Abuhena Saifulislam

Abuhena Saifulislam or Abu Hena Saiful Islam, (আবু হেনা সাইফুল ইসলাম), (born 1963) spelled as Abuhena Saifulislam in U.S. records, a Bangladeshi by birth, is the first Muslim who was appointed as imam in the U.S. Army. Born in 1963 Abu Hena went to the USA in 1989 for higher studies. He studied at the University of New Hampshire and secured his MBA degree in 1992. In the same year he joined the United States Marine Corps. Earlier he had applied for immigration to America by participating in the DV Lottery. He was granted US Citizenship towards the end of 1995 while he was working in the Navy in the Pay-roll and Accounting department. After obtaining citizenship, Saiful launched his drive to become an Imam in the US Marine. Saiful attended a course for Muslim Imams in the US Marine organized jointly by the US Defense department and the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Science in Leesburg, Virginia. He studied hard for two years to complete the course in time. In 1998 he took opportunity of the process of recruiting Navy Chaplains and was commissioned in the same rank in 1999. After commissioning, the Navy assigned him to the Marines as the Corps' first Muslim chaplain. In this position his main task is to teach about Islam so that a real understanding of the religion is built up across the US military. On his appointment as Muslim Chaplain Saiful said, "When I found out that they were looking for Muslim chaplains, I wanted to become one. I was already involved in religious activities inside the Pentagon (Defense Department headquarters), establishing Friday services and other such things." In the Navy his rank is Lieutenant Commander and he is populalry known as Chaplain Saif. As of today (2007), Saiful Islam remains the only Muslim chaplain in the US Marine Corps, and one of only two in the US Navy overall.

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