Best-selling author and acclaimed attorney Qasim Rashid will deliver the keynote address at the Islamic Cultural Celebration Banquet at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 12 in the Chandler Ballroom of University Center.
The banquet caps the week-long Islamic Cultural Celebration at UMW, which featured a kickoff dinner, the art of henna and an interfaith harmony discussion.
Rashid is a former visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Prince AlWaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies program and executive director of AMI APS, a human rights NGO dedicated to advancing international peace and security.
Qasim regularly speaks at universities and houses of worship, and interviews in a variety of media including the New York Times, FOX News, CNN, Muslim Television Ahmadiyya International, Huff Post Live, Al Jazeera, NBC, CBS, Voice of America, among several other national and international outlets.
Qasim is the former Chairman of the Muslim Writers Guild of America. He has served as a Volunteer Chaplain for the Virginia State Prison system and offered pro bono legal assistance to victims of domestic and sexual violence through the Virginia Poverty Law Center. Qasim, his wife Ayesha, and their three children reside in Virginia. He dreams of one day walking on another planet.