Dr.
Sayyid M. Syeed is
the National Director for the Office of Interfaith &
Community Alliances for the Islamic Society of North
America (ISNA). ISNA is a national umbrella organization
which has more than 300 affiliates all over the U.S. and
Canada. He is a former board member of the Dar al-Hijrah
mosque in Falls Church, Virginia.A naturalized American citizen, Dr. Syeed obtained his Ph.D. in Sociolinguistics from the Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana, in 1984.
As President of the Muslim Students Association of USA & Canada (1980-83), he pioneered its transformation into the Islamic Society of North America ISNA. During 1984-88, he was Secretary General of the International Islamic Federation of Student Organizations (IIFSO). Syeed has been General Secretary of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS), a national professional organization.
Syeed, one of the founders of the quarterly American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences (AJISS), served as its Editor-in-Chief (1984-94). During his tenure AJISS grew from a twice a year to a quarterly publication, simultaneously published from Washington, D.C., Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Islamabad, Pakistan, and in Turkish from Istanbul, Turkey. Syeed is also a member of the Board of Advisory Editors for the Middle East Affairs Journal, and a member of the Board of Advisors for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
In his present position Syeed is also chairman of the Editorial Board of Islamic Horizons, the flagship magazine of ISNA, a position he held previously during 1982-84.
Syeed has been actively involved in fostering understanding among the world's religions, and has participated in interfaith dialogues at different levels in the U.S. and Canada. He has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Council for a Parliament of the Worlds Religions.
In recognition of his contribution to inter-religious understanding and harmony, Syeed was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters by the Graduate Theological Foundation, Donaldson, Indiana on May 4, 2001. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award for distinguished service in furthering the Islamic tradition in North America and for promoting inter-religious understanding and harmony from the Catholic Heritage Foundation, Louisville, Kentucky on November 18, 2001.
On January 5, 2002, Frank O'Bannon, the Governor of Indiana, in his State of the State Address, recognized Syeed's “work to educate Americans about the Muslim faith in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks, along with your life's work to encourage tolerance and racial healing has marked you as a great leader in Indiana.”
Syeed has been invited to speak on Muslim and Islamic issues on the national TV channels, NBC, CBS, CBN, ABC. He was interviewed on PBS on the McNeill-Lehrer Report, and appeared on the “Today Show” and CNN's “Crossfire” and on the national televisions of Turkey, Malaysia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia on matters related to Islam and Islam in America.