'US is more open than many Muslim countries'

Quoting freely from the Quran in his speeches. Rashad Hussain speaks flawless Arabic.

For the 32-year-old US Special Envoy, visiting Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) was a "homecoming experience".  Hussain's mother and many kin are alma mater from the prestigious university. 

Hussain, the US Special Envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Conference, is on a nine-day visit to India to discuss his position as part of the US government's effort to engage Muslims around the world on a people-to-people and organizational level. 

Speaking at AMU on Monday, Rashad Hussain said the Obama administration was steadily bridging gaps "believed to take decades" to repair.

Even when bombarded with queries on conspiracy theories by the US, Rashid did not lose his cool as he tried to explain to faculty and students that religious extremism is a genuine problem and Muslims "needed to confront it". 
 
Hussain, known for lashing out at people suggesting the American foreign policy resulted in terrorism, said, "A recent estimate suggested that about 80-90 per cent of the casualties of the so-called religious terrorist bombings are from the Muslim community. How is the US foreign policy impacting deaths of our Muslim brothers and sisters while they come out of mosques after offering their Friday prayers? I don't hear Muslims protesting and condemning these bombings and attacks as vehemently as they criticize the US policies." 
 
Hussain, the US Special Envoy to the Organisation of Islamic Conference, said within the first year of Obama's June 2009 Cairo speech, many changes have been seen in the US administration's approach to the Muslim world.
 
"Earlier, the Muslim world would be considered for just drafting anti-terror policies; they would be seen as a problem. Today, the Obama administration has drafted a broad framework for engaging Muslim countries in dialogues in fields varying from science, technology, education and healthcare. The administration has realised that usage of words like jihadists, Islamic terrorism and Islamists is counter-productive," Hussain said.
 
Speaking on the improved US foreign policy, Hussain said the Obama administration had reduced the presence of military troops in Iraq to 80,000, which will further be reduced to 50,000 next month. He said that the administration would clear out all troops from the region by the end of this year.
 
The biggest achievement of the present administration is that it has accepted a two-state solution for the Arab-Israeli conflict and is working towards it, Hussain said. 
 
Hussain criticised the so-called Muslim countries which raised doubts about US allowing Muslims to practice their religion freely, saying that he felt US was more open than some Muslim countries. He said that the women in his family are all professionals, but still wear the hijab. It was in some Muslim countries, he claims, where women were not allowed to wear the hijab or men not allowed to study in madrassas.
 
Reacting to an allegation that terror was "sponsored" by outside forces, Hussain said blaming "conspiracy theories" were a major reason that holds the Muslim world back.
 
Hussain's father, Mohammad Hussain, had migrated to Chicago in 1969. His mother, Dr. Ruqayya Hussain did her graduation at AMU. He has family roots in Gorakhpur, Patna and Aligarh. He is a product of Yale School.

Image: Rashad Hussain