M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D., is the Founder and President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) and the author of “A Battle for the SoulofIslam: An American Muslim Patriot’ s Fight to Save His Faith” (Simon & Schuster, June 2012). On March 20, 2012, Jasser was appointed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) where he served two terms both as a Commissioner and Vice-Chair until May 2016.
A first-generation American Muslim, Jasser’s parents fled the oppressive Baath regime of Syria in the mid 1960’s for American freedom. A devout Muslim, he and his family have strong ties to the American Muslim community having helped lead mosques in Wisconsin, Arkansas, Virginia and Arizona.
In the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, Jasser and a group of American Muslims founded AIFD which promotes Muslim voices for liberty and freedom through the separation of mosque and state. They believe the root cause of Islamist terrorism is the ideology of political Islam (Islamism) and a belief in the supremacy of the Islamic state. AIFD’s primary projects include the Muslim Liberty Project (MLP) and the Muslim Reform Movement (MRM) which was launched in December 2015 and is comprised of a coalition of over 15 Western Muslim Leaders from the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The MRM has written a Declaration for Muslim Reform, a living document, which was presented to Muslim organizations, leaders and mosques across the U.S. in 2016, with hopes of using its principles to clearly separate radical Islamists from Muslims who believe in universal human rights. Dr. Jasser has continued to engage Muslim communities domestically in addition to globally including speaking tours to Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Jasser regularly briefs members of the House and Senate on the threat of Political Islam and testified over ten times before multiple committees of the United States House of Representatives since 2011 on topics ranging from American Muslim radicalization, the global threat of the Muslim Brotherhood, religious freedom, antisemitism, human rights abuses in Muslim majority nations, American foreign policy in the Middle East, and our American national strategy against the threat of Islamism and Islamist groups.
An internationally recognized expert on Islamism, Jasser is widely published on domestic and foreign issues related to Islam, Islamism, and modernity. His work has been featured in The National Review, The Washington Times, The New York Post, CNN, CBS, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, BBC and other national and international outlets. In addition, Jasser has spoken on nationally syndicated radio programs and hosts his podcast REFORM THIS! on the BlazeTV podcast network. He has also spoken at hundreds of national and international events including universities, places of worship, and government venues.
Jasser was presented with the 2007 Director’s Community Leadership Award by the Phoenix office of the FBI and was recognized as a “Defender of the Home Front” at the annual Keeper of the Flame Dinner of the Center for Security Policy in 2008. He is also a contributing writer to a number of books and is featured in four documentaries America at Risk, Islam v Islamists, A Question of Honor, and The Third Jihad.
Jasser earned his medical degree on a U.S. Navy scholarship at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1992 and served 11 years as a medical officer in the U. S. Navy. His tours of duty included Medical Department Head aboard the U.S.S. El Paso which deployed to Somalia during Operation Restore Hope; Chief Resident at Bethesda Naval Hospital; and Staff Internist for the Office of the Attending Physician to the U. S. Congress. He is a recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal. Jasser is a respected physician currently in private practice in Phoenix, AZ specializing in internal medicine and nuclear cardiology. He is a past President of the Arizona Medical Association. He and his wife and their three children live in Scottsdale, Arizona.
email: zuhdi@zliberty.com
office: 602-254-1840