The Voldemort effect is a social phenomenon where people are fearful of naming someone, to speak of something or acknowledge it exists, and therefore derail any attempt to confront it. [1] [2] The phrase takes cue from the line associated with Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series: 'he who must not be named', because they are terrified to name him or they deny his existence. [3] [4] [5] [6]
The expression was popularized by British activist Maajid Nawaz in 2015, where he applied it for analysts, experts, social commentators and politicians, among others, who are fearful or hesitant to call out the ideology of Islamism as the underlying cause of Jihadist terrorism. [7]
Nawaz stated that people refusing to acknowledge radical Islam are comparable to members of Hogwarts who refuse to mention Voldemort's name, and by declining to name him, they forestall an open discussion from taking place about an accomplishable solution, which therefore exacerbates the situation, causes more dread and panic, and further glorifies the myth of his powerful nature. [8] Majid says: "Refusing to name a problem, and failing to recognize it, is never a good way to solve it". [6]
The earliest usage of "Voldemort effect" was in an Australian infant health research in 2008 which reported that formula feeding was seldom named in publication titles or abstracts as a health risk factor for babies. [9]
The term was used in 2011 for American politics, which had a different meaning, and was used to describe politicians who point out their favorite political figures just to ardently cite the ability to "drive the other side crazy." [4]
In a 2013 Christian book, Holding Your Family Together by American author Dr. Rich Melheim, the term was first used with its current meaning; those who do not want speak the name of something that is frightening them or causing problems to them. The author encouraged the reader "to name that sucker out loud...We are going to call him what he is and who he is so that we can deal with real problem, not the myth", because after mentioning the unspeakable name, "The moment the silence is broken, the power starts to drain away from its sinister source and move in the direction of those who dare deal with it. [10]
"I call this the Voldemort effect, after the villain in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. Many well-meaning people in Ms. Rowling's fictional world are so petrified of Voldemort's evil that they do two things: They refuse to call Voldemort by name, instead referring to 'He Who Must Not Be Named,' and they deny that he exists in the first place. Such dread only increases public hysteria, thus magnifying the appeal of Voldemort's power."
After Nawaz's popularization of the phrase in 2015, it has since been used to criticize mainly left-wingers who vociferously condemn any legitimate criticism of Islam and instead bring up whataboutisms such as the Crusades, with some even going far as blaming those who have fell victim to Islamic extremism after mocking the religion (such as the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists). This position has influenced the term 'Voldemort effect'; in the Harry Potter series it is a taboo to mention the Dark Wizard's name, and the taboo in this situation is to merely state that Islamic fascism is a "politicized religion" that should be open for criticism. [11]
In 2015, the term was used by British counter-terrorism expert Haras Rafiq, who remarked that Islamic extremism is treated like a "Lord Voldermort" taboo topic in the United Kingdom, whereby, according to him, the failure to label and condemn Islamist ideology (by western leaders) for what it is has encouraged young people to join ISIS. Rafiq stated, "it has so far very much been a Voldemort effect – he who shall not be named – with no-one actually coming out and saying it is an Islamist ideology." [12]
The Obama administration in particular has been criticized for not acknowledging radical Islam, and instead opting for the "violent extremism" rhetoric. An example of the obfuscation was after the Orlando nightclub shooting in 2016, the administration released highly redacted transcripts of the shooter's conversation with 911 dispatchers; his sworn allegiance to ISIS and his self-description as an "Islamic soldier" were omitted from the transcripts. [6]
Radical may refer to:
Severus Snape is a fictional character in the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K. Rowling. In the first five novels, he is the professor of Potions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the sixth book, he teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts, and in the seventh book he ascends to the position of headmaster before his death. Snape is hostile, yet heroic towards Harry Potter throughout the series; Harry eventually learns that Snape was bullied by Harry's father, James Potter, and that he was in love with Harry’s mother, Lily Evans. This causes Snape to have mixed feelings towards Harry, who resembles his father greatly; but has his mother’s eyes.
Lord Voldemort is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K. Rowling. He first appears in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) and returns either in person or in flashbacks in each novel in the series except the third, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, in which he is only mentioned.
Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a fictional character in the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K. Rowling. For most of the series, he is the headmaster of the wizarding school Hogwarts. He is also the founder and leader of the Order of the Phoenix, an organisation dedicated to fighting the Dark wizard Lord Voldemort.
The Death Eaters are characters featured in the Harry Potter series of novels and films. They are a radical group of wizards and witches, led by the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, who seek to purify the wizarding community by eliminating wizards and witches born to non-magical parents. They attempt to create a new order within the Ministry of Magic by spreading fear through the wizarding community and murdering those who speak out against them. Their primary opposition is the Order of the Phoenix.
In the fictional universe of Harry Potter, magic is depicted as a supernatural force that overrides the laws of nature. In humans, magical ability is inborn and is usually inherited. Most children of magical parents are magical themselves. Some children of "Muggle" (non-magical) parents also display magical ability. Children who are born to wizard parents but are unable to perform magic are known as Squibs.
Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered to be far outside the mainstream attitudes of society. It can also be used in an economic context. The term may be used pejoratively by opposing groups, but is also used in academic and journalistic circles in a purely descriptive and non-condemning sense.
Qutbism is an exonym that refers to the Sunni Islamist beliefs and ideology of Sayyid Qutb, a leading Islamist revolutionary of the Muslim Brotherhood who was executed by the Egyptian government of Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1966. Influenced by the doctrines of earlier Islamists like Hasan al-Banna and Maududi, Qutbism advocates Islamic extremist violence in order to establish an Islamic government, in addition to promoting offensive Jihad. Qutbism has been characterized as an Islamofascist and Islamic terrorist ideology.
Harry James Potter is a fictional character in the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K. Rowling. The plot of the seven-book series chronicles seven years in the life of the orphan Harry, who, on his eleventh birthday, learns he is a wizard. He attends Hogwarts, a school of magic, where he receives guidance from the headmaster Albus Dumbledore and becomes friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Harry learns that during his infancy, the Dark wizard Lord Voldemort murdered his parents but was unable to kill him as well. The plot of the series revolves around Harry's struggle to adapt to the wizarding world and defeat Voldemort.
The following is a list of magical objects that appear in the Harry Potter novels and film adaptations.
The fictional universe of the Harry Potter series of novels contains two distinct societies: the "wizarding world" and the "Muggle world". The term "Muggle world" refers to a society inhabited by non-magical people ("Muggles"), while the term "wizarding world" refers to a society of wizards that live parallel to Muggles. The wizarding world is described as a veiled society wherein magic is commonly used and practised; the wizards live in self-enforced seclusion and hide their abilities from Muggles. The novels are set in 1990s Britain, which contains both Muggle and wizard communities. Any new works taking place in this universe are released under the Wizarding World brand.
Jihadism is a neologism for militant Islamic movements that seek to base the state on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief held by some Muslims that armed confrontation with political rivals is an efficient and theologically legitimate method of socio-political change. It is a form of religious violence and has been applied to various insurgent Islamic extremist, militant Islamist, and terrorist individuals and organizations whose ideologies are based on the Islamic notion of lesser jihad from the classical interpretation of Islam. It has also been applied to various Islamic empires in history, such as the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphates of the early Muslim conquests, and the Ottoman Empire. There were also the Fula jihads in West Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Maajid Usman Nawaz is a British activist and former radio presenter. He was the founding chairman of the think tank Quilliam. Until January 2022, he was the host of an LBC radio show on Saturdays and Sundays. Born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, to a British Pakistani family, Nawaz is a former member of the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir. His membership led to his December 2001 arrest in Egypt, where he remained imprisoned until 2006. While there, he read books about human rights and made contact with Amnesty International who adopted him as a prisoner of conscience. He left Hizb-ut-Tahrir in 2007, renounced his Islamist past, and called for a secular Islam. Later, Nawaz co-founded Quilliam with former Islamists, including Ed Husain.
Quilliam was a British think tank co-founded in 2008 by Maajid Nawaz that focused on counter-extremism, specifically against Islamism, which it argued represents a desire to impose a given interpretation of Islam on society. Founded as The Quilliam Foundation and based in London, it claimed to lobby government and public institutions for more nuanced policies regarding Islam and on the need for greater democracy in the Muslim world whilst empowering "moderate Muslim" voices. The organisation opposed any Islamist ideology and championed freedom of expression. The critique of Islamist ideology by its founders―Nawaz, Rashad Zaman Ali and Ed Husain―was based, in part, on their personal experiences. Quilliam went into liquidation in 2021.
Mohammed Shafiq is a British media personality known for his commentary on Islam in the United Kingdom.
Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism is a 2012 memoir by the British activist Maajid Nawaz, who is also a former Islamist. First published in the United Kingdom, the book describes Nawaz's journey "from Muslim extremist to taking tea at Number 10". The United States edition contains a preface for American readers and a new, updated epilogue.
Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue is a 2015 book collaboration between American author Sam Harris and British activist Maajid Nawaz. The book has been subsequently adapted into a documentary film of the same title.
Regressive left, also referred to as regressive liberals or regressive leftists, is a pejorative term to describe by its proponents a branch of left-wing politics that is accused of being accepting of, or sympathetic to, views that conflict with liberal principles, particularly by tolerating Islamism and other authoritarian positions, like promoting censorship. Among those who have used the term are the British political activist Maajid Nawaz, American political talk-show hosts Bill Maher and Dave Rubin, and New Atheist writers, such as Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins.
This is a list of individual liberal and progressive Islamic movements in Europe, sorted by country. See also Islam in Europe and Euroislam.
Bellatrix Lestrange (née Black) is a fictional character in the Harry Potter book series written by J. K. Rowling. She evolved from an unnamed peripheral character in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire into a major antagonist in subsequent novels. In the final installment of the story, Rowling established her as Lord Voldemort's "last, best lieutenant". Bellatrix was the first female Death Eater introduced in the books. Bellatrix had a fanatic obsession with the Dark Lord although she was clearly fearful of his magical abilities and absolute power over his forces. She is almost as sadistic and homicidal as Lord Voldemort, with a psychotic personality.
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