Muslim Navy chaplain playing key role

Courtesy Photo | Chaplain Abuhena M. Saifulislam, a Navy commander, speaks with international officers following Muslim prayer services at the Chapel Annex on Friday. “Cmdr. Saif,” as he is affectionately called, is the only Muslim chaplain serving the Marine Corps and one of the few in the entire U.S. military.  

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, VA, UNITED STATES

10.14.2014

Courtesy Story

Marine Corps Base Quantico

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. - The horror of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks was still fresh on the minds of most Americans when Navy Chaplain Abuhena M. Saifulislam found himself at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, standing face to face with what he views as some of the worst humanity had to offer.

As the only Muslim chaplain serving the Marine Corps and one of the scant few throughout the entire U.S. military, Saifulislam, a Navy commander, was charged with providing spiritual counsel to some who were complicit in the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history.

The hardened detainees cursed him as a traitor to Islam, while some American service members there questioned why he was there at all.

“It was a learning experience,” said Saifulislam, who began his second stint aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico in August when he became the base deputy command chaplain. “The detainees thought I was their enemy because I was wearing an American uniform. But I wasn’t frustrated because of what I present as an American and a Muslim. I cannot afford to be frustrated. I have to be focused on our objectives, our values and our cause.”

Saifulislam, who later returned to Guantanamo Bay following the suicide of three detainees in June 2006 to make sure the bodies were handled properly according to Islamic ritual, laments the fact that a small few have twisted peaceful Islamic teachings and used them to justify murder.

More affectionately known as “Cmdr. Saif,” the 52-year-old Bangladesh native noted that Arabs make up just 18 percent of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims. The majority of the world’s Muslims live in South and Southeast Asia.

“As a Muslim, I cannot in any way accept their actions,” he said Friday of the small minority of terrorists whose violent ways have tarnished the image of Muslims worldwide. “It’s unfortunate, but they’re not the majority. It’s unfortunate they claim to do it in the name of Islam and kill other Muslims. I just call them criminals; I just call them murderers; I call them killers.”

In the years since his last visit to Guantanamo Bay, Saifulislam has worked tirelessly as one of roughly just 10 Muslim chaplains in the entire U.S. armed forces to better educate American policy makers and service members alike about Islam.

He’s served as the public face of an all-inclusive U.S. military and as a living example that the U.S. armed forces and Islam were not inherently incompatible.

Saifulislam often educates U.S. service members of the importance of Islamic religious practices such as the five times of daily prayers to American operational status. He’s visited every province in Afghanistan during his numerous visits there, while also stopping in Jordan, Quatar, the United Arab Emirates and numerous other Arab countries. His travels have been extensive, once including three trips across the Atlantic Ocean within a week.

Being so far removed from his wife and two daughters hasn’t been easy, but Saifulislam has accepted the challenge on the behalf of Islam.

“It’s always good to be wanted, but it comes with a cost,” he said.
Saifulislam’s efforts have hardly gone unnoticed. He’s been feted at the White House on several occasions, meeting Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and has been awarded two Joint Service Commendation Medals, a Defense Meritorious Service Medal and a Meritorious Navy Service Medal.

But his commitment to his faith extends well beyond public relations. Saifulislam’s services have proven invaluable to the many Muslim international service members staying aboard Quantico as they take professional military training courses.

It was Saifulislam who took action after starting his first stint at Quantico in 2005 and discovering that Muslim service members had no permanent place to pray. They now have a modest prayer center in the chapel annex where many meet each Friday afternoon.
“I feel very comfortable, very happy because I can come here to practice my religion,” said Lt. Col Kaw Hamid Shaim of the Afghan Special Forces. “It makes me feel very comfortable.”

Saifulislam takes immeasurable pride in the pivotal role he’s been given in advancing the Pentagon’s relationship with Muslims around the world, knowing all too well that bridging the perception gap on both sides is critical to both American security and world peace.

“It gives me a lot of personal satisfaction,” he said. “My kids feel good about it and they can talk about it in school.”
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• Date Taken: 10.14.2014
• Date Posted: 10.27.2014 14:42
• Story ID: 146192
• Location: MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, VA, US