Hussein Rashid

Academic. Speaker. Educator. Advocate.

Hussein

Books Media Appearances Religion Resources

Harvard Islamica Podcast

Hussein

In this episode, Dr. Hussein Rashid talks about his recently published volume, Islam in North America: An Introduction (Bloomsbury, 2024), which he co-edited with Huma Mohibullah and Vincent Biondo. Hussein discusses his trajectory as a scholar and how beginning his academic career in the post-9/11 world led him to believe in the importance of public-facing and accessible scholarship. The chapters of the book cover a wide range of topics related to Islam in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean and explore themes of race, gender, class, and sexuality, among others. Hussein sheds light on the long and little-known history of Muslims in North America, the changing perception of Muslims in the American imagination, and how Islamophobia/anti-Muslim bias and the racialization of Muslims manifest in the past and present.

Inter-faith Religion

Op-Ed: Understanding the Aga Khan, leader of Ismaili Muslims

Hussein

Understanding the Aga Khan, leader of Ismaili Muslims

The Aga Khan IV, who headed the Aga Khan Development Network, was often referred to as a philanthropist, a label that he himself called deeply inaccurate. According to broader Shi’ah belief, three interrelated elements are believed to elevate one another: faith, knowledge, and action. To increase in any one area, you must increase in the other areas as well, and together each amplifies the other. Most importantly, faith and knowledge without action is selfish and a denial of God’s blessings.

Media Appearances

RNS: Administrators at Harvard Divinity School quit, say school condoned hate

Hussein

Administrators at Harvard Divinity School quit, say school condoned hate

“Since I was a student here decades ago, I have been acutely aware of the anti-Muslim bias (amongst other racisms and discriminatory attitudes that exist here),” Rashid wrote. “That bias has only gotten worse and Harvard is not a space where I choose to spend my time. I have no interest in supporting an institution of white supremacy that actively seeks to harm me and mine.”

Events

Event: Muslim Community Gala hosted by Williams MSU and MCLA MSA

Hussein

The Muslim Student Union (MSU) is pleased to invite students, staff, faculty, and community members to the 2024 Muslim Community Gala, an evening dedicated to community and charitable giving. This event, hosted by Williams College and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, will bring together members of our local and academic communities for a night of charity, inspiration, and meaningful connection.

Event Overview:
⋆ A Formal Sit-Down Dinner

⋆ Keynote Address by Dr. Hussein Rashid, Assistant Dean for Religion and Public Life, Lecturer on Religion and Public Life, Harvard Divinity School

https://events.williams.edu/event/muslim-community-gala-hosted-by-williams-msu-and-mcla-msa

Events Politics Religion

Event: Religion and Democratic Ideals: Rematriation, Land, and Healing

Hussein

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2024, 6 – 7:30PM

This event is free and open to the public.

A liberal democracy should produce societies that are inclusive, equitable, dynamic, and responsive to the needs of citizens. This series will focus on where religion intersects with democratic ideals and institutions. We will discuss the outcomes we want from a democratic system and how such an analysis can help us construct pathways to achieving those goals.

This fourth session, “Rematriation, Land, and Healing,” features co-founder of Women of Bears Ears, Cynthia Wilson, and board member of Women of Bears Ears, Doreen Bird. Assistant Dean for RPL, Hussein Rashid, will act as moderator.

How we steward our land—and the lands of others—brings up essential questions of belonging, indigeneity, and spiritual and political governance. How do different types of stewardship impact how we enact democracy in and with the land we occupy? This session examines how we relate to the natural world around us and the possibilities—and obstacles—for strengthening those relationships through our democratic institutions.

Read this Q&A with Hussein Rashid, assistant dean for RPL, about the series and register for all four events.

 

Location Zoom Webinar

Sponsor Religion and Public Life

Contact rpl@hds.harvard.edu

Register

Events Politics Religion

Event: Religion and Democratic Ideals: Media, Religion, and the Nation

Hussein

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2024, 6 – 7:30PM

Religion and Democratic Ideals: Media, Religion, and the Nation

This event is free and open to the public. Register_Button

A liberal democracy should produce societies that are inclusive, equitable, dynamic, and responsive to the needs of citizens. This series will focus on where religion intersects with democratic ideals and institutions. We will discuss the outcomes we want from a democratic system and how such an analysis can help us construct pathways to achieving those goals.

This second session, “Media, Religion, and the Nation,” features Zeba Khan, San Fransisco Chronicle, Jesse Holland, George Washington University, and Syreeta McFadden, Borough of Manhattan Community College. Assistant Dean for RPL, Hussein Rashid, will act as moderator.

For decades, news media in the U.S. has been critiqued as reproducing structures of power and exclusion, including those in religions. While entertainment media has worked towards more inclusive storytelling recently, historically all media has been inconsistent in representing and engaging marginalized communities. This panel will examine how media framing creates our understanding of what the United States is and will discuss how we can be more literate media consumers.

Read this Q&A with Hussein Rashid, assistant dean for RPL, about the series and register for all four events.

Location Zoom Webinar

Sponsor Religion and Public Life

Contact rpl@hds.harvard.edu

Register

Books Events Inter-faith Religion

Event: Building the Beloved Community in Our Time

Hussein

Monday, SEPTEMBER 30, 2024 @ 15:30 EST

RSVP REQUIRED

Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, President of Sojourners and author of A More Perfect Union: A New Vision for Building the Beloved Community, will be sharing the vision outlined in his book, and discussing with Dr. Hussein Rashid and Rabbi Joseph Potasnik. Taylor previously led the Faith Initiative at the World Bank Group and served as the vice president in charge of Advocacy at World Vision U.S. and the senior political director at Sojourners. Taylor is a graduate of Emory University, the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology. Taylor is ordained in the American Baptist Church and the Progressive National Baptist Convention, and serves in ministry at the Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia.

RSVP to AKaram@Lead-Integrity.com latest by September 27

Abrahamic Faiths in Discussion Around Building the Beloved Community.pdf

Events Politics Religion

Event: Religion and Democratic Ideals: Political Futures

Hussein

TUESDAY, September 24, 2024, 6 – 7:30PM

This event is free and open to the public. 

A liberal democracy should produce societies that are inclusive, equitable, dynamic, and responsive to the needs of citizens. This series will focus on where religion intersects with democratic ideals and institutions. We will discuss the outcomes we want from a democratic system and how such an analysis can help us construct pathways to achieving those goals.

This first session, “Political Futures,” features RPL Organizing Fellow, Josh Wolfsun, and RPL Arts and Popular Culture Fellow, Angélique Roché. Assistant Dean for RPL, Hussein Rashid, will act as moderator.

Moving from the exigencies of the moment, this conversation focuses on creating new communities, generating solidarity, imagining different economies, and asks how we can make the politics of the possible a reality.

Read this Q&A with Hussein Rashid, assistant dean for RPL, about the series and register for all four events.

 

Location Zoom Webinar

Sponsor Religion and Public Life

Contact rpl@hds.harvard.edu

Register

Books Events Religion Teaching

Event: Book Talk: Islam in North America

Hussein

This event is free and open to the public. 

Co-editors Hussein Rashid and Huma Mohibullah discuss “Islam in North America: An Introduction.” After providing students with an introductory grounding in the field, chapters take a multidisciplinary approach, and focus on the expressions of Islam in its diverse forms. Students are encouraged to think beyond simple identifiers of “Muslim,” “American,” “Canadian,” or “Mexican”, and to consider how these identifiers exist in conversation with one another, and with others such as gender, class, race, sexuality, and ability.

The book provides a much-needed resource for students and instructors that acknowledges that Muslims navigate their identities in a world where Orientalist ideas continue to dominate politics, policy, and public imagination.

Featuring co-editors Hussein Rashid and Huma Mohibullah.

Please register by noon on Friday, September 20. Light snacks will be provided. Registration will still be accepted following this date.

Location Divinity Hall Room 114

Sponsor Religion and Public Life

Contact rpl@hds.harvard.edu

Register

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