When Islam Is Not a Religion with Asma Uddin (Episode 70)

The constitutional landscape of religious freedom in America faces an unprecedented challenge as attempts to criminalize Islam and exclude Muslim Americans from First Amendment protections move from the fringe to the mainstream. This alarming trend manifests in the dangerous claim that "Islam is not a religion," effectively arguing that Muslims are not deserving of the same human rights and constitutional protections afforded to other faith communities. The systematic targeting of American Muslims represents not merely an isolated attack on one religious group, but a fundamental threat to the freedom of all Americans and the foundational principles of religious liberty. This constitutional crisis reveals how the erosion of rights for any religious community creates a precedent that endangers the protections guaranteed to Evangelicals, Sikhs, Native Americans, Jews, Catholics, and all people of faith who seek to live and worship freely in American society. Join host Sahar Aziz and special guest Asma Uddin as they examine the shifting tides of American culture and the urgent fight for religious freedom. Uddin, who has dedicated her career as a religious liberty lawyer to defending people of all faiths, brings her extensive legal experience and constitutional expertise to illuminate the stories of American Muslims and other people of faith who have faced tremendous indignities in their attempts to practice their religion freely. Her work reveals how personal calling intersects with legal advocacy, as she seeks equal protection for diverse religious communities while witnessing an ominous increase in discriminatory practices. Through her book "When Islam Is Not a Religion," Uddin combines her experience of Islam as a religious truth with her legal and philosophical understanding of universal religious liberty rights, outlining a path forward for individuals and communities navigating today's culture wars. #Islamophobia #9/11 #DEI #Diversity #Equity #Inclusion #Muslims #Islam Biography Asma T. Uddin is a constitutional law scholar and religious liberty lawyer who has litigated cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, federal appellate courts, and federal trial courts. She is the author of When Islam Is Not a Religion: Inside America’s Fight for Religious Freedom (Pegasus Books, 2019) and The Politics of Vulnerability: How to Heal Muslim-Christian Relations in a Post-Christian America (2021). She is a fellow for religious freedom at the Freedom Forum and has previously held fellowships at Harvard Law School, Georgetown University, UCLA, and the Aspen Institute’s Religion and Society Program. She has served as counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and as an advisor to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council on Foreign Relations. She is also the founding editor-in-chief of altmuslimah.com and executive producer of the Emmy- and Peabody-nominated docuseries The Secret Life of Muslims. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today. Recommended Readings When Islam Is Not a Religion: Inside America’s Fight for Religious Freedom , Pegasus Books (2019) The Politics of Vulnerability: How to Heal Muslim-Christian Relations in a Post-Christian America , Brazos Press (2021) Religious Liberty Interest Convergence , William and Mary Law Review (2018) Support the show Support the Center for Security, Race and Rights by following us and making a donation: Donate:<a href='https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csr