In October 2010, Rashid rallied a group of Muslim youth to march on Washington, raising slogans of "Love for all, hatred for none" as a part of the "Muslims for Peace" campaign. In August of the same year, The New York Times ran a feature story on Rashid, covering his outreach efforts in the American Midwest. Rashid has written for numerous outlets including Time, NPR and The Independent. His essay I believe in love for all, hatred for none was featured on NPR's This I Believe. As a freelance author he has written on Donald Trump's so-called "Muslim ban" and other current affairs such as the 2019 Christchurch shooting and the subsequent debate on gun control. Rashid has testified before the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Controversy
Rashid is a critic of certain clerics in the Muslim world. Muslim charity Islamic Relief cancelled a planned Twitter chat to be held with Rashid after extremists threatened a boycott of Islamic Relief should it go ahead. During an interview, Rashid responded by saying "I never said I speak for others. According to me, I do represent mainstream Islam. But mainstream Islam does not accept me. I represent the Ahmadiyya interpretation of Islam to the best of my ability."
Political career
In 2019, Rashid announced he would run as a Democratic candidate for District 28 of the Virginia Senate. He successfully defeated Laura Ann Sellers in the Democratic primary but was defeated by incumbent Republican Richard Stuart in the general election. On January 20, 2020, Rashid announced his candidacy for Virginia's 1st congressional district in the 2020 election. On April 26, 2020, Rashid made an appearance on the "How We'll Pay for it" virtual town hall on Modern Monetary Theory with popular Democratic Socialist activist and candidate for U.S. Congress, Albert Lee, as well as president of the Global Institute of Sustainable Prosperity, Fadhel Kaboub, and research scholar Mitch Green. On June 23, 2020, Rashid defeated Vangie Williams in the Democratic primary for Virginia's 1st congressional district. Rashid will face incumbent Republican Rob Wittman in the November general election.
Works
Rashid has authored three books, The Wrong Kind of Muslim, Extremist: A Response to Geert Wilders & Terrorists Everywhere and Talk To Me: Changing the Narrative on Race, Religion, and Education and has co-authored and co-edited two books, Towards a Greater Jihad and By the Dawn's Early Light.
''The Wrong Kind of Muslim''
This book, released in June 2013 was Rashid's first solo attempt in authoring a book. The book received financial support through crowd-sourcing. The book looks at the treatment of Ahmadi Muslims and other minority faiths in Pakistan. Rashid conveys the stories of those who were jailed, injured, and martyred for their faith. He also seeks to explain why they maintain their faith.
''Talk To Me''
Rashid newest book Talk to Me, was published on May 17, 2016. As stated on Rashid's website, TalkToMe is a non-fiction memoir from inspiring thought leaders on how the power of dialogue can overcome racism, xenophobia, intolerance, and violence. The book highlights the importance of meaningful and moral conversation between people of all faiths, ages, genders, etc. in order to facilitate better understanding and tolerance and promote a more peaceful society.
''Hannah and the Ramadan Gift''
Rashid will release his first children's book through Penguin Publishing, titled Hannah and the Ramadan Gift.
Electoral history
Personal life
Rashid is an Ahmadi Muslim, is married with three children and lives in Virginia. He is the younger brother of Tayyib Rashid, a United States Marine who runs a social media outreach brand as "the Muslim Marine". Tayyib Rashid has also completed media interviews and raises awareness about Muslims living in the United States. Rashid grew up with actor Lamorne Morris.
