Media Appearances

For many Muslims, Ramadan is a built-in digital detox program – Religion News Service

Hussein May 15, 2019

For many Muslims, Ramadan is a built-in digital detox program – Religion News Service.

Hussein Rashid, who teaches Islamic studies at The New School, is also trying to cut back on gaming this Ramadan as part of his ongoing pursuit of a more “mindful” use of technology. Back in 2016, Rashid was spending well over an hour on Facebook every day when he decided to log out for the month of Ramadan. 

‘The idea that Facebook promoted a false sense of self was really resonating with me and I started thinking about how Facebook encourages the nafs,” he said, using an Arabic word often used to describe one’s ego or animalistic self. At the end of the month, he realized he was both happier and more productive, engaging in less pointless arguments and idle chatter. The next year, he decided to delete it entirely. 

“For me, part of developing spirituality is being honest with yourself and people you want to connect with,” he said. “Facebook was encouraging my worst attributes, my nafs, my ego, and pushing me to say, ‘Look how great I am. This is what’s happening in my life.’”

Exploring the Intersection of Faith and Environmental Justice with Theologian Hussein Rashid – Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4)

Hussein February 26, 2019

Exploring the Intersection of Faith and Environmental Justice with Theologian Hussein Rashid – Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (AC4).

Theologian Hussein Rashid discusses the challenges and possibilities he sees in environmental justice work today.

With limited involvement from adjuncts, Barnard diversity initiatives fail to reach full potential – Columbia Daily Spectator

Hussein February 14, 2019

With limited involvement from adjuncts, Barnard diversity initiatives fail to reach full potential – Columbia Daily Spectator.

When former Barnard adjunct professor Hussein Rashid, CC ’96, first came to Columbia, he navigated his way through his undergraduate years as a first-generation low-income student with some difficulty. Twenty years later, when he returned as an adjunct professor of religion, he also took on an informal advising role in order to pass on his knowledge to students at Barnard. 

“I’d talk to students about being a student of color when I was in school versus what it’s like now, what it’s like being a Muslim on campus, what it’s like being first generation and being on a lot of financial aid and still being conscious of class, as they themselves try to navigate that space,” Rashid said. 

Rashid is just one of Barnard’s many adjunct faculty members who have been making an active effort to facilitate conversations surrounding diversity, inclusivity, and equity in the classroom.

Muslim Girlhood, Past and Present: A Conversation with Shenila Khoja-Moolji – BLARB

Hussein February 7, 2019

Muslim Girlhood, Past and Present: A Conversation with Shenila Khoja-Moolji – BLARB.

HUSSEIN RASHID: Why did you decide to write a book about Muslim girls and their education? And why Muslim South Asia? SHENILA 

KHOJA-MOOLJI: I had been researching and writing about the convergence on the figure of the girl in international development policy and practice for some time. I noticed that many development campaigns portray girls in the Global South as not only threatened by poverty, disease, and terrorism, but also as holding the potential to resolve these problems.

Watch This Animated Tale of ‘The Secret History of Muslims in the U.S.’ | Colorlines

Hussein December 20, 2018

Watch This Animated Tale of ‘The Secret History of Muslims in the U.S.’ | Colorlines.

Islamophobic fearmongering about Muslims in the United States ignores the ways they have influenced the country from its inception. Dr. Hussein Rashid, a professor of religion at Barnard College, chronicles this history from 1492 to today in an animated short from The New York Times yesterday (December 17)

Islam in America: What you don’t know about Islam’s U.S. roots

Hussein November 16, 2018

Islam in America: What you don’t know about Islam’s U.S. roots.

“A lot of people might assume Muslim immigration started in 1965 when the U.S. had a period of immigration reform, others will date it back to the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, yet others to the 9/11 attacks, but usually no one looks farther back than the 1960s and certainly not beyond the 20th century for this history at the popular level,” said Hussein Rashid, who teaches at Columbia University.

9/11, Its Lingering Effects On US Policies, And Trump | News | teleSUR English

Hussein September 12, 2018

9/11, Its Lingering Effects On US Policies, And Trump | News | teleSUR English.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the government’s ban, albeit a narrower version of its predecessors, further vilifying Muslims and legitimizing their discrimination. 

Hussein Rashid, professor of religion at Columbia University, says that the ruling wasn’t surprising in that it has often ruled “in favor of discrimination.” 

However, the highest court’s decision highlights that particularly since the 1978 Iranian Revolution and the 9/11 attacks, “Muslims have been “racialized”: bound together and stereotyped, instilling an idea of Muslims as a foreign threat and brown-skinned,” that includes anyone from South Asia or the Arab world, wrote Rashid after the ruling.

Travel ban decision follows the Supremes’ record of racial classification – Religion News Service

Hussein June 28, 2018

Travel ban decision follows the Supremes’ record of racial classification – Religion News Service.

Whether viewed in terms of contemporary politics or American history, the Supreme Court’s ruling on President Trump’s travel ban against several Muslim-majority countries is not surprising. The court has safeguards designed to make it apolitical, but it is never immune to its immediate surroundings on Capitol Hill. Historically, as long as the people support its decisions, the court has ruled in favor of discrimination. 

And when it comes to admitting people to these shores and welcoming them to the American nation, the court almost never acts for the rights promised in the U.S. Constitution without first denying them.