Dear John,

We are pleased to announce MPAC's new Director of Research and Strategic Communications, Dr. Javad T. Hashmi, who will be heading up MPAC's new Research Bureau. In addition to being a medical doctor and ethicist, Dr. Hashmi is a specialist in Islamic Studies and PhD candidate in the Study of Religion at Harvard University. Dr. Hashmi came to MPAC's attention after he engaged in a sensational and viral debate with JihadWatch director Robert Spencer, one of the world's most notorious Islamophobes. 

In order to be effective, academic scholars need to come down from the ivory tower and actively engage the public square. With this idea in mind -- and taking into consideration that a majority of people now consume their content online and on social media -- Dr. Hashmi and the Research Bureau will be releasing dedicated online material for Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. This is, of course, in addition to more traditional and academic approaches that will be used, including academic articles, policy papers, op-eds, talks, lectures, conferences, and classes. 

The overall goal of MPAC’s Research Bureau is to provide, in a time of extremism and hate, the intellectual firepower to produce an effective counter-narrative for Islam and the American Muslim experience.

You can follow his work on his YouTube channel. 

For our first event, the new MPAC Research Bureau is co-hosting a debate on religious exclusivism and pluralism between Dr. Hashmi and Dr. Shadee ElMasry of the Safina Society. We invite all of you to join us, either in-person or via livestream, for this important and intellectually engaging debate. 


Register here: tinyurl.com/pluralismdebate

Watch livestream here: tinyurl.com/debateUCLA


In service,

Salam Al-Marayati
President, MPAC