SHAYKH AHMED ABDUR RASHID is an authorized teacher of the Naqshbandiyya, Mujaddadiyya, Qadriyya, Chishtiyya, and Shadiliyya Orders who has applied the essence of Islam and Tasawwuf to contemporary issues for more than twenty-five years through programs in education, youth and adult leadership training, sustainable development, peace building, and cross-cultural relations. In 2000, he established ALIMY, a program for Muslim teenagers from diverse backgrounds which aims to clarify the constructive role young American Muslims can play in the future (see http://www.alimy.org). He has also established a number of Montessori preschools (having received his training from St. Nicholas Training Centre in London), as well as a small, private school serving students from preschool through twelfth grade. Founder of the World Community, a spiritual center in southwestern Virginia, he sits on the boards of advisors of the Islamic Studies and Research Association (ISRA) and the International Association of Sufism and served as a delegate to the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders at the United Nations. He lectures frequently at colleges and universities, interfaith forums, and conferences, addressing topics ranging from nonviolence to the myths and realities of Islam. Gatherings addressed include the State of the World Forum 2000, the Asian Conference on Religion for Peace, the International Symposium on Science and Consciousness, the Sufism Symposium, the Islamic Unity Conference, conferences of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS) and the Muslim Peace Fellowship, and university audiences at Randolph Macon WomanҒs College, Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia, Johns Hopkins University, and Sweet Briar College. His articles have appeared in World Affairs, Education and Urban Society, Sufism Journal, Man and Development, and other publications. 

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