Commander Abuhena Saifulislam (in U.S. records) or Abu Hena Saiful Islam, ( bn, আবু হেনা সাইফুল ইসলাম), (born 1963) is a

Bangladeshi-American Bangladeshi Americans ( bn, বাংলাদেশী মার্কিনী, Bangladeshī Markinī) are Americans of Bangladeshi descent. The majority of Bangladeshi Americans are Bengalis and form the largest group of Bengali Americans. Ban ...

who is the first

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

naval officer appointed as an

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

serving with units in the Marine Corps.

Early life

Born in 1963, Abu Hena traveled to the US in 1989 for higher studies. He studied at the

Southern New Hampshire University Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) is a private university between Manchester and Hooksett, New Hampshire. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education, along with national accreditation for some hospitali ...

and received his MBA degree in 1992. That same year he joined the US Navy. Earlier he had applied for immigration to America by participating in the DV Lottery. He was granted US

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

towards the end of 1995 while he was working in the U.S. Navy in the payroll and accounting department.

Career

After obtaining citizenship, Saifulislam launched his drive to become an imam in the United States Navy Chaplain Corps, which provides chaplains to the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Saiful attended a course for chaplains serving with the Marine Corps, organized jointly by the Defense Department and the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences in Leesburg, Virginia. He studied for two years to complete the course. In 1998, he took the opportunity of the process of recruiting Navy chaplains and was commissioned in the same rank in 1999. After commissioning, the Navy assigned him to the United States Marine Corps as the first Muslim chaplain to serve with the United States Marine Corps. In this position his main task is to teach about

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

so that an understanding of the religion is built up across the US military. On his appointment as a Muslim chaplain, Saiful said, "When I found out that they were looking for Muslim chaplains, I wanted to become one. I was already involved in religious activities inside the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...

(Defense Department headquarters), establishing Friday services and other such things." In the Navy his rank is

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

and he is known as ''Chaplain Saif''.Matthew Wells
"Muslim face of the US Marines "
BBC News, 20 June 2007 As of 2014, Chaplain Saifulislam remains the only Muslim chaplain assigned to a Marine Corps unit, and one of only two in the Navy Chaplain Corps.

References

External links

The "Mullahpalooza tour" of Lt. Cmdr. Abuhena Saifulislam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saifulislam, Abuhena 21st-century imams American imams American Muslims Bangladeshi emigrants to the United States Bangladeshi Muslims 20th-century Bengalis 21st-century Bengalis Imams in the military Southern New Hampshire University alumni United States Marines United States Navy chaplains United States Navy officers Living people 1963 births 21st-century American clergy

Early life

Career

References

Further reading

External links