American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD)

Jasser is the main force driving AIFD through regular media appearances promoting American constitutionalism. ³

Background

M. Zuhdi Jasser founded the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) following the 9/11 terror attacks on the United States as an effort to provide an American Muslim voice advocating for the founding principles of the United States Constitution. Jasser is a first-generation American Muslim whose parents fled Ba’ath Party-ruled Syria in the mid-1960s. He has expressed hope that AIFD can combat the Muslim Brotherhood’s influence and network of Islamist organizations and mosques in the U.S. ²

Activities

The American Islamic Forum for Democracy has three main programs. First, the Public Engagement Project is a national media campaign for which M. Zuhdi Jasser and AIFD staff have made over 182 media appearances and reached an audience of over 48 million people through daily media engagement, AIFD’s podcast Reform This! and televised town hall meetings. During each media engagement, AIFD argues against Islamists and their non-Muslim allies while convincing its audience of the compatibility of American liberty and Islam. Jasser is a regular guest on right-of-center media personality Mark Levin’s show, including a January 5, 2025 interview during which Jasser called for an “offense of pro-Americanism” to combat radical ideologies. ^{4  3  5}

AIFD is a member of the Muslim Reform Movement, an international coalition of Muslim organizations opposed to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist organization that fights for what it calls “a respectful, merciful and inclusive interpretation of Islam,” including equal rights for women. M Zuhdi Jasser is a founding member of the movement. ⁶

AIFD maintains the Muslim Liberty Project, a retreat and event planning group that organizes, mentors, and supports American Muslim youth ages 15 to 30 in reconciling their American and Muslim identities and trains them to identify Islamist ideas and become Muslim advocates for liberty with a Western view of human rights. ⁷

AIFD is also involved in the American Islamic Leadership Coalition (AILC), a broad-based coalition of diverse Muslim organizations that provides a stark alternative to the domestic and global network of Islamist organizations. ²

Leadership

M. Zuhdi Jasser is the founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. Jasser earned his medical degree on a U.S. Navy scholarship at the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1992. He served 11 years as a medical officer in the U. S. Navy. His tours of duty included Medical Department Head aboard the USS 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 U. S. Congress. He is a recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal and is a respected physician, specializing in internal medicine and nuclear cardiology. He is a past-president of the Arizona Medical Association. ^{2 8}

Jasser is also actively involved in the Syrian-American community as the co-founder of Save Syria Now!, an advocacy group formed by Syrian-Americans to put pressure on the United States to depose the regime of former Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. Jasser has also been a member of the Syrian Democracy Council which is creating an opposition roadmap for a free, secular, and non-Islamist Syria. He briefed members of the U.S. House of Representatives on the situation in Syria in July 2011 and is an internationally recognized expert in the contest of ideas against political Islam and American Islamist organizations. He has been featured in major television news programs and nationally syndicated radio programs. He is also a contributing writer to a number of books and is the author of The Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith. ^{2  8}

Jasser regularly briefs members of the U.S. House and Senate anti-terror caucuses on the threat of Islamism. He testified before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security in March 2011 on “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community’s Response,” and again in June 2012 on the “The American Muslim Response to Hearings on Radicalization within their Community.” In June 2011, Jasser testified before the Constitution Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives on the importance of HR 963 “The See Something, Say Something” Act, which would provide qualified immunity for individuals who report suspicious terrorism-related activity. In March 2012, Jasser was nominated by then-U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). ^{2  8}

Finances

In 2023, the American Islamic Forum for Democracy reported $38,128 in total revenue, $61,425 in total expenses, and $33,879 in total assets. ⁹