Abdul Haqq Baker

Baker was born in 1966.[1] His mother and father are from Guyana and Nigeria respectively.[4][5] Baker was raised Roman Catholic and attended a Christian school, where he first became interested in religion.[6]

In his youth, Baker got involved in local gangs, until he converted from Christianity to Islam in 1990.[1] Baker's given name was Anthony Baker, but he adopted his current Muslim name after converting.[4][5] Specifically, Baker joined the Salafi movement,[4] a fundamentalist branch of Sunni Islam.[2] Baker later earned a Master's degree in Business Administration and a PhD in Political Studies from the University of Exeter.[1][7]

Baker worked as a lawyer for ten years,[7] before becoming the Chairman of The Brixton Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre in 1994,[8] a position he held for 15 years.[2][5] While there, he persuaded radical Abdullah el-Faisal and his followers to leave the mosque after an armed standoff.[1] In 2007, Baker created a controversial initiative called Strategy to Reach, Empower and Educate Teenagers (STREET).[4]

Most of STREET's activities were typical of anti-gang youth initiatives,[2] but its de-radicalization program was unusual.[2][4] It was praised by experts and security professionals for its effectiveness,[4][5] but criticized by more liberal religious groups and Western countries for supporting the same literal interpretation of the Quran that radicalizes many terrorists.[2][4][5] Baker argued it was these very shared religious beliefs STREET had with at-risk Muslim youth that made it approachable.[4]

The British government cut funding of 300,000 pounds per annum to STREET in May 2010 after an election caused a change in political leadership.[2][5] Baker had resigned as Chairman of Brixton, but remained a trustee, in order to focus on the STREET program.[5]

According to his website, Baker now does research, lectures, and public speaking events on violence among religious extremists.[7] Baker developed the "Convert's Cognitive Development Framework," which describes the stages of a Muslim's conversion to and from violent radicalism. It has four stages: (1) Founding Phase [Conversion] (2) Youthful Phase [Formative] (3) Adult Phase [Foundational] (4) Mature Phase [Reflective].[9] Baker encourages institutions to move criminals and radicals to the self-reflective stage, whereby the citizen reflects on the world based on their own personal experiences, rather than emotions and propaganda.[9][10]

• Baker, Abdul (2011). Extremists in our midst : confronting terror. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK New York: Palgrave Macmillan. OCLC 758435166.

• Official website