Maajid Nawaz: ‘I never claimed to represent Muslims but I am sorry’ Maajid Nawaz says he is sorry for having attended a strip club if it offended his fellow Muslims.

The Lib Dem candidate and Quilliam Foundation Director posted a detailed statement on his Facebook page following Sunday's revelations that showed him at a lap dancing club during his stag night.

He said he did not ever claim to represent Muslims but if some Muslims found it offensive then he was 'sorry'. He also apologised to fellow Liberal Democrat party members for the incident and in particular to his wife.

He said, "It doesn't matter if you are in the right. It doesn’t matter if lots of ‘ordinary people’ do the same. In times such as these, the public wants a hero. They do not want an ‘ordinary’ person”.

These words were uttered to me by my ever wise wife Rachel, after footage of my stag night in London was vindictively leaked to the press.

“In writing this statement I had to think long and hard about whether to come out guns blazing in robust defence of my perfectly legal private actions, of which Rachel had full knowledge, or whether to focus on what I could learn from this episode.

“Should I wax lyrical about the evident set-up sprung upon me by a bitter club owner who felt perfectly comfortable being a Muslim himself, and owing a strip club, yet felt religiously affronted that I - another Muslim - should be taken to his establishment by my best man to celebrate during my last few months of bachelorhood?

“Should I focus on that Daily Mail headline: “Married”? It was a stag night. I was obviously not yet married. But no, Rachel’s wise words and grace in the face of such a public violation of our privacy continued to play on my conscience: “people will be people, Maajid. You must be better”.

He said he attended the club on a stag night before his marriage.

“However, even if it were after my marriage, Rachel had already known about it.

“As a liberal, what consenting adults do in private - whether in or out of wedlock - is not for me to judge. In current times, our moral uproar is best reserved for those who aspire to stone men or women to death, not those who consensually watch women, or men for that matter, dance.

“In fact, please be prepared to see me again around London sometime, you may even catch me dancing. As long as Rachel is happy, I will not suddenly stop going out. And if you see me, do come over and say hello.

“A main question that arises here is the question of hypocrisy. Of my being a Muslim, and a self-described feminist.

“On being a Muslim, I have lost count of the number of times I have stated that I am a “non-devout” Muslim, including in the Mail newspaper itself. I certainly do not claim to be a religious role model.

“My work through Quilliam in challenging extremism and promoting human rights is political and social work. I do not proscribe “good” religion. I never describe myself as a representative of Muslims in media, and speak as a liberal, who happens to be a non-devout Muslim, with a unique experience and insight into Islamist extremism.

“Therefore, my fellow Muslims, I am genuinely sorry that my being in a strip club during a stag night offended you, but I never claimed to represent our religion.”

He said he was sorry to his Liberal Democrat colleagues, ‘for distracting them from important campaign work due to a decision made in the moment.’ “I am sorry to those who respect the counter-extremism work that I do, for placing them in a position of having to defend my rights, rather than praise my choices.

“And I am sorry to my fellow Muslims, because though I never claim to speak on their behalf, their widespread offence indicates that perhaps they wish I was a better role model for them.

“For all of you, I will try harder to live better, not just remain within my rights, but to do what is right. Rachel was correct, in times such as these, people need more than just ‘ordinary’.”