Omar Suleiman (imam)

Last updated

Omar Suleiman
Omar Suleiman.jpg
Suleiman in Durham, North Carolina, 2024.
Personal
Born (1986-06-03) June 3, 1986 (age 37)
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Religion Sunni Islam
NationalityAmerican
Children3
School Athari [1]
Jurisprudence Hanbali [1]
Alma mater International Islamic University Malaysia
Occupation
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2016–present
Subscribers6.5 million (Instagram, Facebook, X and Youtube) [2]
Total views300~ million [2]
Associated acts Muslim Speakers
YouTube Silver Play Button 2.svg100,000 subscribers
YouTube Gold Play Button 2.svg1,000,000 subscribers

Last updated: 24 February 2024
Senior posting
Website yaqeeninstitute.org

Omar Suleiman (born June 3, 1986) is an American Islamic scholar and civil rights activist. He is the founding president of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research and an adjunct professor of Islamic studies and member of the Ethics Center Advisory Board at Southern Methodist University.

Contents

Suleiman is also the Resident Scholar of the Valley Ranch Islamic Center and the Co-Chair Emeritus of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square. [3]

Early life and education

Omar Suleiman was born in 1986 in New Orleans to a family of Palestinian Muslims. [4] [5] He holds bachelor's degrees in accounting and Islamic law and Master's degrees in Islamic finance and political history. He completed doctoral studies in Islamic thought and civilization at the International Islamic University Malaysia. [6] [7] [8]

Career

After completing his doctoral degree in Malaysia, Suleiman returned to New Orleans and served as the imam of the Jefferson Muslim Association for six years, and as director of the "Muslims for Humanity" Hurricane Katrina relief effort in late 2005. He co-founded the East Jefferson Interfaith Clergy Association and received an award for outstanding civic achievement from the mayor and city council of New Orleans in 2010. [9]

In 2016, Suleiman founded the Muslim think tank Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research. [10] [11] He is also the founding director of MUHSEN (Muslims Understanding and Helping Special Education Needs), a nonprofit umbrella organization that aims to create more inclusive Muslim communities that better cater to the disabled and their families. [12]

He was (as of May 2019) Adjunct Professor of Islamic Studies at Southern Methodist University, where he was also a member of the Maguire Ethics Center Advisory Board. [13] [14]

He is (as of September 2022) Resident Scholar of the Valley Ranch Islamic Center and co-chair of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square. [15] [16]

Activism

Suleiman has engaged in social justice organizing and activism on a host of progressive causes. He said that Donald Trump's presidency "fatigues" American citizens. He also "considers [himself] a student of Malcolm X" and believes that "his most important contribution to the revolution is his idea that the greatest casualty of the subjugation of African Americans was the loss of black consciousness." He has expressed that "America is a work in progress, and the most patriotic Americans are those that demand it live up to its promise." He also believes that "Muslim theology can be a source of liberation." [17]

In July 2016, he marched with demonstrators in Dallas against the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. These demonstrations were eventually punctuated by a shooting in which five police officers were killed in retaliation for police shootings of African Americans. Suleiman recalls "an eternity of gunshots" ringing out just as the march came to a close. In the wake of the shooting, he was invited to lead the invocation at a memorial service for the slain officers attended by President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, then-former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, as well as George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush. [18]

Since 2015, Suleiman has frequently visited Syrian refugee camps delivering aid with Muslim humanitarian relief group Helping Hand for Relief and Development. [19]

Suleiman led airport demonstrations in Dallas in reaction to the Trump travel ban, which has since come to be known as the "Muslim ban" due to its restricting immigration from 7 predominantly Muslim-majority nations, as well as Trump's call for a temporary ban on Muslim entry into the U.S. following the 2015 San Bernardino attack, and again after the Orlando nightclub shooting. [20]

In 2017, Suleiman was arrested on Capitol Hill protesting outside of the office of then-House Speaker Congressman Paul Ryan. He had been participating in a sit-in demonstration calling for comprehensive immigration reform. He later led a group of clergy to the U.S.–Mexico border to protest in solidarity with and meet migrants affected by Trump's family separation policy. [21]

He has also worked to assist families of victims of police brutality, voiced support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and underscored the importance of anti-racism work more broadly. [22] [23] [24]

Suleiman has advocated on behalf of Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin and members of the Holy Land Foundation (also known as "the HLF 5"), such as Ghassan Elashi, whom Suleiman views as political prisoners. [25]

In December 2021, Suleiman was the keynote speaker at the Russell Tribunal on War Crimes on Kashmir hosted in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Hercegovina. [26]

2017 ISIL assassination threat

In March 2017, the Islamic State published a propaganda film, Kill The Apostate Imams, that called for the assassination of Suleiman and a number of other prominent Islamic scholars based in the Western world. The film was a response to an earlier video Suleiman had produced with American pastor Andrew Stoker of the First United Methodist Church Dallas, An Imam, a Pastor and a Dream, that called for unity between Christians and Muslims in the U.S. and worldwide. In response to the threat, Suleiman said: "I believe that their venom needs to be condemned. They’ve hijacked my religion." [27]

Awards and recognition

Suleiman's work in the fields of community service, interfaith dialogue, and social justice led to his award for outstanding civic achievement from the mayor and city council of New Orleans in 2010. [9]

He was featured as a "rising star" in Ozy Magazine and dubbed "The Religious Leader Dallas Needs" by D Magazine . [28] [29]

Suleiman was also the subject of a BBC documentary in 2016 highlighting the experience of Muslims in Texas facing rising Islamophobia, and a 2017 PBS documentary showcasing his work with Syrian refugees. [30] [31]

On May 9, 2019, Suleiman served as the congressional guest chaplain at the invitation of U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson and delivered the day's opening invocation. [32]

In addition to being recognized by CNN as one of 25 Muslim American change-makers, Suleiman was also included in The Muslim 500 , an annual ranking of the world's most influential Muslims compiled by The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman, Jordan. [33] [34]

In observation of Frederick Douglass's bicentennial, the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University and Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives recognized Suleiman among 200 honorees whose work was deemed to best embody the legacy of Douglass's commitment to social change. [35]

The Texas House of Representatives honored Suleiman in March 2022 for his role in assisting during the Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis. [36] As congregants in a Sabbath service were being kept hostage by a lone gunman, Suleiman drove to the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue and volunteered to partake in hostage negotiations. [37]

Published works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in the United States</span> Presence of the religion of Islam in the United States of America

Islam is the third largest religion in the United States (1%), behind Christianity (63%) and Judaism (2%), and equaling the shares of Buddhism and Hinduism. A 2017 study estimated that 1.1% of the population of the United States are Muslim. In 2017, twenty states, mostly in the South and Midwest, reported Islam to be the largest non-Christian religion. In 2020, the U.S. Religion Census found there to be 4.45 million Muslim Americans, or roughly 1.3% of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert B. Spencer</span> American anti-Muslim writer and blogger

Robert Bruce Spencer is an American anti-Muslim author and blogger, and one of the key figures of the counter-jihad movement. Spencer founded and has directed the blog Jihad Watch since 2003. In 2010 he co-founded the organization Stop Islamization of America with Pamela Geller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic views on evolution</span>

Islamic views on evolution are diverse, ranging from theistic evolution to Old Earth creationism. Some Muslims around the world believe "humans and other living things have evolved over time", yet some others believe they have "always existed in present form". Some Muslims believe that the processes of life on Earth started from one single point of species with a mixture of water and a viscous clay-like substance. Muslim thinkers have proposed and accepted elements of the theory of evolution, some holding the belief of the supremacy of God in the process. Some scholars suggested that both narratives of creation and of evolution, as understood by modern science, may be believed by modern Muslims as addressing two different kinds of truth, the revealed and the empirical. Others argue that faith and science can be integrated and complement each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yasir Qadhi</span> American Islamic scholar and preacher

Yasir Qadhi is a Pakistani American Muslim scholar and theologian. He is dean of The Islamic Seminary of America and resident scholar of the East Plano Islamic Center in Plano, Texas. He was formerly the dean of AlMaghrib Institute and taught in the religious studies department at Rhodes College. He currently serves as chairman of the Fiqh Council of North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zaid Shakir</span> American Islamic scholar

Zaid Shakir is an American Muslim scholar and co-founder of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California. He teaches courses on Arabic, law, history, and Islamic spirituality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dar Al-Hijrah</span> Mosque in Northern Virginia, U.S.

Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center is a mosque in Northern Virginia. It is located in the Seven Corners area of unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

Six western tourists and their two guides were kidnapped in the Liddarwat area of Pahalgam in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, India on 4 July 1995 by forty militants from the Kashmiri Islamist militant organisation Harkat-ul-Ansar, under the pseudonym of Al-Faran, in order to secure the release of Harkat leader Masood Azhar and other militants.

Suhail A. Khan is the Senior Fellow for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Institute for Global Engagement and Senior Director for External Affairs at Microsoft). Khan was previously a senior political appointee with the Bush administration, and a conservative political activist in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interfaith marriage in Islam</span>

In Islam, the permissibility for Muslims to engage in interfaith marriages is outlined by the Quran: it is permissible, albeit discouraged, for a Muslim man to marry Non-Muslim women as long as they are identified as being part of the "People of the Book" and it is not permissible for a Muslim woman to marry a Non-Muslim man. Thus, traditional interpretations of Islamic law do recognize the legitimacy of a Muslim man's marriage if he marries a Non-Muslim woman, but only if she is Jewish or Christian. On the other hand, a Muslim woman may not marry a Non-Muslim man. Additionally, it is required in Islam that the children of an interfaith marriage be Muslim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan A. C. Brown</span> American scholar of Islamic studies (born 1977)

Jonathan Andrew Cleveland Brown, born August 7, 1977, is a university academic and American scholar of Islamic studies. Since 2012, he has served as an associate professor at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He holds the Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization at Georgetown University.

Ovamir Anjum is a Pakistani-American academic. He is the Imam Khattab Chair of Islamic Studies at the Department of Philosophy, University of Toledo. He is the Editor-in-Chief at the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic studies and the founder of the Ummatics Institute. He studies the connections between theology, ethics, politics, and law in classical and medieval Islam, with a subfocus on its comparisons with western thought. Related fields of study include Islamic philosophy and Sufism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sid Miller (politician)</span> American politician (born 1955)

Sidney Carroll Miller is an American politician from Stephenville, Texas. He is the Texas Agriculture Commissioner, serving since January 2015. He is a Republican.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shamsi Ali</span> Moderate Indonesian Muslim Scholar (born 1967)

Imam Shamsi Ali is a prominent Indonesian Muslim Scholar known for promoting interfaith dialogues among Abrahamic Religions in United States and the Chairman of the Al-Hikmah Mosque and the Director of Jamaica Muslim Center in Jamaica, Queens, New York City.

There is a notable population of American Muslims in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Dallas-Fort Worth is home to sixty-two Sunni mosques and five Shia mosques. According to AbdelRahman Murphy, a Chicago-born, Irving-based Islamic teacher and Muslim community leader, other U.S.-based Muslims now refer to Dallas as the "Medina of America". Not only is Dallas Masjid Al Islam the oldest Muslim community in the DFW area, it established the first mosque in the city of Dallas and established the first Muslim school in the DFW area. As of 2021, many major Muslim organizations and charities have headquarters or operations in DFW, mostly located in Richardson, Texas such as: ICNA Dallas, Muslim American Society, Muslim Legal Fund of America, Helping Hands for Relief & Development, Sabrina Memorial Foundation, Islamic Relief USA, CAIR-Texas, and MA’RUF. There are also several institutions of research and higher education such as: Qalam Institute (Carrollton), ISRA Foundation (Plano), Bayyina Academy (Euless), and The Islamic Seminary of America (Richardson). -

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilhan Omar</span> American politician (born 1982)

Ilhan Abdullahi Omar is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Minnesota's 5th congressional district since 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before her election to Congress, Omar served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019, representing part of Minneapolis. Her congressional district includes all of Minneapolis and some of its first-ring suburbs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad Tawhidi</span> Muslim influencer and self-proclaimed reformist Imam (born c. 1982)

Mohammad Tawhidi, also known as the Imam of Peace, is an Australian Shia Muslim influencer and "Imam".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Loomer</span> American far-right activist (born 1993)

Laura Elizabeth Loomer is an American far-right and anti-Muslim conservative political activist, white nationalist, conspiracy theorist and internet personality. She was the Republican nominee to represent Florida's 21st congressional district in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections, losing to Democrat Lois Frankel. She also ran in the Republican primary for Florida's 11th congressional district in 2022, narrowly losing to incumbent Daniel Webster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noreen Muhammad Siddiq</span> Sudanese imam and Quran reciter (1982–2020)

Noreen Mohammad Siddiq was a Sudanese imam who was known for his recitations of the Quran. He was an imam of the Khartoum Grand Mosque, the Sayeda Sanhori Mosque, the Al-Nour Mosque, and other famous mosques within the capital city of Sudan, Khartoum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Usman Mansoorpuri</span> Indian Muslim scholar (1944–2021)

Muḥammad Usmān Mansoorpuri was an Indian Muslim scholar who served as the first National President of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind's Mahmood faction. He taught hadith at the Darul Uloom Deoband and served the seminary as a working rector.

Tehreek-e-soutul-Awliya, also written as Tehreek-e-Soutul Auliya, is an Indian Islamic Barelvi Sunni religious seminary and non-governmental organization based in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. It was founded by Abdul Rashid Dawooodi in 2005 as a small seminary.

References

  1. 1 2 El Masry, Shadee [@DrShadeeElmasry] (June 14, 2023). "Hanbali in fiqh & aqida" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 "About Yaqeen Institute". YouTube.
  3. "Religious Leadership". Valley Ranch Islamic Center. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  4. Abdelaziz, Rowaida (June 24, 2017). "Google Search Is Doing Irreparable Harm To Muslims". The Huffington Post . Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  5. Solis, Dianne (March 15, 2017). "Irving imam, who has denounced extremism, threatened in ISIS videos". Dallas News. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  6. "Dr. Omar Suleiman". AlMaghrib Institute . Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  7. "Meet Our Banquet Keynote Speaker, Sheikh Omar Suleiman". Council on American–Islamic Relations . Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  8. Suleiman, Omar (September 2020). "A Hermeneutical Understanding of Jihād through Its Historical Contingencies" (PDF). International Islamic University Malaysia. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  9. 1 2 "The Preacher". www.dmagazine.com. June 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  10. "2017–2018" (PDF). Yaqeen Institute. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 25, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  11. "Sh. Omar Suleiman". Yaqeen Institute. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  12. "Founder of Muhsen". www.muhsen.org. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  13. "Faculty". smu.edu. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  14. "Advisory Board Member". Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  15. "Leadership – Valley Ranch Islamic Center". Valleyranchmasjid.org. June 20, 2014. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  16. "Faith Forward Dallas | Thanks-Giving Square". Thanksgiving.org. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  17. "'A radical form of white supremacy deserves nothing less than a radical response'". TheGuardian.com . July 25, 2018.
  18. "This imam from Louisiana survived the Dallas shooting. He doesn't think America can wait to deal with race. | Public Radio International". Pri.org. July 13, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  19. "Perspective on Syrian Refugees: Imam Omar Suleiman". Religion & Ethics Newsweekly . PBS. February 10, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  20. "Prayers and protests as Dallas faithful react to Trump's immigration orders". Dallas News. January 29, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  21. Imam Omar Suleiman: He got arrested on Capitol Hill – CNN Video, May 3, 2018, retrieved July 30, 2020
  22. "twitter.com/omarsuleiman504/status/1169359973874327553". Twitter. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
  23. "American-Muslims on Black Lives Matter and anti-racism initiatives | altM". Alt Muslimah. Archived from the original on December 28, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  24. Omar Suleiman – Jummuah Khutbah | Facebook , retrieved August 27, 2021
  25. Suleiman, Omar (October 11, 2021). "The last casualty of 9/11: Speaking up for Muslim political prisoners". Religion News Service . Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  26. Kashmir Civitas to hold Russell Tribunal on Kashmir in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kashmir Media Service, December 17, 2021, retrieved January 8, 2022
  27. Paul, Jeff (March 13, 2017). "ISIS Calls For North Texas Imam's Assassination". CBS DFW . Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  28. Ellin, Theo (February 7, 2017). "The Man Trying to Turn Mosques Into Places of Sanctuary | Rising Stars". OZY. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  29. Macon, Alex (February 2017). "Omar Suleiman is the Religious Leader Dallas Needs Right Now". D Magazine. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  30. "United States Of Hate: Muslims Under Attack". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  31. "Perspective on Syrian Refugees: Imam Omar Suleiman". Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. February 10, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  32. "congressional record" (PDF). Congress.gov. May 9, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  33. Burke, Daniel; Stix, Madeleine; CNN. "25 Influential American Muslims". www.cnn.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.{{cite web}}: |last3= has generic name (help)
  34. "Omar Suleiman". The Muslim 500. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  35. Petrella, Christopher (July 25, 2018). "'A radical form of white supremacy deserves nothing less than a radical response'". the Guardian. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  36. Richmond, Adria (March 11, 2022). "Maguire Board member honored with proclamation from Dallas County, Texas House of Representatives". The SMU Maguire Ethics Center Blog. Southern Methodist University. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  37. Boorstein, Michelle (January 17, 2022). "Synagogue hostage standoff reveals interfaith progress — as well as entrenched hate". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 13, 2022.

Further reading