Event Title: Dr. Zuhdi Jasser - "Islam, Islamists and the Relationship with America"

When:   Monday, October 11, 2010 (Dinner)

Where: Gainey Ranch Golf Club - 7600 Gainey Club Drive, Scottsdale, AZ 85258

By PCFR Member Susan Lavenson

M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D. is the President and Founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD). A devout Muslim, Dr. Jasser founded AIFD in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the United States as an effort to provide an American Muslim voice advocating for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, and the separation of mosque and state. He is leading the fight to shake the hold that the Muslim Brotherhood and their Network of American Islamist organizations and Mosques have on organized Islam in America.

A former Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy, Dr. Jasser served 11 years as a medical officer. 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 United States Congress. He is a recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal.

Dr. Jasser is a nationally recognized expert in the contest of ideas against political Islam and American Islamist organizations. He has spoken at hundreds of national and international events including colleges and universities, places of worship, government venues and many other public functions. On October 1, 2009, Dr. Jasser briefed members of Congress on the threat of Political Islam. He regularly briefs members of the House and Senate congressional anti-terror caucuses. In 2007 and 2008, Dr. Jasser lectured on Islam to deploying officers at the Joint Forces staff college. In 2007, Dr. Jasser was part of a select group that briefed Admiral Mike Mullen on the “Contest of Ideas with the Muslim World.” Dr. 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.

Dr. Jasser is a contributing writer to the newly released books The Other Muslims: Moderate and Secular, The Impact of 9-11 on Religion and Philosophy – The Day that Changed Everything, and Islamism – Contested Perspectives on Political Islam. Dr. Jasser is a respected physician currently in private practice in Phoenix, Arizona, specializing in internal medicine and nuclear cardiology. He is the recent Past-President of the Arizona Medical Association.

To read a recent article written by Dr. Jasser that appeared in the Wall Street Journal, please click here.