I used to be in the Muslim Brotherhood. Here’s how you defeat terrorism

British lawmaker Sir David Amess was stabbed and killed two weeks ago. A 25-year-old man has been charged with his murder—and with terrorism. In fact, Amesss’ alleged killer, Ali Harbi Ali, was known to the British security services; he had been referred to their counter-terrorism program “Prevent” as a teenager.

Amess’s tragic murder is not only an example of a rising tide of terrorism; it is an important reminder of what we’re really fighting when we’re fighting terrorism. Contrary to what many in the West continue to believe, terrorism is not about a knife or bomb in the hands of a Muslim. It’s about a specific ideology that’s infected the minds of those vulnerable to it. As a U.K. prosecutor put it in regards to Amess’s alleged killer, “We will submit to the court that this murder has a terrorist connection, namely that it had both religious and ideological motivations.” And there is the key: Terrorism today is a perversion of religion into an ideology, and as such, it’s one that we can only truly fight at the level of ideas.

As a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood who was groomed from a young age, I speak firsthand of the dangers posed by this ideology; after all, the ability to systematically infiltrate a person’s mind is far more powerful than any physical act. One cannot hide a gun, but one can easily hide an ideology, as Amess’s murder has shown.

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