Omar Suleiman

Omar Suleiman is an American imam of Palestinian descent, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on 3 June 1986. He is the founder and president of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research (2016), the resident scholar of the Valley Ranch Islamic Center in Irving, Texas, and a member of the Ethics Center Advisory Board at Southern Methodist University. He is known for social-justice activism, interfaith work, and books and recorded lectures that reach a wide audience. ^{1 2}

He was born in New Orleans to a Palestinian Muslim family. On his maternal side he descends from Muhammad Munib Hashem al-Ja'fari, the last Mufti of Nablus under Ottoman rule, according to what Suleiman himself published about his great-grandfather. ¹

He holds bachelor's degrees in accounting and Islamic law and master's degrees in Islamic finance and political history. He completed his doctorate in Islamic thought and civilization at the International Islamic University Malaysia in 2020, with a dissertation on a hermeneutical understanding of jihad through its historical contingencies. ¹

He served as imam of the Jefferson Muslim Association for six years, directed the "Muslims for Humanity" Hurricane Katrina relief effort in late 2005, and co-founded the East Jefferson Interfaith Clergy Association. In 2010 he received an award for outstanding civic achievement from the mayor and city council of New Orleans. ¹

In 2016 he founded the Yaqeen Institute, a Muslim research think tank. He is also the founding director of MUHSEN (Muslims Understanding and Helping Special Education Needs), a nonprofit umbrella organisation that aims to create more inclusive Muslim communities for people with disabilities and their families. ^{1 2}

He is resident scholar of the Valley Ranch Islamic Center and co-chair emeritus of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanks-Giving Square, a role he held as co-chair after September 2022. ¹

Suleiman has engaged in social-justice organising on many causes. In July 2016 he marched in Dallas against the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile; the demonstrations ended in a shooting in which five police officers were killed, and he was then invited to lead the invocation at the memorial service for the slain officers, attended by President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush. ¹

He led airport demonstrations in Dallas against the Trump administration's travel ban, was arrested on Capitol Hill in 2017 at a sit-in calling for comprehensive immigration reform, and later led a group of clergy to the U.S.–Mexico border to protest the family-separation policy. ^{1 2}

Since 2015 he has frequently visited Syrian refugee camps, delivering aid with Helping Hand for Relief and Development, including the Zaatari camp on the Jordanian-Syrian border. ^{1 2}

In March 2017, ISIS published a propaganda film, Kill the Apostate Imams, calling for the assassination of Suleiman and other Western-based scholars, in response to an interfaith video he had made with an American pastor calling for unity between Christians and Muslims. He responded: "I believe that their venom needs to be condemned. They've hijacked my religion." ¹

On 9 May 2019 he served as guest chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives and delivered the day's opening invocation, at the invitation of Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson. ¹

This section sets out different positions as reported in the sources. It is not a verdict by the museum.

His stated positions. He describes himself as "a student of Malcolm X," believes that "Muslim theology can be a source of liberation," and that "America is a work in progress, and the most patriotic Americans are those that demand it live up to its promise." After the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting he denounced homophobia, stating: "If you believe that homosexuality is immoral, that's fine, but you do not treat someone who's gay as less than you because they don't hold that belief." He has voiced support for the Black Lives Matter movement and worked with families of victims of police brutality. ¹

Criticism directed at him. The Algemeiner Journal accused Suleiman of sexism and homophobia for past remarks, such as stating that boys and girls could not hold platonic relationships and comparing homosexuality to bestiality. The museum records this accusation as attributed to its source, alongside his stated position above. ¹

The Colleyville crisis (2022). The Texas House of Representatives honoured Suleiman in March 2022 for his role during the Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis, in which he drove to the synagogue and volunteered to take part in hostage negotiations while congregants were held. ¹

His books include Prayers of the Pious (2019), Allah Loves... (2020), Repentance: Breaking Habits of Sin (2020), 40 on Justice: The Prophetic Voice on Social Reform (2021), Angels in Your Presence (2021), Meeting Muhammad (2022), and Wings of Faith: Patience and Gratitude (2022). ¹

He is married and has children, according to the two articles. This museum does not publish family details beyond what is needed to understand his work. ^{1 2}

He received New Orleans' outstanding civic achievement award in 2010; D Magazine called him "the Religious Leader Dallas Needs"; CNN featured him among 25 Muslim American change-makers; he is included in The Muslim 500 of the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre; and he was among 200 honorees recognised for Frederick Douglass's bicentennial in 2018. ¹

• The defined source entities cited above, recorded in data/source/.
• Revisions of this article must be dated, and must name the source that changed each fact.