Ammar Abdulhamid
| Ammar Abdulhamid عمار عبد الحميد |
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|---|---|
Abdulhamid at FDD
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| Born |
30 May 1966 Damascus, Syria |
| Residence | Washington D.C |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point |
| Occupation | Author, Activist and thinker |
| Spouse(s) | Khawla Yusuf |
| Children | Oula and Mouhanad |
| Website |
ammarabdulhamid.com Syrian Revolution Digest |
Ammar Abdulhamid (Arabic عمار عبد الحميد; born 30 May 1966) is a Syrian-born author, human rights activist, former radical Islamist, political dissident, co-founder and president of the Tharwa Foundation. Ammar was featured in the Arabic version of Newsweek Magazine as one of 43 people making a difference in the Arab world in May 2005.
Abdulhamid was born on 30 May 1966, to Syrian actress Muna Wassef and the late Syrian filmmaker Muhammad Shahin in Damascus, Syria.
By mid-1987, Ammar embraced the religion of his father, Islam and was a committed Sunni Muslim. He described himself as a 'radical Islamist' and had the intention of flying to Afghanistan via Pakistan to join the Mujahideen and fight in the Soviet-Afghan War but decided against it once he found out that after the Soviet withdrawal, the Mujahideen were fighting each other.
He spent approximately eight years in the United States (1986–1994), studying astronomy and history. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science in history. He returned to Damascus in September 1994.
Ammar briefly taught social studies at the Pakistan International School of Damascus (PISOD) then located in Mazzeh, Damascus, between 1995-1997. Known to his students as "Mr. Ammar", Abdulhamid was a respected teacher who encouraged creative thinking and was not afraid to objectively discuss the faults of monotheistic religions, in particular Islam, which at times led to discontent among some conservative students and their families, but also drew respect and admiration from students of various backgrounds.
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