Crescent Radio in December 1999 and is a former CEO of Crescent Network, which included the magazine “Crescent Life”. Following the 7/7 attacks in London, Rafiq was appointed to the UK Government Task Force on extremism, set up by the then-Prime Minister Tony Blair. In 2006, Rafiq was involved in the founding of the Sufi Muslim Council and later became the council’s executive director. He is also a co-founder and former director of Counter Extremism Consultancy, Training Research and Interventions (CENTRI). Rafiq’s main area of expertise is counter-extremism, and he is a current peer mentor for the Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government on preventing extremism. He also sits as a member of the Advisory Group on Online Terrorist Propaganda based in the European Counter Terrorism Centre. Rafiq is also an advisor to the prime minister’s Community Engagement Forum Taskforce and is a prominent social commentator on the issue of counter-extremism. Since 2016, Rafiq has been a trustee of the Franco-British council.