Hussein Rashid

Academic. Speaker. Educator. Advocate.

Media Appearances

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.

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.”

Media Appearances Music

Media: WBUR on Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

hrashid

Four previously unknown recordings of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the Pakistani singer known as the ‘King of the Kings of Qawwali’ who died in 1997, have been rediscovered on a warehouse shelf in England. They’re released on a new album called “Chain of Light.”

Michael Brook — the Canadian guitarist and composer who recorded the newly released tracks with Kahn back in 1990 — and Hussein Rashid, a scholar of Muslim and U.S. culture, join us.

Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s unknown recordings discovered

Media Appearances

Media Appearance: God at the Movies

Hussein

God at the Movies: The Enduring Influence of Religion in Film

“Marvel is doing some interesting things with religion,” says Hussein Rashid, assistant dean for Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School. He mentions Loki and Thor about Norse Gods, and Moon Knightabout Egyptian Gods. “I am really curious to see if they will explore the Jewishness of The Thing, who is Jewish in the comics, in The Fantastic Four [2025].”

Events Media Appearances Religion

District 214 hosts World Religions Summit, explores religious diversity in a multicultural society

Hussein

District 214 hosts World Religions Summit, explores religious diversity in a multicultural society

The all-day summit brought together 75 students from four schools, classmates in the district’s World Religions courses. Keynote speaker Dr. Hussein Rashid, assistant dean of Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School, talked about religion in the cultural landscape — how religion and religious traditions are embedded in daily life — with Chicago as a model.

Courtesy of District 214
Media Appearances Religion

Muslim Footprints Podcast: 500-year History of Islam in America

hrashid

Our latest episode tells the story of how Islam arrived in America, possibly as early as the 1400s on ships from Europe and West Africa. 

We have two guests on this episode. One is Sylviane Diouf, a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice at Brown University. She has written of the role that Islam played in the lives of African Muslims enslaved in the Americas. Our other guest is Dr Hussein Rashid, assistant dean for Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School, whose research focuses on Muslims and US popular culture.

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