EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
Author of “The Wrong Kind of Muslim”, CNN calls Qasim “…an effective source on a wide range of religious issues” and The Huffington Post adds, “Qasim offers insightful commentary on issues Muslims in America face.” In 2011, The Huffington Post ranked Qasim’s Twitter feed @MuslimIQ as ‘Top Ten Muslim Voices on Twitter.’
Qasim Rashid, Esq. was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He migrated with his family to the United States in 1987. After a short stint in Washington, D.C., Qasim and his family moved to the Chicago area in 1988. Qasim received his Bachelor’s of Science in Marketing from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Qasim received his juris doctorate from the University of Richmond School of Law. Upon graduation, the Richmond Law faculty recognized Qasim with the prestigious Nina Kestin Service award for most significant contribution to the University, community, and legal profession.
The Wrong Kind of Muslim is Qasim’s first solo non-fiction authored work. In addition, he has contributed to Towards a Greater Jihad: Using the Pen in Islam’s Defense (2008) and By the Dawn’s Early Light: Short Stories by American Converts to Islam (2009). He blogs for The Huffington Post, Washington Post, and CNN. His work has additionally appeared in USA Today, National Public Radio, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Virginia Pilot, San Francisco Chronicle, among various other national and international outlets. Qasim regularly interviews in a variety of media including the New York Times, Pittsburg Post-Gazette, Muslim Television Ahmadiyya International, Huff Post Live, NBC, CBS, the Christopher Gabriel Program, Voice of America, among several other national and international outlets. He also regularly lectures on Islam and human rights at various universities and places of worship worldwide.
Qasim has won numerous awards for his community service, activism, and writing. He is the 2012 Nina Kestin Service Award recipient, 2012 CALI Award for Human Rights recipient, 2012 Walter Scott McNeill Legal Writing Competition finalist, 2012, 2011, and 2010 Muslim Writers Guild of America Award for Writing Excellence recipient, 2011 and 2009 President’s Volunteer Award for Social and Civic Participation recipient, 2011 CALI Award for Islam, Law, and Society recipient, 2011 DRI Diversity Scholarship recipient, 2011 Richmond Journal of Global Law and Business Legal Writing Competition Winner, 2010 Oliver W. Hill Social Justice Scholarship recipient, 2010 WMACCA Corporate Law Scholarship recipient, and he has won numerous Muslim Youth USA national English poetry competitions.
Qasim serves as the current Chairman of the Muslim Writers Guild of America, serves as a Volunteer Chaplain for the Virginia State Prison system, and also offers pro bono legal assistance to victims of domestic and sexual violence through the Virginia Poverty Law Center.
Qasim is a practicing attorney in Richmond, Virginia, where he resides with his wife and two children.
Date:
January 16, 2013