Arsalan Iftikhar
Encyclopedia
Arsalan Iftikhar is an American international human rights
lawyer, global media commentator and author of the book Islamic Pacifism: Global Muslims in the Post-Osama Era. Arsalan is the founder of www.TheMuslimGuy.com and also a regular weekly commentator for the National Public Radio (NPR) show "Tell Me More
" with Michel Martin. In addition to published columns and articles worldwide, he is also a regular contributing writer for CNN.com and Esquire Magazine (Middle East edition).
i descent and Contributing Editor for Islamica magazine
, a contemporary global affairs magazine headquartered in Los Angeles and with editorial offices in London, Amman and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Arsalan is a contributing writer for DiversityInc magazine and a regular weekly contributor on the Barbershop segment for the National Public Radio (NPR) show ‘Tell Me More
’ with Michel Martin. Arsalan is also the former National Legal Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Arsalan's interviews, commentaries and analyses have regularly appeared in virtually every major media outlet in the world including: CNN
, BBC World News, The TODAY Show
, National Public Radio (NPR), Fox News Channel, MSNBC
, Associated Press
, C-SPAN
, Voice of America
(VOA), Al-Jazeera, Agence France Press (AFP), USA TODAY
, NBC Nightly News
, The Washington Post
, ABC World News Tonight, Los Angeles Times
, CBS News Up to the Minute, The New York Times
, Rolling Stone
, TIME
, The Economist
, and Newsweek
magazine (among dozens others worldwide).
He is also a regular contributor to CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 blog at AC360.com and his opinion columns have appeared in major publications such as: CNN
.com, USA TODAY
, Houston Chronicle
, Detroit Free Press
, The Providence Journal
, San Diego Union-Tribune, Charlotte Observer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, Kansas City Star, Miami Herald and many more.
In March 2008, Arsalan was one of four international debaters selected to participate in The Doha Debates on BBC
World Television. The Doha Debates are broadcast to over 300 million people worldwide on BBC World Service Television and its stage has been shared with the likes of Nobel Peace Prize
winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former United States
President Bill Clinton
. Arsalan and his debate partner argued for the motion: "This House believes that Muslims are failing to do enough to combat extremism." (He and his partner won the debate).
In addition to The Doha Debates, some of Arsalan’s other international speaking venues have included: Harvard University
, Stanford University
, Georgetown University
, Mount Holyoke College
, Washington University in St. Louis
, Johns Hopkins University
, University of Pennsylvania
, The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, University of Michigan School of Law, The Rockefeller Foundation, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) and The British Museum in London
.
Additionally, Arsalan was cast as a movie extra in the Warner Brothers spy movie thriller Body of Lies
(October 2008) starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. Arsalan was also a contributing author to Taking Back Islam (Rodale Press), winner of the 2003 Wilbur Communications Award for Religion Book of the Year. In 2006, the French Ambassador to the United States personally selected Arsalan for the Personnalites d’Avenir (Personalities of the Future) World Leader Program in Paris sponsored by the French Foreign Ministry.
Arsalan graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1999 and received his Juris Doctor
law
degree from Washington University School of Law
in 2003. A native of Chicago, he specializes in international human rights law and is licensed to practice law in Washington DC.
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
lawyer, global media commentator and author of the book Islamic Pacifism: Global Muslims in the Post-Osama Era. Arsalan is the founder of www.TheMuslimGuy.com and also a regular weekly commentator for the National Public Radio (NPR) show "Tell Me More
Tell Me More
Tell Me More is a National Public Radio daytime interview show hosted by journalist Michel Martin. Tell Me More was first introduced in a novel way; it was made available online in December 2006 through an "open piloting" program called "Rough Cuts." Martin and the show's producers provided a...
" with Michel Martin. In addition to published columns and articles worldwide, he is also a regular contributing writer for CNN.com and Esquire Magazine (Middle East edition).
Biography
Arsalan Iftikhar is an international human rights lawyer of PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i descent and Contributing Editor for Islamica magazine
Islamica Magazine
Islamica Magazine was a quarterly magazine in the United States with editorial offices in Amman, Jordan, Cambridge, MA and London, UK., dedicated to presenting various perspectives and opinions on Islam and the Muslim world...
, a contemporary global affairs magazine headquartered in Los Angeles and with editorial offices in London, Amman and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Arsalan is a contributing writer for DiversityInc magazine and a regular weekly contributor on the Barbershop segment for the National Public Radio (NPR) show ‘Tell Me More
Tell Me More
Tell Me More is a National Public Radio daytime interview show hosted by journalist Michel Martin. Tell Me More was first introduced in a novel way; it was made available online in December 2006 through an "open piloting" program called "Rough Cuts." Martin and the show's producers provided a...
’ with Michel Martin. Arsalan is also the former National Legal Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Arsalan's interviews, commentaries and analyses have regularly appeared in virtually every major media outlet in the world including: CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, BBC World News, The TODAY Show
The Today Show
Today is an iconic American morning news and talk show airing every morning on NBC. Debuting on January 14, 1952, it was the first of its genre on American television and in the world. The show is also the fourth-longest running American television series...
, National Public Radio (NPR), Fox News Channel, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, C-SPAN
C-SPAN
C-SPAN , an acronym for Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, is an American cable television network that offers coverage of federal government proceedings and other public affairs programming via its three television channels , one radio station and a group of websites that provide streaming...
, Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
(VOA), Al-Jazeera, Agence France Press (AFP), USA TODAY
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, ABC World News Tonight, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, CBS News Up to the Minute, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, TIME
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
, The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
, and Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine (among dozens others worldwide).
He is also a regular contributor to CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 blog at AC360.com and his opinion columns have appeared in major publications such as: CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
.com, USA TODAY
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
, Detroit Free Press
Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...
, The Providence Journal
The Providence Journal
The Providence Journal, nicknamed the ProJo, is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, Rhode Island and is the largest newspaper in Rhode Island. The newspaper, first published in 1829 and the oldest continuously-published daily newspaper in the United States, was purchased...
, San Diego Union-Tribune, Charlotte Observer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
, Kansas City Star, Miami Herald and many more.
In March 2008, Arsalan was one of four international debaters selected to participate in The Doha Debates on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
World Television. The Doha Debates are broadcast to over 300 million people worldwide on BBC World Service Television and its stage has been shared with the likes of Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. Arsalan and his debate partner argued for the motion: "This House believes that Muslims are failing to do enough to combat extremism." (He and his partner won the debate).
In addition to The Doha Debates, some of Arsalan’s other international speaking venues have included: Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
, Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
, Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
, Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
, University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, University of Michigan School of Law, The Rockefeller Foundation, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections...
(OSCE) and The British Museum in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Additionally, Arsalan was cast as a movie extra in the Warner Brothers spy movie thriller Body of Lies
Body of Lies (film)
Body of Lies is a 2008 American spy film directed by Ridley Scott. Set in the Middle East, it follows the attempts of the CIA and Jordanian Intelligence to catch "al-Saleem", a fictional jihadist terrorist...
(October 2008) starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe. Arsalan was also a contributing author to Taking Back Islam (Rodale Press), winner of the 2003 Wilbur Communications Award for Religion Book of the Year. In 2006, the French Ambassador to the United States personally selected Arsalan for the Personnalites d’Avenir (Personalities of the Future) World Leader Program in Paris sponsored by the French Foreign Ministry.
Arsalan graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1999 and received his Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
degree from Washington University School of Law
Washington University School of Law
Washington University School of Law , is a private American law school located in St. Louis, Missouri. The law school is one of the seven graduate and undergraduate schools at Washington University in St. Louis....
in 2003. A native of Chicago, he specializes in international human rights law and is licensed to practice law in Washington DC.