Army’s highest ranking Muslim soldier is also a TikTok star

By JOSEPH HAMMOND
Religion News Service

Roughly half of the content creators on social media platform TikTok are under the age of 28. It’s just one reason why the popularity of Army Colonel Khallid Shabazz, who has some 43,000 followers on the social media platform, is so surprising. Shabazz’s TikTok account includes a mix of his weightlifting exploits peppered with Quranic and biblical messages. Aphorisms abound. As a chaplain, Shabazz is used to handing out nuggets of advice and wisdom to troubled soldiers and, as a colonel, Shabazz is the highest-ranking Muslim chaplain in the U.S. Military. But his road to the chaplaincy was an unlikely one.