On Saturday, 13 February 2010, President Barack Obama announced that he had appointed Rashad Hussain, a lawyer in the White House to be his special envoy for the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
The announcement was made by the President via a video conference being made to the US-Islamic World Forum held in Doha, Qatar. In his address, President Obama spoke of Hussain as an “accomplished lawyer and a close and trusted member of my White House staff” who he said, would help to enrich and fortify his outreach policy to the global Muslim population.
Part of Obama’s efforts after being appointed President of the United States of America has been to restore the country’s relations with the rest of the Islamic population – which makes up a fair portion of his foreign policy. This need to make amends was even highlighted in his speech delivered in Cairo in June 2009, where he called for a ‘new beginning’.
Obama, while making his address to the US-Islamic World Forum also said that Hussain had played a vital role in helping to develop the partnerships he spoke of in Cairo, and stated these efforts would only be augmented by his new appointment. Obama also reiterated that Hussain was a Hafiz – meaning that he had memorized the entire text of the holy Quran.
Hussain would be representing the Organization of the Islamic Conference which consists of fifty seven nations. The goal of the organization is to promote unity amongst Muslims the world over.
Working for President Obama as a deputy associate counsel, Hussain has worked quite extensively on new media, national security and science & technology issues as well. A White House statement also stated the he had worked as a trial attorney at the Justice Department and had also been a legislative assistant at the House Judiciary Committee. Hussain holds two degrees; one in public administration, and another in Arabic and Islamic studies.