Muslim Response to Charlie Hebdo: Understanding the Root Causes of Radicalization
Thursday, January 22, 2015
9:00 to 10:30 a.m.
National Press Club
529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Ballroom
Washington DC 20045
Coffee and refreshments will be served
Speakers:
Dr. Radwan Masmoudi
President of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy
Dalia Mogahed
Author of Who Speaks for Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think
Nihad Awad
Executive Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations
Imam Talib M. Shareef
President and Imam of the Nation's Mosque
James Lesueur
Professor of History at the University of Nebraska
Moderator:
Dr. William Lawrence
Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE EVENT:
In the wake of the shocking terrorist attack on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, Muslims reacted almost unanimously to condemn these attacks, characterizing them as antithetical to the teachings of Islam. The French publication known for its satirical approach to many religion traditions, has in recent years focused increasingly, almost relentlessly, on satirical representations of the Prophet Mohamed. This forum is designed to go beyond condemnations and Islamophobic rhetoric to explore the religious, societal and geopolitical dynamics underlying recent events, moving beyond the superficial binary of Muslim radicals vs. free speech. The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) has assembled a panel of Muslim leaders and experts and to discuss the "Muslim response to Charlie Hebdo" and the root causes of radicalization.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES:
Dr. Radwan Masmoudi is the President of the Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID), a Washington-based non-profit think tank dedicated to promoting inclusive dialogue and democracy in the Muslim world. He is also the editor of the center's quarterly publication, "Muslim Democrat." He has written and published several articles and papers on the topics of democracy, diversity, human rights, and tolerance in Islam. He is active with local Muslim organizations and was elected member of the Board of Directors of the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. He is a member of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Tunisian Scientific Society (TSS), and a member of the board of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS) and the International Forum for Islamic Dialogue (IFID). In April 2012, he was elected as a member of the Steering Committee of the World Movement for Democracy. Under Radwan's leadership, CSID organized 15 Annual Conferences, bringing together thousands of scholars of Islam and democracy from all over the world. Radwan appears regularly on radio and television, including Voice of America, Fox News, CNN, CBS, CNBC, NPR, and Al-Jazeera.
Dalia Mogahed is the author of Who Speaks for Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think and Director of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU). Mogahed works on major research projects related to Muslim families and institutions. Mogahed is former Executive Director of the Gallup C
enter for Muslim Studies, where she led the analysis of surveys of Muslim communities worldwide. President Barack Obama appointed Mogahed to the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in 2009. She was invited to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations about U.S. engagement with Muslim communities, and she provided significant contributions to the Homeland Security Advisory Council's Countering Violent Extremism Working Group recommendations. She is a frequent expert commentator in global media outlets and international forums. She is also the CEO of Mogahed Consulting.
Nihad Awad is the National Executive Director and co-founder of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). As a national leader in the civil rights movement, Nihad has led multiple campaigns to defend the rights of Muslims and to help Americans of other faiths better understand Islam. Nihad has testified in both houses of the U.S. Congress on matters involving Muslims in America. In 1997 he served on the White House Civil Rights Advisory Panel to the Commission on Aviation Safety and Security. In 2004 he was named one of National Journal's more than 100 Most Influential People in the U.S. whose ideas will help shape the debate over public policy issues in the next decade. In 2012, he was named by a Georgetown University publication as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world. In 2010, Arabian Business ranked him 39th in the "Arabian Business Power 100" list, its annual listing of the most influential Arabs. Nihad has also been frequently interviewed in national and international media such as CNN, Fox, MSNBC, PBS, C-SPAN, Al-Jazeera, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, National Public Radio, and BBC.
Imam Talib Shareef is a retired Chief Master Sergeant of the
United States Air Force and is the President and 4th Imam of The Nation's Mosque, historic Masjid Muhammad, in Washington DC. Imam Shareef served as Imam in five U.S. cities, as Convener for the Georgia State Association of Imams, and as Islamic Faith Group Leader at seven military locations around the world. He co-founded the Muslim Military Members (MMM) which facilitated the first installation of a US military Islamic Chaplain. He co-organized the first US Muslim Military Hajj program in 1992. He is the National Chaplain/Imam of the Muslim American Veterans Association (MAVA) National. He is an advisor to and facilitated a home for the first American Islamic Heritage Museum (AIHM) in the Nation's Capital. He led the first Islamic funeral service and burial rites of a Muslim Veteran buried in a Department of Veterans administration (VA) National Cemetery. He established the burial process and procedures which are used for national VA training. Imam Shareef holds a Masters of Business Administration from American Intercontinental University, a Diploma from the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America, and a graduate of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Arabic and Middle East studies.
James Lesueur is a professor of history at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln and senior associate member of the Middle East Center at St. Antony's College, Oxford. He is the author several works including The Decolonization Reader, Uncivil War: Intellectuals and Identity Politics, and Algeria since 1980: Between Terror and Democracy. He is currently making two documentaries -- one on exiled writers from Muslim-majority states in the aftermath of the Salmon Rushdie Affair and another on the war on terrorism -- and writing a history of decolonization since 1919. He received his PhD in history from the University of Chicago. He could be followed on his twitter account @jameslesueur.
William Lawrence is Director for Middle East and North Africa programs at the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy. He is also a visiting professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University's Elliott School and was North Africa director from 2011 to 2013 at International Crisis Group. He previously served in a number of positions at the U.S. State Department, including as senior advisor for global engagement in the Bureau of Oceans and International and Scientific Affairs, where he advised the White House on core initiatives associated with President Obama's Cairo speech and co-created the Global Innovation Through Science and Technology Program (GIST) and the Global Muslim Science Partnerships Program. He is one author of After the Uprisings: Political Transition in Tunisia, Libya, and Yemen, and has published analysis and op-eds in Foreign Policy, the Guardian, Figaro, Slate Afrique, Jeune Afrique, Al-Hayat and Sharq al-Awsat and with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He holds a Ph.D. in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School's Department of Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization. He lived for 12 years in Muslim majority countries and co-created six documentary films and co-produced 14 albums of North African music, including the first internationally released Arab rap song.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE EVENT:
