Anti-Religious-Extremist Muslim Student Banned from US

The Independent reported on Zia Shah, a Fulbright scholar at the University of Chicago, who went home for the Winter holidays to Pakistan only to be refused re-entry into the US. He had been teaching Pakistani children, before enrolling at Chicago, about religious tolerance, surely showing himself to be the sort of liberal Muslim we would like to encourage.

Airport staff said they had received a “confidential email” from the US which blocked him from returning to continue his religious studies degree – which was being sponsored by the American government.

“At that moment I was in disbelief,” Shah tells The Independent. “I thought all my efforts had gone to waste, and everything was falling apart. This couldn’t be real.”

Shah is not the type of person you expect to see on a watch list: a 25-year-old student with ambitions of teaching children about the peacefulness of divinity.

In 2014 he was given funding from the United States Agency for International Development (Usaid) to set up Ravvish, a social enterprise that runs workshops for young students on different faiths and beliefs.

“I found my own understanding of other religions and cultures became more tolerant when I actually spoke to other people,” he says.

“Our work is aimed at enabling human connections so negative stereotypes can be addressed and peace can prevail between Pakistan and and other countries – like our neighbours India.”

A Muslim himself, Shah was compelled to establish Ravvish to combat the faith-driven turmoil that continues to engulf his country.

From historic tensions with India, to the threats of the radical Taliban, and widespread attacks on Shia Muslims – which saw his own uncle shot and killed in 2010 – Shah saw that something needed to be done. And so he set out to tackle the problem at a grass-roots level.

“We started going into schools, and rolling out our curriculum. Part of that was connecting students with people from India, China, Japan, US, Germany and others,” he says.

“I think this personal connection is important for people to understand that it’s okay for your personal beliefs to be different.”

To defy an ongoing “extremist mindset” that Shah says is encouraged in certain faith schools, he seeks to combat – through education – the very people and the ideals that inspire terrorism.

In just over two years, his organisation has taught more than 1,000 children, holding workshops across the country.

Ravvish has also attracted international attention, with the World Bank overseeing the curriculum, and a student from University College London (UCL) visiting to monitor the progress of his efforts.

According to the UCL student’s research, children were found to be more empathic and willing to interact with people from other religions once they had completed one of these sessions.

“We found that students were able to talk about their religion more openly without feeling that they would be attacked or harassed,” Shah says.

“It was an amazing feeling, to have an idea you’ve always wanted to do and suddenly people were helping you out and making some impact. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”

In order to develop his organisation further – now 30-people strong and building their own international partnerships – in 2015 Shah applied for a scholarship with the US-funded Fulbright programme.

 Continue reading the Independent to get more information on this man's excellent work and the seemingly bizarre move by the US authorities.