Mohamed Zuhdi Jasser (Arabic: محمد زهدي جاسر; born November 17, 1967) is an American religious and political commentator and physician specializing in internal medicine and nuclear cardiology in Phoenix, Arizona.
[6] In March 2012, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) appointed Jasser to serve a two-year term on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
[7] Born on November 17, 1967, in Canton, Ohio,[citation needed] Jasser is the son of Syrians who immigrated to the United States in the 1960s, owing to repression in their homeland.
His father, Mohamed Kais Jasser, is a cardiologist who studied medicine at the University of London and Syria in the early 1960s, he was an active critic through his newspaper columns, which led to his migration with his pharmacist wife in 1963 from Beirut, Lebanon to the United States.
[citation needed] He served in the Navy for 11 years, receiving the Meritorious Service Medal and attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander by the time of his honorable discharge in 1999.
[citation needed] His tours of duty included staff internist for the U.S. Congress,[3] medical department head aboard the USS El Paso, and chief resident at Bethesda Naval Hospital.
James Woolsey former head of the CIA and Seth Liebsohn, author and radio show host describe him as "the kind of man our government should listen to".
[10] Jasser utilizes his commentating, speaking engagements, and media appearances "to press Muslim leaders to aggressively oppose a 'culture of separatism'".
[3] In 2024, Jasser ran for U.S. Representative in Congress as a Republican in Arizona's 4th congressional district against incumbent Democratic congressman Greg Stanton, losing to Kelly Cooper.
[8] The AIFD supports separation of religion and state, religious pluralism, equality of the sexes, the unconditional recognition of Israel, and the creation of an independent Palestine "on the current 'occupied territories.
'"[3] According to the progressive magazine Mother Jones, "Jasser has lately become the right's go-to guy when it comes to providing cover for policies or positions that many Muslim Americans contend are discriminatory.
When controversy over the so-called Ground Zero mosque erupted, Jasser, a frequent guest on Fox News, accused the builders of trying to 'diminish what happened' on September 11, 2001.
"[35] Jasser has frequently been in conflict with a number of Muslim advocacy organizations, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamic Society of North America, Muslim Public Affairs Council, and Islamic Circle of North America, claiming that they are Islamist, are focused on "victimology" and do not adequately condemn the goals of terrorist groups.
[37] The Republic editorial board further stated that "[Jasser's] presence there affirms exactly what his strident opponents fear most—that there indeed is a diversity of voices, of points of view, among Muslims.
In 2011 the group released the film Iranium that explores the Iranian nuclear program as it pertains to threats against the West, and Islamic fundamentalism in Iran.