Reza Aslan Net Worth

What is Reza Aslan's Net Worth?

Reza Aslan is an Iranian-American author, scholar, and television host who has a net worth of $3 million. The author of nearly a dozen books, he is best known for those concerning religion – such as "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth" and "No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam," – as well as for working on the CNN documentary series "Believer," which explored several "disreputable" fringe religions and was ultimately labeled as "religion porn" and "racist' by critics. Aslan is also known for converting to Christianity from Islam and then reverting later in life. He's worked as a professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, and served on the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) board.

Early Life & Religious Beliefs

Reza Aslan was born in Tehran, Iran on May 3, 1972. His family immigrated to the United States when he was seven to escape the Iranian Revolution. His family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, and he went to Del Mar High School in San Jose. He graduated in 1990 and went on to receive several college degrees, including a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from Santa Clara University, a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop program – which he attended on the Truman Capote Fellowship – a Master of Theological Studies from the Harvard Divinity School, and a Ph.D in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Aslan has claimed that for much of his early life in the United States during the 1980s, he and his family pretended to be Mexican due to the rampant racism and discrimination towards Iranians.

Aslan's family followed Twelver Shi'a Islam, the largest branch of Shi'a Islam. He claims that at age 15, he officially transferred to Evangelical Christianity; however, he reverted back to Islam before studying at Harvard. On his ever-changing political history, Aslan stated in a 2013 interview with the Washington Post that he didn't necessarily believe Islam was "correct" and Christianity was "incorrect" but instead believed religion was a collection of metaphors and symbols that explain personal faith. He later went on to describe Islam as simply a "language" that he found his beliefs adhering to, particularly the concept of Sufism – a focus on Islamic purification and spirituality.

(Photo by Jim Spellman/Getty Images)

Writing Career

Reza Aslan has five books published and is a frequent contributor to various media outlets. His first book, and perhaps his most well-known work, "No God but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam," was released in 2005. The book was popular for its argument that Islam should be interpreted through a liberal lens.

His second book, which dealt with the ideology of Al-Qaeda and other Muslim militant groups, was released in 2009. Although the book was originally entitled "How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of Terror," it was rebranded in paperback the next year as "Beyond Fundamentalism: Confronting Religious Extremism in the Age of Globalization." The book received favorable reviews from The New Yorker and The Washington Post.

Aslan's first book on Christianity and third overall, "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth," was released in 2013. The book offers a historical account of Jesus's life and drew unfavorable reviews from conservative news outlets such as Fox News, which questioned Aslan's credentials.

Aslan has released two other books. "God: A Human History" was released in 2017, followed by "An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville," released in 2022. Aside from his books, Aslan has contributed to media outlets and newspapers such as The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.

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Memberships & Associations

Reza Aslan is a board member of the National Iranian American Council advisory. He has also been a member of various other councils, including the Council on Foreign Relations, where he served as an Adjunct Senior Fellow from 2012 to 2013 and the Pacific Council on International Policy.

Aslan is a Creative Writing professor at the University of California, Riverside.

Television & Business Ventures

In 2015, Reza Aslan served as a consulting producer for the final two seasons of the HBO show "The Leftovers."

He went on to host his own show, "Rough Draft with Reza Aslan," in March 2016. The show premiered on the Ovation network and was a talk show featuring fast-paced conversations between Aslan and acclaimed authors.

With Andrew Reich, Aslan wrote an episode for the podcast Dead Pilots Society titled  "Allah in the Family" in 2011.

Controversy

In 2013, Reza Aslan participated in an interview with Fox News that received much criticism from viewers and opened up a conversation about the validity of Aslan's credentials as a theological author. While being interviewed about his book "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth," Aslan was criticized and questioned by the segment host Lauren Green who expressed her distaste for a Muslim writing about Jesus, and Aslan answered by claiming that he was simply a student of theology and that it was his job as an academic to write about Christianity. A clip of the debate went viral on social media, and several theology professors and academics took to the internet to comment on how "cringe-worthy" the exchange was due to Green's misunderstanding that personal religious identification doesn't necessarily equal the academic study of religion.

In 2017, Aslan's documentary series "Believer" aired on CNN. The show involved Aslan immersing himself in "fringe" and "disreputable" religious sects. The show drew heavy criticism for sensationalizing these sects. The first episode, which focused on a small, fringe group of Aghori Hindus, was labeled as being anti-Hinduism due to Aslan eating a human brain as a part of a religious ceremony. The show itself was described as "racist," "anti-immigrant," and "poorly informed," and was ultimately called "religion porn" by critics. Viewers also pointed out that throughout the series, which was ultimately not picked up by the network for a second season, nothing involving Islam, Aslan's religion, was featured.

Accolades

The Levantine Center honored Reza Aslan with an East-West Media Award in 2012. The following year, Harvard Divinity School presented him with the Peter J. Gomes Memorial Honor, and the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding presented him with a Media Bridge-Builder Award. In 2014, Intersections International named him an Intersections Honoree.

Personal Life

Reza Aslan was previously engaged to journalist Amanda Fortini. They broke off the engagement in 2008.

Aslan married Jessica Jackley, an author and entrepreneur, in 2011. As Jackley is Christian, they are raising their three sons in an interfaith home.

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