Founder & President
“The most important thing about Ramadan in America is that it’s becoming a month where the community gets together.” Imam Mohamad Bashar Arafat. (Ramadan in America is about Community – ShareAmerica)
Born and raised in Damascus, Syria, Imam Arafat attended Damascus University and graduated with a degree in Islamic Studies and Arabic Language in 1987 and a degree in Islamic Law in 1988. From 1975 to 1989, under the guidance and mentorship of the late Grand Mufti of Syria, Sheikh Ahmad Kuftaro, he studied Qur’anic interpretation, wisdom of the “Shari’ah” and the Islamic spiritual teachings. From 1989 to 1997, he accompanied the Grand Mufti to international programs and conferences.
He was an Imam in Damascus from 1981 to 1989, when he migrated to the U.S to be the Imam of the Islamic Society of Baltimore. Since 1993, he has been serving the larger community in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. He taught courses on Islamic Studies at the Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary & University, University of Maryland in Baltimore County, Johns Hopkins University, Goucher College, Renaissance Institute, as well as Comparative Religions at Potomac College in DC. He was Campus Imam at Johns Hopkins University from 1993 to 2003, Adjunct Chaplain at Johns Hopkins Hospital from 2000 to 2003, and Muslim Chaplain for Baltimore City Police Department from 1998 to 2006. He is currently teaching at Notre Dame of Maryland University.
Since 1990, he has been heavily involved with interfaith work, nationally and internationally, promoting better understanding between people of all faith traditions. Most recently his interfaith activities include a series of programs with churches, universities and seminaries in America.
Imam Arafat is the Founder and President of Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (CECF). From 2004 to 2016, CECF provided religious & cultural training, consultation and support through the U.S. Department of State to the YES Program exchange students and host families. The services were used by placement organizations that administer several of the U.S. Department of State’s sponsored exchange programs. He is the convener of our annual high school youth leadership and interfaith conferences in the U.S. called Better Understanding for a Better World (BUBW).
Since 2009, he has been conducting BUBW International Conferences regionally for university students and young professionals in the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uganda, Kenya, and Germany.
From January 2005 until present, Imam Arafat began conducting International Speaker Programs on “Muslim Life in America and the Interfaith Movement” through the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs in Ghana, Chad, Niger, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, India, Maldives, Comoros, Italy, Germany, Spain, Austria, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Iceland, Belgium, and Holland.
Imam Arafat is the Founder of Al Basheer Seminary, Interfaith Center & Institute based in Columbia, Maryland. The International Observer Program (IOP) is one of the most popular programs of Al Basheer and CECF. The IOP is two to three-week training programs for Imams, clergy, community leaders, and educators. Recently the IOP is conducting programs in the U.S. and internationally through the School of Religious Diplomacy; for Leadership Development & Global Cooperation that was officially inaugurated on May 21, 2025.
Since 2011, the IOP has welcomed delegations from Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South & Central Asia. (Imam Mohamad Bashar Arafat Nov 13, 2010, Part 1 – The Episcopal Diocese of New York Official Channel)
Imam Arafat is married to Kimberly King and are blessed with four children.