Muslim Reformers Oppose Appointment of Rashan Hussain as Top US Diplomat Responsible for Religious Freedom

***NEWS RELEASE***

For Immediate Release

December 2, 2021

CONTACTS: 

Hamilton Strategies, [email protected], Beth Harrison, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102

‘He Paved the Way for the Inroad of Islamist Groups, Governments, and Radicals’ Here

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC), a coalition of organizations and individuals committed to religious liberty and protecting Christians persecuted for trying to practice it, today urged members of the U.S. Senate to take note of an important warning by moderate American Muslims. In a press release issued yesterday, the Muslim Reform Movement announced its opposition to the nomination by President Biden of Rashad Hussain to be the next U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, citing concerns about his record of aligning with Sharia-supremacists and failing to stand with Muslims like them in favoring human rights for people of all faiths.

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser MD, President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy and a co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement, said:

“I served on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for four years from 2012 to 2016, and American Muslim organizations that serve as legacy groups for the Muslim Brotherhood are celebrating. They vociferously protested my appointment and now strongly support Rashad Hussain’s appointment as Ambassador at-Large for International Religious Freedom, just as they cheered his work as ‘Special Envoy’ to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation [OIC]. He paved the way for the inroad of Islamist groups, governments, and radicals to the United States, in his position as Organization of Islamic Cooperation Envoy and Observer for the United States under the Obama administration. There, he failed to be a voice for Muslims fighting the Islamist establishment, its ideology, and its crimes against Muslim dissidents across the world.

“As Muslims, we are dedicated to countering the idea of political Islam and its theocratic instruments that permeate the Islamist establishment globally. Mr. Hussain has been revealingly silent about the persecution of Muslim dissidents, including feminists, writers, poets, and artists, in Muslim majority nations where they face persecution, harassment, imprisonment, and even death. Mr. Hussain would have had to express the dangers of an Islamic theocracy and its shariah state, and to date he has failed to do so, instead pandering to those nations as Special Envoy from the U.S. to the OIC.” (Emphasis added.)

Another co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement, Asra Nomani, added:

“With the rise of Rashad Hussain within his administration, President Biden is sending a dangerous and troubling message to the brave Muslim men and women around the world who are defenders of human rights for the LGBTQ+ community, women, artists, dissidents and others. Mr. Hussain has protected and advanced the illiberal values of Islamic theocracies that perpetuate a disturbing and hateful ideology of Muslim supremacy, male supremacy, privilege, racism and misogyny, denying most of the citizens of its societies fundamental human rights, equality, and dignity.” (Emphasis added.)

The Muslim Reform Movement statement concluded by putting the Biden administration and U.S. Senate on notice: “This appointment will undermine the United States’ national security and further the agenda of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, its radicalization of Muslims and its support for Islamist anti-West establishments.” (Emphasis added.)

The concerns of these moderate Muslims further underscore the imperative need for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to insist that Rashad Hussain answer questions posed in an open letter sent to him on November 1st by Save the Persecuted Christians. It was signed by 124 organizations and individuals determined to establish the nominee’s attitude towards Sharia-supremacism and its inconsistency with the protection and promotion of true religious freedom. To date, Mr. Hussain has neither acknowledged nor responded to those 19 questions.

In light of the strong opposition of moderate Muslims to Rashad Hussain’s appointment and the nominee’s failure to address publicly legitimate questions bearing on his suitability for the sensitive post of America’s top diplomat responsible for safeguarding religious liberty around the world, Save the Persecuted Christians believes the Foreign Relations Committee and the full Senate are left with no choice but to put on hold further consideration of this controversial nomination.

The mission of Save the Persecuted Christians is to save lives and save souls by disseminating actionable information about the magnitude of the persecution taking place globally and by mobilizing concerned Americans for the purpose of disincentivizing further attacks on those who follow Jesus.

With so much of the world’s Christian population being imprisoned and/or harassed for their beliefs, such as Christians in Nigeria, the need has never been greater for the sort of grassroots campaign STPC’s SaveUs Movement is working to foster. Its efforts are modeled after a miraculously successful one that helped free another population suffering from heavy persecution—Soviet Jews—by penalizing those in the Kremlin responsible for such repression. Through this movement, Save the Persecuted Christians endeavors to provide American policymakers with the popular support they need to effect real change worldwide and alleviate systemically the suffering being experienced by so many of those following Christ.

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To interview a Save the Persecuted Christians representative, contact Hamilton Strategies, [email protected], Beth Harrison, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102.

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